Do you have an alternative schedule with the school?

[FairProspects]

I went to a rather "open" and non-traditional high school, so there were a variety of arrangements parents had for schooling. My best friend all through elementary school (and her 3 siblings) were pulled from school at noon every Friday so their physicist father could do additional science and math lessons with them. I think they also either left early or came late each day.

 

I know here in WA you can "part time" enroll your children in the school district. Does anyone here do this type of afterschooling and how has it worked out for you? This style is very attractive to me and seems to provide the time for afterschooling as well. What are your creative arrangements with the school/district?

[BabyBre]

I just found this thread and I'm sad there are no replies yet because I'm planning on doing that very thing this year.

 

I'm also in Washington and I'm going to have dd8 (3rd grade) exlcuded from math in the classroom this year. Although I know this isn't a completely unique situtation at our school, when I brought it up to our principal last year, he immediately tried to deflect me to the school district's "homeschool program". Dd ended up remaining full-time anyway, but I felt like he just wasn't familiar with the part-time enrollment laws.

 

So this year I intend to keep dd out of classroom math, but what I would find ideal is if she could still remain a full-time student. (For many reasons I won't get into now, this would keep everyone happy - the school, the district, me and dh.) The WAC defines full-time enrollment for a 3rd grader as receiving 4 hours of certificated instruction per day. That leaves plenty of room to remove classroom math; however, our district Superintendent tells me it's more complicated than that and I'm meeting with her next week.

 

I'll let you know how it goes.

[BabyBre]

Check with your state homeschool organization, not your school or district. Our school district is notorious for not informing parents and students of their real options. Here in Washington, students receiving home-based instruction can take any ancillary courses they want, including math (or in our case, everything but math).

 

And besides, they don't have to be OK with it, you do. In Washington at least, the parent is still primarily responsible for their children's education because we do still have so many options - public, private, homeschool, full-time, part-time, alternative or online education, etc. The way my dd can seemingly be fully enrolled and just "skip" math is that she'll probably have to be declared as a homeschooler taking ancillary courses. That's going to be a real pain for the staff and administrators, which is one reason I hope she can retain her full-time status and I would simply be held accountable for her math instruction to the teacher, principal, and/or superintendent.

 

They have been OK with too many things that I disagree with (like the use of calculators in 3rd grade, for instance) for me to leave her entirely in their hands anymore. It's my responsibility.

Edited August 5, 2009 by BabyBre

[OrganicAnn]

Hypothetically, how would you do this if you wanted to do Math yourself, but math was in the middle of the school day? I can understand if it was first thing or last subject of the day, but do you just have to work around their schedule? Just curious.

[talexand]

This is exactly what we do. I live in Oregon and I did start with the school prinicpal. I asked him if he would consider having my kids part time at school and part time homeschool. He agreed right away. Frankly, he needs the kids on his headcount and I think they count as a full student for funding purposes. He is also a very openminded man.

 

Since then I have discovered that there are other homeschoolers who come in just for our math program. At our school, the math program is what people come to the school for. It is a public school but the math program is parent funded and truly excellent.

 

In our case, I pick up the kids after lunch. They get most of their specials, recess, lunch and lunch recess as well as the math program. They are part of the school community and it is a nice community so this is good. They are advanced academically which is why they don't fit well full time but this way I can teach them at their own level and I don't have to stress abut the teacher because I just adjust the homeschooling to make up for anything they are not getting at school. My main subjects in the afternoon are science, history, and writing. I also teach them Spanish and programming as well as other special topics. We don't do all the topics each day so it fits in the time that we have available after lunch.

 

We have also homeschooled at school on days when the kids want to come back for an assembly in the afternoon and we have an hour or less for homeschooling. We are lucky to have an open classrom at school and they don't mind me homeschooling there. This would be a good way to pull a child out of one subject.

 

We are registered in Oregon as homeschoolers too. I doubt anyone checks the records to see if the homeschoolers are being counted as in school but I do tell them in my letter what our situation is in case they care. Homeschoolers don't get tax money so I don' think it matters. I follow all the homeschooling rules and testing requirementseven though they have to do school standardized testing as well.

 

I hope you get permission to do the part time homeschooling. Its a great way to get the best of both worlds.

 

Terry

[BabyBre]

Hypothetically, how would you do this if you wanted to do Math yourself, but math was in the middle of the school day? I can understand if it was first thing or last subject of the day, but do you just have to work around their schedule? Just curious.

 

That's a good question. We haven't got that far in the agreement yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to be the flexible one. Hopefully, her teacher is very organized and does math at the same time every day and I can more or less count on it. I really don't know yet. Ds had this teacher two years ago for kindergarten, so I know her and I know she'll try to be flexible, too; however, I also don't think she should have to rearrange her schedule to accommodate one child who's parent happens to not be satisfied with the "norm".

 

 

This is exactly what we do.

 

 

We have also homeschooled at school on days when the kids want to come back for an assembly in the afternoon and we have an hour or less for homeschooling. We are lucky to have an open classrom at school and they don't mind me homeschooling there. This would be a good way to pull a child out of one subject.

 

 

Terry

 

 

Thanks for posting! I really want to hear more stories about these type of arrangements. I really disagree that one size fits all with regard to teaching children and we should embrace these more creative and unconventional arrangements.

 

My hope is that dd's teacher will consistently teach math either before or after lunch every day. I work the noon hour at the school, so I'm there every day at lunchtime anyway. It would be most convenient for me if I could just go before or stay after my noon shift and teach her on site. I don't think we have an empty classroom and it's very common to see kids being taught in the hallway, so if our principal lets us stay on site, we would probably be stuck in the hall. On the other hand, I have a feeling they may not want us to be quite so "visible" to other teachers and parents, and would require us to go off site.

 

We'll just have to see how it all works out and I'll certainly post on it.

[EmilyK]

I'd love to know more about this option. I'm in Oregon but haven't heard of this possibility. I did think about pulling my 10 year old last year on Fridays, which in hindsight was the right idea since they were the most fluff-filled days.

[talexand]

EmilyK, I'm in Hillsboro and this will be our third year part time homeschooling. PM me if you want more details of our situation. When I first considered part time homeschooling I had heard of another family who was doing this in Hillsboro at a different school. She was pulling her child out once a week as you mentioned. I actually went to our principal with this proposal first but he really wanted me to pick a block of time each day instead. I believe Oregon law says that homeschools must be given access to interscholastic activities like sports and band but they are not required to give access to other parts of their program. But any school can allow access to classes if they choose.

 

My advice would be to make a proposal that is as easy on the school and teacher as possible. Stress to the principal that your goal is to have very little impact on the teacher and you are happy to be the one to do the planning and communication to make sure that is the case. Tell him or her that you know of other families doing this in Oregon successfully, this is in case they are unfamiliar with whether this is against some sort of policy. Some of my kids' teachers seemed cautious about the situation at first but they soon warmed up to it when I made it easy for them. I also help out a the school quite a bit so I think they consider me to be more of an asset than a problem. I want to do this long term so I am careful not to be a problem.

 

Terry

[BabyBre]

My advice would be to make a proposal that is as easy on the school and teacher as possible. Stress to the principal that your goal is to have very little impact on the teacher and you are happy to be the one to do the planning and communication to make sure that is the case. Tell him or her that you know of other families doing this in Oregon successfully, this is in case they are unfamiliar with whether this is against some sort of policy. Some of my kids' teachers seemed cautious about the situation at first but they soon warmed up to it when I made it easy for them. I also help out a the school quite a bit so I think they consider me to be more of an asset than a problem. I want to do this long term so I am careful not to be a problem.

 

Terry

 

 

Good tips, thanks! I'm meeting with our district superintendent this week to work out our part-time arrangement.

[cougarmom4]

Last year I had my ds going to school only on Fridays--the principal at first thought that would never work, but said if his teacher was willing, he was fine with it. Luckily we had a 'think outside the box' teacher who was willing to be flexible. I just sent in work for him to do--although Fridays were a little different than most days, so it worked well...they had PE, orchestra, and recess...those were the entire reasons we had him still go to school at all. :-) It worked out well--we got to homeschool him for all of the important subjects, he got to still play football at recess, and got to play in orchestra.

 

Another option to consider--as far as teaching math goes--is perhaps you can teach your child at home (like in the evenings during homework time), but then the following day in school he/she can do an assignment from your homeschool curriculum rather than what the class is doing. That's how we handled it a few years ago. The deal was as long as my son didn't call attention to the fact that he was doing something different, as long as he didn't ask teacher for help (since she would be busy doing something else/wasn't familiar with curriculum), as long as he worked quietly and stayed on task, and if we sent something along in case he was done early...the teacher was fine with it. We still turned in tests so she could record his grade--and he wasn't considered 'homeschooled,' but his needs were met and it wasn't as much work on the teacher.

 

I'm hoping to do this with two of mine this year...in spelling & reading...basically providing the curriculum to use in place of the school's curriculum. My problem is trying to afterschool--we just run out of time!!! So in my mind, if my kids can do some of the curriculum I choose & prefer and that is tailored to their needs better--instead of the busy work generally assigned...then we might have the best of both worlds. All depends on the teacher though...and some of them would never consider the option!

 

Good luck exploring options!