Anyone ever sent their kids to public, temporarily?

[Halcyon]

Yes, I'd be using it as a babysitting service while I work. We need the money right now, and I am just finding it way hard to work when I am also in charge of their education. I would want to get them back out asap, but not sure of the time frame.

 

Anyone done this?

[Liz CA]

Yes, we did it before we began homeschooling. Ds was in ps from Kindergarten until 5th grade while I was working while my dh was finishing a degree.

Once dh had graduated and worked full-time, I quit and we began homeschooling in 6th grade until High School graduation.

 

I don't think a temporary stint in ps will irrevocably harm a child. You can explain that due to the circumstances you have to work and it won't be forever - or perhaps he/she will like it and you will be happy with it as well.

[Chris in VA]

Kind of. Had to earn $ last year, so I put dd in 3rd grade. Have to do it again next year. I want to keep her out of Jr. Hi, but we will see.

Advice--stay involved, but don't hover. They will do things differently. Keep talking to your child about your onw values and things you think are important, which may or may not be reinforced by the school. Don't be wishy-washy about putting him in--stay positive.

[funschooler5]

Yes, we did this a few years ago with my oldest two. We were self-employed, and so busy with work (and our new baby) we decided to send them to public school temporarily. The kids were curious about it anyway, and it was March when they started, so we knew it would only be for a couple of months. (I didn't want to be in a situation where I was "pulling them back out of school" Instead, they just never went back after summer break).

 

It worked out well, though I found out that the amount of paperwork/homework they were sent home with was almost equal to what we were doing homeschooling! That, and driving them to and from school, and it seemed like we were only saving a couple of hours worth of time a day. They did enjoy it quite a bit though, and I'm glad they had the experience. It was a good experience for me too, since I'd actually wanted to see what it was like to be a "public school mom". Every day I ended up grilling them about what they did at school, which I'm sure they found annoying. I just wanted to know how I measured up. :tongue_smilie:

[MariannNOVA]

Dh and I sent the kids to first grade in public school from February till the end of the school year in June. They went to private school for 2nd grade.

 

It was fine for dd - she met up with lots of her little girlfriends from pre-school and they were in the same class. DS did not like it -- at.all. He was bored with the work; he did make friends, but he can be wise beyond his years and he was not happy with lots of what he saw.

 

They both survived the experience and they are none the worse for the wear. I was fed up with them and their antics, and older dd was just beginning treatment for Lyme's Disease and I needed to be available to drive her to various doctor's appointments so for a few months, that's where they had to go.

[annandatje]

Yes, I'd be using it as a babysitting service while I work. We need the money right now, and I am just finding it way hard to work when I am also in charge of their education. I would want to get them back out asap, but not sure of the time frame.

 

Anyone done this?

 

No, but it is a reasonable solution to your problem.

[Halcyon]

Thank you. My concern (justified based on what I am seeing with his ps peers) is that my oldest wouldd be bored silly. Maybe my youngest too, who is reading and doing math.

 

But with everything there's a downside.

[tricia]

I did it when my twins were babies. I had 9 kids under 14 and homeschooling as none had ever gone to school. When my then 5 year was old enough I put him in K. Haha, it only lasted for 6 weeks and I pulled him back out. I thought I had stress with him home and trying to teach him with 3 babies under 2 but I was wrong. The stress came when I put him in school.:lol:

[Halcyon]

This is interesting to me-thank you. I wish there was a way I couldd earn money from home. I do my DH's books, and I am poking around trying to find other businesses that might need that kind of help.

 

I might even get certified in QB (it costs a few hundred) to make myself look more official....:confused:

[ZooRho]

I would start weighing the cost of you working out of the home too.

 

Would you need extra babysitting time when the kids are out of work that would be a cost, a wardrobe, meals out of the house, cost of getting too and from work? What would those cost be vs you staying at home.

 

Some times the amount of money earned isn't worth what it may bring in.

 

That said I did find a job now that my youngest is older, last year it was just after school time. Right now I have a job that started in March and will end in 8 days. The pay was fantastic for "part time".

 

I would start looking to see what you could do to help your dh while staying at home and other possiblities.

[Entropymama]

We put my oldest into first grade partway through the year, when a new baby and other circumstances made hsing too difficult. She loved it - she made lots of friends and liked her teacher. I don't think she actually learned anything that year, which was hard for me, but I kept telling myself we'd fix it when she came home for 2nd. :) I'm glad she went though, I think the classroom experience was good for her and she's still friends with some of the girls she met. Plus she got to ride a school bus once on a field trip. It gives her some common ground with the ps kids she knows, too. She can relate because school isn't a mystery to her anymore.

 

Happy for me, I asked her recently if she wanted to go back and she said no, she likes hsing.

[Night Elf]

This is the first year my dd12 is not in school for any length of time. It was never our (parent's) choice but she wanted to be in school so bad because she didn't have any homeschool friends. Unfortunately, it never worked out. This year, I got her in some homeschool classes and life is really good. boy it's taken a while though!

 

In public school:

 

2nd grade - 3 months

3rd grade - all year (that really surprised me)

4th grade - 4 months

5th grade - 2 months

 

Each time she came home, it was hard to get back into homeschooling. Coming home was an adjustment despite the fact that she has been homeschooled since the beginning. It's not like homeschooling was new! It was a challenge for us, and took us a while to get past it.

 

For the most part, her time in school was okay. I hated that I couldn't help her or change assignments. It was hard to go from homeschooling mom to ps mom each time. Of course, I've homeschooled my ds13 since Kindergarten, so I have never quite gotten out of the mode. :)