Soooo, PDG is scheduled to start PS 1st next week and........ (a bit CC)

[BikeBookBread]

.....DH is already starting to become so disgusted with the PTA bureaucracy. :hurray: LET'S KEEP IT UP! Maybe we'll be HSing after all!!!! If you wouldn't mind praying that we make the RIGHT decision for her. I have become "reconciled" to PS, but never downright happy and excited about it. PDG keeps going back and forth (though it isn't really her decision at age 6, of course, but we don't want her miserable).

 

My concerns are this: on both sides of our home, we have PS teachers. On the left is a teacher at PDGs school and on the right, is a sub who just got her Masters and is all gung-ho about teaching -- and this is the family with which my girls solely play right now. We are new to the neighborhood, in a neighborhood with an "excellent" PS and I'm a big fat chicken when it comes to defending myself and homeschooling. =

 

Would you pray for peace of mind, clarity of decision making and not an emotional decision-making process? Also, is pulling a child after they are registered a big honkin' deal in VA? The LOI deadline was August 15, and PDG has officially been enrolled in the school...

[Chris in VA]

I'll be praying for ya!

 

And no, pulling a child in VA is easy-peasy. The letter of intent is due Aug 15, OR AS SOON AS THE DECISION IS MADE (or something like that). I have dealt with the FFCounty homeschool person a lot--she's really pretty nice.

 

Ooo, that reminds me...gotta get my test scores in...:lol:

 

(Have you looked at Sky Chase co-op? :D)

[MariannNOVA]

I'll be praying for ya!

 

And no, pulling a child in VA is easy-peasy. The letter of intent is due Aug 15, OR AS SOON AS THE DECISION IS MADE (or something like that). I have dealt with the FFCounty homeschool person a lot--she's really pretty nice.

 

Ooo, that reminds me...gotta get my test scores in...:lol:

 

(Have you looked at Sky Chase co-op? :D)

 

 

Agree with Chris (and I still owe her a Starbucks and some grown up conversation ;) - maybe you could join us, huh?)

 

The h/s person in ffx county is nice. She must be - she puts up with me.;)

 

And, so funny, I pm'd you earlier about Skye Chase. It meets right near your house - PM me if you want the personal contact info - use me as your recommendation. And, I hear you - I sent the twins to ps when they were 6 b/c dd30's doctor's appointment were truly a full time job as far as driving there etc, and they were horrid to homeschool.

 

They are not interested in returning - for dd it was a big social thing -- she re-discovered all her friends from pre-school and it was just one big meeting of the social butterflies. DS HATED it from the word go. DD gets her social 'fix' at other activities and she is not interested in returning either.

 

Think about Skye Chase -- and trust me, having been there, no matter how wonderful the school, the bureaucracy and attitude (ime) is always there at some level.

 

The first day we brought the twins to ps, the people in the office TRULY expected dh and I to drop them off in the front of the building and let them walk in on their own (Kiss and Ride). NO WAY!!!!!! And, the principal's secretary was visibly annoyed with dh and me b/c we said we would sit in the office with the kids till the principal showed up and we had met him. She was dumbfounded.......and annoyed.

 

She said to dh: They are perfectly capable of finding their own way to their classroom. I will tell them where it is. DH merely repeated with his 'GTH' look on his face that we would ALL be waiting for the principal.

 

So, we waited, took care of what had to be taken care of, and we all walked the twins to their classroom. There was NO WAY that woman could have given them directions to THAT classroom. We went down three or four long corridors and made turns 4 times.

 

The biggest problem I have with it (and I sent older dds to private school and did not have this difficulty - and I am the first to admit that the difficulty is mine) is that I get the sense that my parental rights have been abrogated the minute we cross their threshold. It becomes THEIR rules, not mine. KWIM?

 

And I am going to say what I always say - trust your instincts. And, keep in mind your dd is going to be in the foreign language immersion program so your experience is likely going to be a very different (and might I say positive one) compared to mine.

[BikeBookBread]

The biggest problem I have with it (and I sent older dds to private school and did not have this difficulty - and I am the first to admit that the difficulty is mine) is that I get the sense that my parental rights have been abrogated the minute we cross their threshold. It becomes THEIR rules, not mine. KWIM?

 

 

Yep. I think THIS is going to be the tipper for DH.....

[Chris in VA]

Yep. I think THIS is going to be the tipper for DH.....

 

ITA with Mariann on this one--it is probably the most difficult part of sending my dd to school. I can't even go to her class to see her without going thru the office, which sends someone else down to get her and bring her up. I do understand, intellectually, that practice--after all, I wouldn't really want just anyone being able to go to her classroom--but it grates on me, nonetheless.

And, in this area, if they are told to shelter in place or there's a lockdown (and it has happened several times), I can't even get her out of the school. Again, I do understand the reasoning, but the Mama in me thinks, on a gut level, that I'm the one to defend and protect her.

So, it's hard.

 

OTOH, I have heard very positive things about the LImmersion schools.:001_smile:

[Jan in SC]

The biggest problem I have with it (and I sent older dds to private school and did not have this difficulty - and I am the first to admit that the difficulty is mine) is that I get the sense that my parental rights have been abrogated the minute we cross their threshold. It becomes THEIR rules, not mine. KWIM?

 

 

 

When I sent my dc to public school two years ago, the secretary thanked me for choosing "their" school to raise my children. We didn't last long!

 

BBB- I'll have good thoughts for you!

[MariannNOVA]

ITA with Mariann on this one--it is probably the most difficult part of sending my dd to school. I can't even go to her class to see her without going thru the office, which sends someone else down to get her and bring her up. I do understand, intellectually, that practice--after all, I wouldn't really want just anyone being able to go to her classroom--but it grates on me, nonetheless.

And, in this area, if they are told to shelter in place or there's a lockdown (and it has happened several times), I can't even get her out of the school. Again, I do understand the reasoning, but the Mama in me thinks, on a gut level, that I'm the one to defend and protect her.

So, it's hard.

 

OTOH, I have heard very positive things about the LImmersion schools.:001_smile:

 

In bold: happened when there was that tornado in falls church at dismissal time when the twins were in 1st grade (couple of years ago) and all the school buses were re-routed to the nearest school to seek shelter - which I understand and have no problem with.

 

When the all clear was announced, I went up to the school to get the twins -- to their teacher's credit, not a single kid in the class had any idea what was going on, they were as happy as can be, and the teacher did a fabulous job of making sure the kids were happy, comfortable and not scared.

 

i think that I ran from my house (3/4 of a mile away) b/c folks were parking near my house to pick up their kids from the school. There were about 200 people in line ahead of me and we had to show ID (again, not a problem) to an office worker who would look up and see if we were authorized to pick up the child(ren) as there was a power outage and this could not be done by computer.

 

I stood in line for about 5 minutes and then decided to do what some of the parents were doing, which was simply go to their child's classroom and get their child. I do totally understand the process in place, and I am glad it is in place otherwise there is an issue with children being picked up by the appropriate person. But, the wait was going to be at least an hour and I had another child who had to be picked up on the other side of town at her private school, and they were calling wanting to know what the problem was as it was already 45 minutes past dismissal time. I went to the twins' classroom, signed them out, and proceeded on our way.

 

If I am there to take care of my children, then I am going to take care of my children.

Edited August 30, 2010 by MariannNOVA

[Giraffe]

Well, you could always fall back on the fact that you are a military family when explaining yourself to others. Homeschooling is great for military families because you never know when you PCS. By homeschooling, you all leave at the same time as opposed to the family being divided while you wait for school to end. Most people can understand those reasons and they can't really argue with the fact you are trying to make sure your family is not separated. Anyway, that is how I defend homeschooling, maybe it will work for you too.

 

You will make the right decision. Just take a deep breath and do your best. Oh, and it is not hard to take a child out of school in VA. We took our daughter out mid-year and had no problem. You just have to file the paperwork. Good Luck.

 

This is a very good point - and what my mom (the military wife) wishes she'd done with us. It would have made life so much easier and I would have had so much better continuity of education (my brother too). As it happened, I never really got formal grammar education in school - I kept missing it in our moves!