I've been hs'ing K-2nd; plan to put in ps in 3rd; anyone else done this?

[Nikidoodle]

Short time lurker and newbie here with my first post!

(I posted this on the general board and someone suggested I post it here since I didn't have much response from the general board).

 

Background:

I have two boys – oldest just turned 7 in March and youngest will turn 4 in July.

I have been homeschooling my oldest for K and 1st and we’ll begin 2nd this fall. All along my plan has been to teach them at home in these earliest K-2nd elementary years and put them into public school in 3rd. I plan to hs my youngest K – 2nd as well. I plan to go back to work at their school (I taught elementary for 10 yrs pre-momhood) when my youngest begins.

 

I have some anxieties about this transition back to ps (which is only a year away) --- some of which is just the basic anxiety of not being WITH my child all day every day as we have been heretofore.

 

I was curious as to whether there are others like me on this forum who are homeschooling knowing that public school is in the near future and who have re-entered the child/children during the mid-elementary years. (I tried to search and find threads on this, but didn’t have any luck) (know of any good threads on this subject?).

 

I’d really like to hear your thoughts and experiences.

What were your anxieties beforehand?

Did you find these anxieties to be “borrowed trouble†or not?

How was your child received?

What things were better or worse than you had anticipated?

Any surprises?

Did you find your child over or under prepared?

What might you have done differently to prepare him/her?

What did you do right to prepare him/her?

How did YOU prepare (emotionally)?

 

(I could list my other 96 questions, but you catch my drift, just wondering what were your experiences).

 

Thanks!

[Bee]

for second half of 3rd grade and all of 4th. Going to school was unexpected but maybe shouldn't have been. She's been begging to go for at least a year. It was her choice completely but now that she's there we've decided that she will probably stay until 7th grade unless she begins to have problems socially. She really struggled with math at home and she continues to struggle with it at school. We don't have time during the school year to afterschool most subjects but I try to make time to fit in math as much as possible. We are seeing very gradual improvement. School has allowed her to practice her creative writing. She's not a prodigy but she's not bad at it either. She's been on numerous field trips, participated in chorus , a play, a school dance,a school sponsored club, and weekly fun (but time wasting from a hser's perspective) activities designed to promote school spirit. She is outgoing (compared to the rest of the family) and loves the social atmosphere. She has had no issues socially.

 

Her fourth grade teacher had a reputation as strict but fair according to my dd. She was wonderful. I told dh I'd happily hire her as my childrens' tutor any day. I think she knew each child as an individual, kept in touch with parents, and went out of her way to make the classroom a wonderful place of learning. I was pleasantly surprised to see bits of classical education in both her classroom and the school as well.

 

It's taken me a long time to accept that school is where dd needs to be right now. She says she'd like to be hsed next year but she hadn't been home from school 2 days before the struggle to get her to practice her math began. Right now the school can give her things that she can't get at home. There's a lot that goes on in ps that we don't agree with (most having to do with state regulations) but overall I actually like the elementary school my dd attends. And sending her to school hasn't turned out to be the end of the world. Like I said above though, we will reassess when she will be entering 7th grade . At that point, the children have different teachers for each class and both dh and I feel that makes it much more difficult for both teachers and students to get to know one another and the students become less individuals than bits to be moved through the machine. Also, and just as important, that's when the social issues really hit strongest.