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!

 

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!

[Nikidoodle]

:blush:a final bump....

[eloquacious]

I don't speak from experience, but I can understand your concerns. My husband has thus far agreed to homeschool only through kindergarten, though I am hoping that it works so well that we'll just continue... that being said, if we do decide to send our children to the classical charter in town then I would consider returning to teaching myself, too... and after all this work I've been doing researching reading and math programs, maybe I'll just go into elementary teaching rather than the high school humanities course I'd envisioned. ;)

 

 

In this situation I think you are best served sitting down with your husband and drawing up a simple pro/con list to help you make your decision... and then let go of the guilt when you do make it. It's not as though you're signing over your rights as a parent...if you make a choice and then realize that it wasn't the right one for your family or that particular child, change it. My favorite homeschooling family has been a family with four girls who always vowed to make the right decision for each child, each year. This has meant homeschooling, having a young girl in a public school for some special education speech remediation, and various private/Christian schools.

 

If there is a financial need to return to work, re-evaluate that need.. and if it is real, then you can't bear the burden of guilt for what is outside your control!

[Kirch]

Bumping for you! I haven't noticed any threads with this situation, but there have been plenty who've put their kids in/back in public schools who might be able to chime in. That said, you might get a better response on the general board. Most of the traffic over here is focused on the nuts and bolts of curricula and teaching issues, so I'm guessing that more of the parents who've put kids in PS but are still hanging out here spend more time on the general board. Either way, there's more traffic over there, so you're more likely to get a response. Good luck!

[blessedmom3]

I think it depends on each child , but most transition very well.

I had the same concerns as you . My dc were homeschooled K-2 as well until March when I decided to put my son to PS. He did very well emotionally and academically.

He liked to raise his hands and talk . He was supposed to go in 1st gr because of his B-Day but they gave him a Math &Reading test so he was able to go in 2nd . He finished the year with the highest Stanford and Honor roll .

 

That said , my son , although very bright, reading Charlotte's web at 5 and doing 3rd gr math in March , had a few difficulties at the beginning. The school uses a very different approach in reading ( I mean literary analysis ) and writing . Since we have been using a WTM approach for writing , combined with a traditional method for grammar , but nothing for literary analysis ( plot , main idea with supporting details , inferences , etc ) my son was weak in those areas , although by the end of the year the teacher told him that he could be a writer. I think he had an exceptional teacher , but maybe there are many like her ... not sure since this is my 1st encounter with a PS teacher. She is also a children books writer so she is very strong in teaching LA . My son brought home a notebook with poems he wrote himself under his teacher's guidance like Limerick , Cinquain, Haiku , etc , I was blown out ! We did not do things like that yet . We did read poetry but I did not teach him how to write poems since this was not in his grammar curriculum .

The math they use is very Singapore-like and he had a hard time with a few concepts . Some exercises were really challenging ! They also introduced volume&areas which we did not do yet.

 

So my advice is find out what they use for math& reading and try to go over with any concepts you haven't covered yet. If you have been using a writing a la WTM or CM method or even some traditional ( Abeka , Rod &Staff ) go over writing . A good book is Write Source or Write Away or this free online program . You can use it for the writing part only :

 

http://www.sfreading.com/resources/ghbgrd3.html

 

If I knew my son would go to PS , I would use BJU for English and possibly for reading because they teach very much like PS .This year I am going to homeschool again until March or April . I bought BJU and feel more confident now that he will do well in writing .

 

Hope this helps ...it was just my experience . I guess every school here is different ( I was schooled in Europe ) and every child is different but generally a homeschool child is well prepared .

[nikkid]

You'll also find more former hs'ers now using ps on the after-schooling website.

 

We plan to send my dd8 back to ps maybe 4th grade...not sure I like it, but my husband is a teacher and feels that learning to function in a classroom environment is important (i.e. learning to raise hand and be patient, diversity of students, working with peers you may not like, accountability, independence from parents...) But we'll see what happens when we get there. He's also concerned about how I will be able to hs when we have a new baby (not having one yet but hopefully sometime in the next 2 years).

 

I used to be extremely anxious about it, but now I realize especially in the summers we could still hs the things we really like. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. And I am definitely planning on heavy involvement in the school to develop a non-defensive relationship with the teacher, maybe even be a room parent. And I hope we'd be part of the gifted program since she'll be ahead of the others in reading and LA...we'll see how that goes.

 

I still use the curriculum I think is best, but supplement with things like BrainQuest, Scholastic, and Jump Start workbooks to expose her to different ways, some of which are more like ps. She's bright enough that I know she'd catch up if there were things we didn't cover.

 

HTH

Nikki

[Mrs Twain]

I am coming from the opposite side, having withdrawn my kids from ps in elementary. As far as academics, that seems to vary greatly by school. My school district has the reputation of having "good schools" and is a reason a lot of people move here. However, our particular elementary school has a terrible academic program which I was very surprised to find out through experience. On the other hand, I have talked to parents from other public schools and school districts who have been very impressed by the challenging academic program at their location. So whether your child would be ahead or behind really depends in your particular school, though I think that most homeschooled kids would be in many ways advanced compared to ps.

 

Other things that are different if your child has never been in a school-type of program are things like always writing his name on his paper, going places in a line, raising his hand to answer a question, getting used to doing busy work worksheets while the teacher is teaching a different part of the class something, yelling by the teachers to get order in the class (at least this is common at our ps), and having to spend an hour or longer doing homework after school every weekday.

There is also a lot of negative peer influence, especially during lunch, recess, riding the bus, and P.E. We don't isolate our kids at all (they daily play with our neighborhood kids and do a lot if sports teams), but I find that my kids pick up a lot less immature ways of behaving and less negative cultural influence by not being at the ps for 6 1/2 hours five days per week.

 

As you can probably tell, I have a very negative view of ps, but I might see things a lot differently if we had one of the excellent elementary schools with good quality teachers.

 

Some of the best advice I heard was like what a previous poster said--to make your decisions one year ata time. You don't need to decide right now what to do for the next twelve years. If you need to make a change, you can adjust either year by year or in the middle if a school year.

[Mommee & Baba]

I have the same concerns as you!

 

I haven't had to face it yet, again like you. BUT we're going to be facing this reality very soon. My dd8 will be home with me for awhile since her struggles with SPD/OCD over-ride her being able to function safely and calmly in a classroom settling. However my dd6 will begin ps soon. We are moving across the U.S. and although I plan to have her home this coming fall for 1st grade my dh and inlaws are insistant that she starts ps if not this year but def. next year when she enters 2nd grade. I personally want to wait until she's 8 to put her into ps as they don't require a child to be 8 until they have to be in school. This will give her time to be home and get a good grounding...however I spoke to dd6 about it and she WANTS to go to ps as soon as mama will let her. I was so terrified and felt attacked about the idea. BUT now I am open to the idea and think that dd will do great with the right teacher. I can def. afterschool her if she wants and I can do light schooling through the summer with her too.

 

I feel for you and it's def. a scary thought but the worst thing that can happen is it doesn't work out and we pull her back home :) Atleast we have that option always.

 

:grouphug:

[RahRah]

When I first started HS'ing DS, DH and I considered the third-grade entry into public school (or private) as an option, but have since abandon that idea after learning that our state ranks 39th overall in education in the US, our district lost funding due to overall poor performance, that even though the elementary school DS would go to does well, it feeds into a larger middle school that, well, sucks (eighth graders tested - math 18% proficient or advanced; reading 32% proficient or advanced); the high school the middle schools feed into is even larger and worse (if that's even possible); and our state has openly admitted to lowering standards on the state tests to try to improve its rank and scores!

 

No thanks!

[Jean in CA]

I've PM'd you!

[Crimson Wife]

It was something we considered when we first started because the district where we lived up through 2009 had a GATE class starting in 4th grade. However, we moved before our oldest was old enough to try & get her into the class. And even if we had stayed, I'm not sure that it would've been a good "fit" for a kid who is so all over the map. Working 1-on-1 at home I can modify the curriculum in a way that a teacher working with 31 kids can't.

[BethG]

:bigear: