Putting dc into ps for sports or other activities

[woolybear]

Have any of you ever (or considered doing this) put any of your dc in school because of something like sports or another extracurricular activity?

 

This is the first time I have actually contemplated this. Both ds are very into baseball. This certainly may change, but....I'm just thinking ahead for now.

 

We have a local collegiate summer team. (It is a team comprised of college level players who come and play on this team just for the summer. Many of them are quite serious and many do go onto professional baseball.)

 

One of the players on the team was homeschooled. I was quite thrilled and we have chatted a few times. He ended up going to school starting in 11th grade. This made me think about what my ds would do if they wanted to continue with baseball and I could see how high school could be helpful in this respect. Of course, I'm not sure I want all that goes with that. It is something I am just pondering right now as my boys are 11 and 8.

 

Anyone?

[Dmmetler]

My DD says that she wants to do this-in her case, for high school cheerleading/dance team. We have some really, really good high school teams in the area who compete nationally. I figure we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, and if she decides, when she's a high school student, that this is something she really wants to do (particularly since high school cheerleading CAN open college scholarship opportunities), we'll consider it then. I'm also thinking that, since she's tending to move fairly fast academically now, maybe taking a year or two of high school and slowing the pace a bit and reviewing content she's done at home while focusing on sports and social stuff might not be a bad thing. I entered college at 16, and while it was a good thing for me academically, I can't say I was really socially comfortable with anyone outside of our special program until I was in about my last year or so, when I was actually the age of many of the students.

[Wildiris]

Yes, DS went to high school to play baseball. He too played on a collegiate level travel team for summer baseball for two years before graduating from high school.

 

I'd like to say our high school experience both on the field and in the classroom were grand and worth the effort, but our experience with public high school has been poor. In hindsight, I would assess the high school program before enrolling. Choose your high school well. Look not just for good academics but good coaching. Does the school develop players or do they coddle egos? The high school DS attended is last in the county for its baseball record. Going to high school only ensured he had playing time, but that playing time and mismanagement put him on the DL for the last part of this summer between high school and college. We are paying for hours of physical therapy that could have been avoided if the coaching were better at the high school level.

 

We've come to realize that high school, particularly the high school DS graduated from did not make any difference to the coaches at the college level. What mattered more is being talked up by the private pitching coach and summer ball coach, a solid work ethic, and performance. In truth, the whole thing comes down to performance.

 

In spite of the negatives we experience sending DS to high school, a good high school program will open up college scholarship opportunities that would be hard to come by as a solo homeschooler, or at least a solo homeschool would need to create those opportunities to be seen by college coaches.

[Princess Peach]

We are currently contemplating having older DS take instrument lessons/band at the middle school.

 

We will most likely enroll him in high school full time. Of course, DH teaches there, so we have good feelings about it.

[sassenach]

Nothing is off the table for high school. Ds9 is very athletic and has talked about wanting to play high school sports. I am totally open to that.

[regentrude]

DD is interested in choir, but would have to be enrolled full time to be eligible to participate. She will not attend, because we are not compromising academic quality for the sake of extracurriculars.

Edited August 4, 2011 by regentrude

[bairnmama]

My xBIL entered PS for the first time in 8th grade because of baseball. He did very well academically, had a great pitching arm and was being recruited for scholarships... until he had to have surgery on his pitching arm late in his Junior season. That pretty much ended his baseball career.

 

He did, however, then earn a music scholarship for his awesome guitar playing and is now a part of a touring rock band.:D

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

My dd does play sports on the PS team but does not go to PS. She plays volleyball. Here homeschoolers are allowed to be on teams. She is also going to take a music class and an art class there.

[woolybear]

My dd does play sports on the PS team but does not go to PS. She plays volleyball. Here homeschoolers are allowed to be on teams. She is also going to take a music class and an art class there.

 

Here it is up to each town. I haven't heard of it being widely accepted in this state, though.

[woolybear]

Yes, DS went to high school to play baseball. He too played on a collegiate level travel team for summer baseball for two years before graduating from high school.

 

I'd like to say our high school experience both on the field and in the classroom were grand and worth the effort, but our experience with public high school has been poor. In hindsight, I would assess the high school program before enrolling. Choose your high school well. Look not just for good academics but good coaching. Does the school develop players or do they coddle egos? The high school DS attended is last in the county for its baseball record. Going to high school only ensured he had playing time, but that playing time and mismanagement put him on the DL for the last part of this summer between high school and college. We are paying for hours of physical therapy that could have been avoided if the coaching were better at the high school level.

 

We've come to realize that high school, particularly the high school DS graduated from did not make any difference to the coaches at the college level. What mattered more is being talked up by the private pitching coach and summer ball coach, a solid work ethic, and performance. In truth, the whole thing comes down to performance.

 

In spite of the negatives we experience sending DS to high school, a good high school program will open up college scholarship opportunities that would be hard to come by as a solo homeschooler, or at least a solo homeschool would need to create those opportunities to be seen by college coaches.

 

 

You give me some things to think about. On the bolded part, how does one do this? I haven't a clue as to how to assess the high school program, coach, etc.

 

Here there are local travel teams up to about age 13-14. If you're really willing to travel (ie. driving almost an hour just for practices and more for games) then there are other opportunities.

 

On a different note, our local ps high school has just got rid of freshman sports. Of course, this could change by the time ds would be there, but if not, I don't think that's too good.

 

Regentude--this is exactly my dilemna (or one of them) do we sacrifice academics for extracurriculars.

 

I love hearing all these answers.

[eternalknot]

We're a heavily athletic family (all participated in school sports, through college; 7 of 8 of us earned various levels of sports scholarships for college). I always figured my kids would follow suit, and to that end that we'd enroll them in high school -public OR private- to take advantage of those same opportunities.

 

In my head there are a few different paths. One thing I have to take into account are the UIL rules about incoming student athletes, but beyond that I can enter the kids into high school at any point that seems most advantageous. Depending on the sport, we can get as much exposure through club play; high school enrollment might bring something different to the table, but it's not a necessity for exposure. We'd play that by ear.

 

Some sports, though, we'd really need the high school - either because there aren't local clubs or the local clubs aren't up to snuff. It might make sense to start my kid as a freshman, or we might be able to wait until his junior year. I'm not worried about academics; my local public school is acceptable to me, and while the goals are not my own it does rank in the top 5 within the state consistently for the past 15 years. Around here something like 90%+ go on to colleges, and merit-based scholarships are more common than not. It's a high-achieving, super academically competitive environment (that's actually my argument for homeschooling LOL).

 

I can only speculate how I'd feel if I lived elsewhere, but I imagine that by high school I'd have a good enough grasp of my kids' futures that I'd be able to decide -at that time- if it were worthwhile to prioritize (even temporarily) sports over academics. That's not even the right word "prioritize" ... but I'd have a decent idea of what direction they were headed, both WRT academics, career, etc. and I'd take all of that into account. But then, I'm not in the college-for-everybody camp, though I'd support my kid doing two years at community college on a sports scholarship while he learns a trade taught there LOL.

[Deb in NZ]

Sports was a big consideration when we put ds#2 in PS for highschool this year. PS gives him more chance to play hockey, even though he could play in the local club teams. At the moment ds#2 plays hockey for his collegiate (highschool age) club team as a goalie. He plays as a field player for his school's 2nd XI (like JV) hockey team in the div 2 men's league & just last week was put up to the school's 1st XI (like varsity) hockey team in the reserve men's league. He also played goalie for the provincial boys U15 hockey team. Needless to say, ds#2 lives & breathes hockey. PS gives him the opportunity to play with some exceptional players (the captain of the school team plays for the NZ U18 team & the provincial men's team) Ds#2 has had to make the school's team as the competition is great. He is the only year 9 player to make it through the first cuts for 1st XIs & is the only player from the 2nd XI to be put up to the 1st XI team. This is quite an achievement when you take into consideration that he is the smallest boy by far out of the 1000 boys attending Boys High :tongue_smilie: Making the club team was easy as he's played with the club for over 5 years.

 

DS#2 was awarded at school this week with his level 2 colours (like lettering) for being a member of the school's sailing team that went to the national regatta. He sails regularly at our local yacht club & in seascouts, but neither of these gives him the opportunity to sail 420s or compete at the school regattas or sail with boys who sail regularly internationally representing NZ.

 

Sports most likely won't earn ds#2 any scholarships to uni (NZ doesn't work that way), but the connections he makes through sports will be very valuable when he leaves school. Homeschool was more challenging academically, but when I look at the total picture of what he gains in PS when compared with what we lose...PS comes out ahead, at this point. As with any schooling situation, we review our decision annually & will make changes as we see necessary.

 

OTOH---dd & ds#1 had more opportunities to pursue their passions by not going to PS ;) HS/ing allows us to tailor each dc's education to their needs & PS is an option to consider for some dc.

Edited August 5, 2011 by Deb in NZ