Always Homeschooled: I'm going to homeschool until....

[Diana B]

How long do you plan on homeschooling?

 

*Poll to Follow*

 

ETA: I hope I got all the options in. I'm sure I forgot something, because no poll is perfect. :)

 

I did multiple choice so you can pick for different children if needed.

 

And I'm mostly curious of those who never sent their children to school. I think the #'s would be different for those who pulled their children out of school.

Edited August 13, 2011 by djbartch

[dangermom]

I plan to homeschool my kids through 8th grade, at which point they will be allowed to have a vote on what they do. I'd love for them to homeschool through high school, but I feel that by 14 they're entitled to input on the decision.

[Desert Rat]

I realized in the past few months that it's pretty unrealistic for my oldest to homeschool for high school. He's already doing some high school stuff. I knew this day would come back when he was 4 and reading 4th grade stuff. But, I chose (and still choose) to plug my ears and make loud raspberries and believe it wouldn't happen. :)

There are a few technical high schools here that would suit him perfectly. The community college also has a dual enrollment program in which he would receive a high school diploma and an associate's degree. I can't beat that at home.

The jury is still out on my younger son, but I have a feeling I will do the same with him. He could get a trade while attending high school. I wish I had had that opportunity.

[Joker]

I thought I would never stop. My oldest was really working on us the past few months about going to middle school so we talked to a few people. The guidance counselor and principal met with us and told dd how lucky she was that we cared enough to homeschool. That shocked me. They did a few assesments and said she would go into their Honors track. Our middle school is top in the county and the only approved IB Middle Years Programme school within our county. They offer quite a bit and I felt like she should at least be able to try. If it goes well I will probably have younger dd start ps in middle school as well ~ but that's another two years I will be able to homeschool her.

 

I'm not exactly happy about it and I've stressed quite a bit over the past several weeks. I hope it goes well for her though.

[kitten18]

I didn't know how to vote, so I voted, other.

 

 

My kids are very young, I have no plans to ever send them to school full-time. But, even now for the older kids, there are many options for part-time high school enrollment, taking a few classes, lots of options at the CC, etc. I think by the time my kids are teens there will be even more options. I'm quite certain I will be outsourcing many high school classes.

At the same time, I hope they will be able to keep a very flexible homeschoolish (made up word :tongue_smilie:) schedule.

[Diana B]

I didn't know how to vote, so I voted, other.

 

 

My kids are very young, I have no plans to ever send them to school full-time. But, even now for the older kids, there are many options for part-time high school enrollment, taking a few classes, lots of options at the CC, etc. I think by the time my kids are teens there will be even more options. I'm quite certain I will be outsourcing many high school classes.

At the same time, I hope they will be able to keep a very flexible homeschoolish (made up word :tongue_smilie:) schedule.

 

That is one of the options I forgot! Homeschooling some subjects and outsourcing some subjects to CC or part time public school, etc.

 

Other is there for a reason! :lol:

[Margo out of lurking]

I answered, although we haven't hsed from the beginning, beginning. We pulled dd out of first grade 9.5 years ago. Up until the last two years, we always took it one year at a time, never knowing if/when they'd go to ps.

 

It became very clear to us, finally, in the past few years that they are home to stay. This is pretty much set in stone, even if one of us were to die or whatever else might happen.

[AngieW in Texas]

I didn't want to send the oldest to ps for middle school, but we moved during her 5th grade year and couldn't find other kids her age. She was desperately lonely and really wanted to go to ps fairyland. She came back to hsing for 8th grade. 6th grade went okay, but 7th grade was miserable. The boy who really made things go badly for her was removed from the school. She turned into a hermit and is still trying to break out of that. It doesn't help that she's ADHD and Aspie. She only went to ps for 6th and 7th grades and hsed for everything else.

 

My middle dd has never expressed any interest in ps and has only hsed.

 

My youngest might possibly go to ps for high school, but even if she does end up trying it, I don't think she'd last long. She tried 5th grade and was ready to come back to hs after 2 days (made her go for the 2 weeks I originally insisted on for the trial period).

[Caterpiller]

I haven't really decided yet. There is a part of me that thinks I will put them in highschool, but another part that makes me think I will keep them home. (I am using the plural here because we want more kids but currently we have one.)

 

I think it will depend on the child and our situtation at the time.

[raceNzanesmom]

We pulled our oldest out of public school at the end of 6th grade. He graduated from home in June. Our youngest has always been hs'd (only in 2nd) and we plan to hs until he graduates. I am open to dual enrollment in upper high school, but otherwise he'll be home.

[Mrs Mungo]

We have homeschooled since the beginning, and I voted other. I would put them in school for 2 reasons: 1. Something extremely dire has happened or 2. They become big butt heads and I cannot take it anymore.

[bairnmama]

I pulled dd out of public K after just a few months and don't ever plan to send her back if at all possible. Ds has been homeschooled since the beginning... some would say he's still at the beginning since he's technically just starting 1st, but he's been absorbing what I've been trying to teach dd and has surpassed her in a couple subjects. If there came a time that he needed something I couldn't provide, I would send him to wherever it could be provided. Nice and vague, wasn't it?

[KidsHappen]

I pulled my oldest out of the 6th grade and kept him home for a couple years. The oldest dd pretty much always went to PS. The middle two pretty much were always home (one went to the 7th grade in PS) and the last two were home until middle school. I pulled the oldest out due to the problems he was having in PS. The oldest dd was very social and always did well in PS.

 

I had done tons of research by the time the second two were school age and I just didn't put them in school. At that point I was pretty sold on homeschooling and thought that we would probably always homeschool. Then as they reached middle school age they expressed intrest in school and we dedcided that they could go to high school if they wanted. The 19 year old tried a year in the 7th grade and I don't really think she liked it. The two middles made plans to go to high school together but when the time came they just didn't follow through.

 

The youngest two were way more social than the rest and we weren't as actively involved in a homeschool group so they didn't want to wait until high school and one of them had special needs that we and her dr. thought would be better served if she started in middle school and learned the skills she would need and had a social group already established by the time she got to high school. Which left the youngest home alone for a year which she did not like. She didn't do well her first year of PS but we have hopes for a better year this year.

 

My oldest dd is just starting her planning for my grandson who will be three on the 22nd. I will be carting down a couple boxes of curriculum to them then.

[chepyl]

I am currently prepared to hs through graduation, but I know that things happen and plans change. Right now DS wants nothibg to do with ps, but if he really wants to go at some pount we will consider it. It is not an option right now, the schools could not accommodate him. That is part of why we hs. He would be in kindy this year due to a late Sept b-day....but he is doing 2nd grade work and reads at a 5th grade level. All the district could say was, "we would hope his teacher would keep him busy with work in his level."

[Crimson Wife]

We haven't totally decided yet, but right now the plan is to outsource high school. It's still TBD between an online private school like Stanford EPGY, a traditional prep school, early college, or ???

 

I feel confident teaching elementary & middle school level academics, but not the kind of rigorous Ivy League prep that we want for our kids for high school.

[Susie in SWVA]

None of my oldest four "graduated " from high school. They gradually eased into community college before moving on to a university. I will do the same with my son (7th grade now).

 

Susie in SWVA

[TheReader]

Home schooled from day one, they've never gone to school in a building of any kind. We plan to hs through high school graduation, but if needed we would do differently.

[Carrie12345]

I pulled one out after 4th grade. The rest have been/will be from the beginning. I *plan to go all the way through, but my ex is starting to make a little noise about wanting my oldest (his only) back in school. I don't think it'll happen, but there's only so much control I have over that.

 

I do plan to outsource many things in the last year or two of high school.

[Pamela H in Texas]

From the time my kids were itty bitty, the plan was "all the way through." Circumstances made us try school as a babysitter (I sent school work for my daughter, didn't expect ds to do school work there) in 2001. My daughter was there 8 weeks. My son was there 8 weeks minus...well, long story...Anyway, my daughter graduated a couple years ago and my son will graduate this year.

 

We have some littles who will all be attending school this year. If/when these children become ours legally, we will, at some point, pull them out. When and how, I'm not positive. I'm really thinking it may take me 2-3 years to get them all out of school based on my reasoning. I will consider putting them back in at some point (high school?), but don't expect it. So I guess I figure they will all be out of school by 3rd grade or so and homeschool all the way through. We will consider school later if it seems reasonable for any particular child.

 

Anyway, so we are more "we'll consider things on a child by child, situation by situation basis" but with the default being homeschooling "all the way through."

[Chava_Raizel]

I've always said that there was the possibility of the kids going to high school if that's what they wanted. My oldest dd has always wanted to try "real" school. However, over the past year or so, she's decided that she doesn't need to go to school and would rather finish school at home. Of course, she's 12, so she might change her mind in a year or two, but for now, the plan is to keep homeschooling til they're all graduated. (My twins have no desire whatsoever to go to ps, so it's not really a question. I suppose they might change their mind, but I doubt it.)

 

I do, however, plan on having them take classes at a CC when they get to 11th/12th grade.

[Haiku]

The two children that I have raised from young ages (preschool age or younger) will never go to school ... until they go to college.

 

The child that I have raised since she was a pre-teen was homeschooled for a year and is now in school. Homeschooling was a colossal failure for her due to her background and our personality conflicts. But having her in school has made us ever more determined to keep my younger kids out of school. Despite the fact that she has been in three highly regarded schools for late elementary, middle, and high school, I have found that schools are schools no matter where you go and the problems of schools exist no matter where you go. School is a better fit for dd17 than homeschooling would be, but I have no wish to subject my younger two to the issues of schools.

 

Tara

[mytwomonkeys]

my kids have never been to public school in any form or fashion. if they ever wanted to go to school though & homeschooling was causing strife in our lives, i would absolutely consider other options. public school being one of them. i hope we always homeschool though. we love it. it's a year by year thing for us though.

Edited August 13, 2011 by mytwomonkeys

[CourtneyMI]

For us, traditional school isn't an option right now. The public schools are entirely too violent and do not prepare the student for college (I went to the public school system where we live:glare:). The private schools are more than our mortgage payment is every month for 1 child and we just can't afford that.

 

In the future, if there is a change in circumstances, we will consider putting our kids in school. But the circumstances would have to be dire. I am 100% that homeschooling is for us. The nice thing is that in our town, we have a university, a community college and a private college right here in town. The hs association is really nice and has a co-op. The cc lets students dual enroll. So I am confident about getting them all the way through school right now. :tongue_smilie:

[keptwoman]

Education choices for our children are a year by year, child by child propositon.

I pulled two of them from school, and DD has been homeschooled from the start.

This year I am HSing two and have one in school. Next year I am studying full time for a year, so all 3 will be in school. The year after will depend on the children, the school and my plans. They may stay at school, come home or part time, I really don't know.

[DawnM]

We evaluate yearly.

 

I think I am the odd ball here but every year I beg them to consider going to school and every year they beg me to keep homeschooling them.

 

Dawn

[CarenM]

Going ALL the way as long as that is what God wants for us

[ChiMomNP]

Our plan is until he graduates high school.

[mom2denj]

I plan to homeschool my kids through 8th grade, at which point they will be allowed to have a vote on what they do. I'd love for them to homeschool through high school, but I feel that by 14 they're entitled to input on the decision.

 

This is what i did with my dd who is now chosen to try out public high school. I am OK with it. I pray that she has a wonderful experience. She is excited mostly about the extracurricular stuff (sports etc..). I am not sure how I would feel if I was not starting over with my new big girl Kindergartner this year. I will be keeeping her at home until after jr. high which at that point I will give her the same opportunity to choose.:001_smile:

[Cinder]

We have homeschooled since the beginning, and I voted other. I would put them in school for 2 reasons: 1. Something extremely dire has happened or 2. They become big butt heads and I cannot take it anymore.

 

:lol: I was going to use the more diplomatic "until it no longer works for us," but I like Mrs. Mungo's answer better.

 

We have also homeschooled since the beginning, and I also voted other. We started the whole adventure thinking we'd just hs through 3d grade. Then when 3d grade came along it seemed obvious that hs was right for us. By 6th grade I could imagine us hs'ing for high school. Then 7th and 8th grade happened and #2 above. We send ds1 to high school and discovered he does better with someone else as his teacher. Ds2 followed along when he reached 7th grade for much the same reasons.

[craftyerin]

We just moved from Houston to New Orleans. We are planning to homeschool as long as we live in New Orleans. We'll be moving back to Houston (probably) around 2nd grade for our crew. If we have loved doing kinder and first at home, we'll continue. If we are not loving it, we will try the University Model School there. I really like that model, and had planned to school there, but there isn't one in NOLA.

[angela in ohio]

We had my oldest help us decide what she was doing for high school. We went to all of the private schools for interviews/tours and she shadowed at some. She really likes the flexibility of homeschooling, so she decided to stay home.

 

My middle dd will be doing the same process this year. She might want to go to high school more than her sister, but I'm not sure we will have her go (she is not as mature as her sister.)

 

My ds will go in 7th or 9th grade. The girls will be done when he starts high school, and dh has always thought he would want him to go to school for high school.

[LinRTX]

Well, I have homeschooled 3 from the beginning through high school. I only have one left to go.

[wapiti]

I feel confident teaching elementary & middle school level academics, but not the kind of rigorous Ivy League prep that we want for our kids for high school.

 

That's our situation too. We are fortunate to have a couple of excellent options for high school that can offer a whole lot more than I could.

 

Education choices for our children are a year by year, child by child propositon.

 

We evaluate yearly.

 

This. I pulled the first one out in the middle of fourth last winter, and plan to pull two more out as they start fourth next year, because I'm not happy with what is offered at that level - kind of a teacher issue - there's one teacher I might consider but we need two (and the one private school I would consider is wonderful in every way except that they use Everyday Math through 5th grade, so, no....). So far, I've been relatively satisfied with what the younger ones are getting at our public charter montessori. However, the curriculum control with hs-ing is kind of addictive :D

[Mynyel]

I ask my kids every year (and sometimes when they don't want to do the work at all :P) if they want to. I tell them the pros and cons. They always say no. They like being home :)

[Hwin]

We're starting K and I don't know what our life will look like in 5 or 10 years, but I picked "graduation from high school."

 

I'm completely open to letting him choose high school, although the PS in our district wouldn't prepare him academically any better than I would. I guess it depends how important it is to him to play sports or be in a marching band. (those are really the only extra curriculars.) I suppose I should start steering him toward violin and golf :tongue_smilie:

[Jane Elliot]

All our children have always been homeschooled. We've graduated four. Eight to go.

 

I almost thought there should be another category: "I plan to homeschool college." :tongue_smilie: With CLEP, AP, and distance learning, some of this is possible. My rising college freshman is entering university with 45 college credits thanks to CLEP and AP (and anyone who spends time on the high school board will realize this isn't exceptional.) We have a friend who completed his whole college degree at home through Thomas Jefferson College after being homeschooled through high school. I personally wouldn't choose to have my dc do all of college at home, but for my 18yos the credit he earned at home in high school has enabled him to take a minor when that wouldn't have normally been possible with his major (Computer Science and Engineering).

[MamaT]

I've graduated two, will graduate another this year, and have three more to go. We're in it for the long haul.

[swellmomma]

I have 2 that I pulled out of public school and 2 that have never been and hope/plan to homeschool until they graduate but come high school I will re-evaluate with each one and determine then what I do.

[melissel]

My response to this question is always: Until it stops working for (all of) us. If that's after high school is done, then great! If that's next year, then :(, but we'll do what we have to do. I'm still not totally sure HSing will be a good fit for my youngest, who thrives in group situations, but we're still moving forward with HSing until I can see that there's a more appropriate alternative.

 

I'm PLANNING to HS all the way for both of them, but I'm willing to accept that it may not happen that way for some reason.

[m0mmaBuck]

We will homeschool until life changes and there is a need/want to return the kids to PS. We pulled DS midway through 2nd grade. DD has never gone to PS. Either/both could end up in PS is our financial situation requires it, if they reach a point where the school system could meet their needs, if we move into a district with a better program, etc...

[nukeswife]

I only voted for my younger two children because the oldest when to PS for K and half of 1st, the younger two haven't been to a brick and mortar school at all.

 

I plan to homeschool them all until they don't want to be, by that I mean my kids always have the choice to go to PS, but at this point none of them are interested.

[Word Nerd]

I'm afterschooling now. It was never my intent when I started to homeschool all the way through high school, though I would have considered homeschooling for HS and still would if necessary.

[jenL]

At this point, we don't have plans to stop homeschooling until after high school. My eldest says he wants to be homeschooled for his entire life! Umm... no...

 

Having taught middle school, they will be home at least through 8th grade. From there, we will determine with them what their needs are. A private, university model school in our area is a possible option. Public school is not.

[KrissiK]

I voted "other" because our plan is to homeschool exclusively through jr. high and then, hopefully homeschool part-time in high school so our kids (especially DS1) can participate in sports in the local Christian School. I want to retain Language Arts/History in high school, but would be willing to put the kids in Christian school for math and science and electives.

[FO4UR]

High school

 

I will be looking for dual-enrollment opportunities when mine are ready.

[Plucky]

I homeschool until they start the running start program at our local community college. The first one went at 16. We'll see what the others do.

[KungFuPanda]

I voted other because we always took it year-by-year, but that got us to 9th grade this year (5th for the younger child).

 

THIS year my oldest has begged to go to High School. We said no, but may let her try it for 10th if she does well in 9th. We need a year to instill a little 'grade-pressure' in her because I think you should care about grades if you are doing public school :-/

[mamajudy]

We've homeschooled since the beginning (20 years, so far). Three have already graduated, and I have 2 more to go. We have always schooled with the intent to continue all the way through high school.

[ereks mom]

My children have been homeschooled from the beginning of their education, and we have always intended to continue homeschooling until they've graduated from high school, barring unforeseeable circumstances, of course. One has already graduated, and, in fact, will be graduating from college in May 2012. (Unless something unforseeable happens, he will graduate with honors. Sorry--proud mama moment there. :D) We're already halfway through high school with our remaining child; she's going into 11th grade now.

 

After that, I intend to homeschool other people's children as well. I guess I'm in it for the long haul. ;)

[texasmama]

when hell freezes over.:D

 

(Pardon, I've been reading a lot of tongue in cheek threads, in my defense...)