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At what age would you let your dc go to ps by request?


What grade would you allow your dc to go to ps by request?  

  1. 1. What grade would you allow your dc to go to ps by request?

    • Never
      58
    • K-2nd
      3
    • 3rd-5th
      6
    • 6th-8th
      10
    • 9th-12th
      52


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I voted 9-12, although ds is in 9th and he's still not going ;). In his case, I might consider 11 and 12.

 

I believe it probably depends on the child, but I would definitely not send them to PS for the 1st time in middle school :tongue_smilie:. Most people (being honest) would have loved to have skipped ages 11-13 or so altogether. My SIL told me she wishes she could have spent those years with a burlap sack over her head. Grades 6-8 were definitely my worst peer-relationship wise. It is a time when you are trying to find your place in the world, figure out your likes, dislikes, interests, passions, etc., and are very easily swayed by the opinions of peers. I spent those years in search of the elusive "coolness" formula, changing my style of dress, interest in music, even my penmanship style :confused: to copy the "cool" kids in hope of being accepted by their clique. By the time I was 15 or so, I was doing my own thing, had my own group of friends with like interests, and left the cool kids alone in their own posse.

 

Of course, this experience will be different for every child, but I vote for putting off school until at least some point in HS,

 

Good luck with your decision.

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My 9yo was talking about it this summer - went so far as to make a list of the good and bad on both sides. Since she was taking it that seriously, we were willing to listen. Our decision was to make some changes here, and if she still wants to go at the semester change (Januaryish) we'll let her try it. I'd rather she do it now (4th) than in the middle school social mess, though I'd also consider it for highschool.

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9th-12th.

 

If she really, really knew what it is like, what is expected of her in every way and, she really, really wanted to go-we would let her.

 

I can't imagine hsing a teen who doesn't want to be hsed. I know of some in this situation and they are very rebellious dc also lacking closeness to their parents.

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I think it depends on one's motivation for homeschooling. I chose Never. I would take my child's preference into consideration, but the bottom line for us has always been what God wants our family to do. For the past 10 years, it's been one year at a time. We are pretty confident right now that we'll hs all the way through. (And that will be my downfall, lol.)

 

Dd expressed an interest for 8th grade. We took her to the middle school and did at least one of the tests. She was not motivated to continue with the testing, although we would have allowed it. I was not led to push her.

 

She expressed interest again the following year, and after praying about it, told her no. Since then, she's been content at home and would choose to be home, if that were an option. At least on most days, haha.

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I said never but that's not quite right. We have open communication about it. When my kids have expressed some dissatisfaction with homeschooling, I've always tried to find out exactly what it is that they are dissatisfied with. Then I've worked hard to fix that aspect. So far that has solved it for my kids. But they've never brought up an issue that needed p.s. or any kind of a B & M school in order for the problem to be solved.

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Never. I am not exaggerating when I say that I believe public school is more harmful to kids than alcohol, marijuana or premarital sex. If my DC want to rebel, I hope they choose one of those things instead, because they're a hell of a lot more fun, and I would have more chance to combat some of the harmful results with those things than I could hope to do with the myriad effects of public school. Institutional schooling goes against everything we believe from a philosophical standpoint...I really don't have time to list all of the reasons it wouldn't be an option in our family.

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I am trying to off set any desires my children may have to go to public school with frequent volunteering in public schools. Allowing them to see for themselves it is not like the movies and tv shows, pointing out time wasters and busywork.

 

My children are still young 8 and 9, so I cannot say for sure if it is working. However, I can say that they feel the offer on the table to go to school away from home or school at home and have more time. They will bust their bottoms to not go to school away from home... again.

 

Again... ds did K in public school both did nearly a year at a private school. I claim teaching the youngest full time because her private school was in my classroom for first grade. :lol:

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I voted 9-12, although ds is in 9th and he's still not going ;). In his case, I might consider 11 and 12.

 

I believe it probably depends on the child, but I would definitely not send them to PS for the 1st time in middle school :tongue_smilie:. Most people (being honest) would have loved to have skipped ages 11-13 or so altogether. My SIL told me she wishes she could have spent those years with a burlap sack over her head. Grades 6-8 were definitely my worst peer-relationship wise. It is a time when you are trying to find your place in the world, figure out your likes, dislikes, interests, passions, etc., and are very easily swayed by the opinions of peers. I spent those years in search of the elusive "coolness" formula, changing my style of dress, interest in music, even my penmanship style :confused: to copy the "cool" kids in hope of being accepted by their clique. By the time I was 15 or so, I was doing my own thing, had my own group of friends with like interests, and left the cool kids alone in their own posse.

 

Of course, this experience will be different for every child, but I vote for putting off school until at least some point in HS,

 

Good luck with your decision.

This. High school only and only then with good, solid reasons, and challenging work that I cannot duplicate at home.

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Interesting replies. My 5th grade son is moaning daily about homeschooling. He says it sucks, he hates it, and he wants to go to public school. His reasons are friends and then education. He says he feels like he's not learning enough here. His friends come home with an hour of homework. He's done by 1pm each day. I will take his request into consideration once we know if we'll be moving out of state or not (hopefully we'll know in the next two weeks). Part of me feels like we're not going to stick through homeschooling through high school. My daughter really wants to say with homeschool, and she cried just when I mentioned going back to P/S LOL I don't mind keeping the girls, but my son is just so full of a need for space, outlet, friends, and someone NOT his mom. I would consider putting him in 5th grade public school to ease his transition to middle school next year.

 

As for all the evils there.... yep, that's what I'm torn about. On one hand I went through it. You deal with the ups and downs. Hopefully with the strong foundation we've set at home these past few years he'll be strong enough to go through middle school with ease. Definitely something to pray about.

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My DD's plan is to finish high school by the end of 8th grade, and then go to the local high school and do dance team (and maybe choir). She's heard the big girls at dance complain about how hard it is to do dance team and get school work done, so she decided that she was going to get ALL the school work done first, and that way she could go to high school and concentrate on dance team, choir, school dances and "having a boyfriend".

 

I figure that since she's only 6, she has a lot of time to recognize the possible flaws in that plan :).

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K-6th is academically underwhelming, with no options for otherwise.

 

7th-8th seems like too vulnerable an age to suddenly start dealing with group mentality, though I will consider putting them in Band/Orchestra/Choir/Drama if they ask and if some of their church/scout friends are participating.

 

9th-12th, yes, if they want to. By that age, their development is there to cope with peers, and the academic options are more varied. (Honor/AP tracks, etc.)

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We make education decisions on a year to year basis. I wouldn't let them go to PS just because they requested it, but it would factor in our decision process.

 

We let them go to school because everything pointed that way - academic, social and personal concerns. They went to private school though.

 

Laura

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Guest submarines
K-6th is academically underwhelming, with no options for otherwise.

 

7th-8th seems like too vulnerable an age to suddenly start dealing with group mentality, though I will consider putting them in Band/Orchestra/Choir/Drama if they ask and if some of their church/scout friends are participating.

 

9th-12th, yes, if they want to. By that age, their development is there to cope with peers, and the academic options are more varied. (Honor/AP tracks, etc.)

 

:iagree: This is my reasoning, exactly.

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Solely based on their request? Never.

 

There'd have to be more reasons than that.

:iagree:

 

DS15 was homeschooled starting in 5th grade. When he reached 9th grade, DH and I discussed it with him and we felt like he was ready to try something different. His older sister was at the same school to lend him a hand if needed. He has done well, but he likes knowing that if he ever needed a different option, he could homeschool again or just go part time at the high school.

 

I voted 9th grade because that's the earliest I would consider it for my younger DD, though she is interested in taking a band class at the jr. high and I will probably let her do that as we know the teacher well.

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Never. Just as I would not pull a kid out of ps just because they asked if I believed that was the best choice. I 100% believe that homeschooling is best for my kids and am not going to put them in based on them asking. Now if there was a hard core reason to send them to ps outside of their asking I *may* consider it, but it would have to be a pretty powerful reason.

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I voted 'never'. But really, that is b/c I would never send my children to PS just because they said they wanted to go - a lot of different things would factor into a decision like that. And, although I understand that you may want to take your child's opinion into consideration, I don't think that children should be the primary ones making a decision like that.

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My answer:

 

College.

 

That's when they get to decide. Public college or Christian college, it's up to them. Before that, dh and I are fully responsible for their education, and we make the choices for them. We have discussions about options, and opinions are welcomed, but ultimately we hold the decision completely in our hands.

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I wouldn't let them go before high school. I would only let them go to high school if it was an excellent and challenging school. Oops, did I mention where I live? So that'll be rare. I do know some teens become very resistant to hsing and I'm just praying like crazy that that doesn't happen here.

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I voted 9-12, but maybe that wasn't right. I would never do it just because of a request. There would be much of a process of finding out why exactly and trying to address those issues first.

 

Already went through this once last year for 6th, DD wanted to go back to PS. Conversation revealed she wanted more socializing and peer interaction, so I signed up for some things (although they required much sacrifice and DRIVING on my part - we live rural.) That solved the issue. She is happy as a clam this year.

 

So, even in 9-12 I would try to work through and address the issues first before acceding (sp?) to a request. If all else failed, I would be willing to let her give it a try during 9-12.

 

Point being, I HS because I believe it is a benefit to her. If she ever became SO miserable and ornery that it ceased to be a benefit to her, I would consider other options.

 

ETA, wondering if the amount of "nevers" might be misleading, meaning never to only a request, not never NEVER.

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