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Do you plan to hs all the way?


table4five
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I guess I am on the fence still. I have a 4th and 5th grader now and because so many things have happened in our family in the last 3 years mostly tragical, I am afraid to even plan it out. Not very full of faith sounding I know. Although, hs'ing while going through all these things has been a blessing.

 

If you do or do not plan to hs all the way why or why not? I know reasons will vary greatly. I lean towards all the way through graduation. But, our oldest graduated from a private school, so we have had a taste if both worlds, I guess.

 

Just curious :)

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I hope to. I lean towards it and am aiming to go all of the way. The reasons why not would be fear and finances. I am worried about what I don't know, what I might forget that would be important towards college and scholarships. I know there are so many guides and how tos and info out there. But I still worry.

 

And of course, it would be so much cheaper to do a charter school or p.s. of some sort that I wonder sometimes if we can pull it off right. Only time will tell, but I want to go all of the way. A final decision on high school will have to made in a few years. I am not worried about getting through middle school.

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I could go either way; our plan is to re-evaluate every year, and go from there, knowing it's only going to be worthwhile if we're all on the same page. We being me and the kids/students. My kids have no learning, health or social difficulties that would make outside schooling an issue, we just like to sleep in and travel freely. I also have nephews in our local schools, friends in teaching and principal roles at those same schools, and am comfortable with the teaching and social environments.

 

My eldest is in 5th grade. We've had a few years of challenging stuff at home, and it's been great having us home together. I'll keep an eye towards each kids' needs (not just academic, but emotional and social) and go with the flow. I'm open. But to me, homeschool is also a privilege - not a default. If my students waste my time or otherwise make it not worth my while ... it's just as easy for me to put them in school, and travel by myself LOL.

 

My kids like being home, for now. We just play it all by ear, keep our options open.

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Depends on the day. Ideally I will and with my now 8 yr old I am sure I will, but I am not sure about the older 2, especially my oldest. He is pushing every button and the attitude gets worse everyday. PS will not be better for him but it will be better for me kwim. So I don't know. I had always thought I would but these last 16 months have really been hard on me. so we will see year by year.

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I never planned to home school to start with; it was just the best choice for my oldest the year I began. I continue to evaluate each year, for each child to make sure it is the best choice.

 

Same thing here. My sister was hsing, and I thought I would NEVER do that! Fast forward to the first 1/2 of kindergarten in a Developmental Research school (ran by a large university), very science and math intensive and we decided to take him out after his repeated expressions of frustration. We look a one year leave of absence (hard to get into the school, only way to get them to hold our spot), and never looked back. My pastor's wife at the time (she was hsing four), told me to decide each year for that year.

 

Right now, I do plan to hs the dc all the way. Sometimes life does not agree with our plans.

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Since you have sat on both sides of the fence I would be curious of the differences between private school & home school for your family. ??

 

I would like to home school all the way through. They never have been to a traditional school setting. My plan is to home school all the way through.

 

Like you the last 3 years have had their difficulties. Half due to medical issues for my youngest and half due to the economy & a season of unemployment and a move for employment. Yet home schooling has been a tremendous blessing through our season of trials by minimizing transitions, giving stability, and keeping us together.

 

Our goal is still graduation someday. My neighbor who has graduated 6, and has 3 left to finish school, is my current inspiration.

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That is the plan. Obviously I do not have a crystal ball into the future!

 

Reasons:

 

1. Our local public school is not great. It is a small school with lack of funding and a very small student body. It doesnt provide upper level classes, lab sciences, AP...nothing really but the very basics.

 

2. My DD (the only school aged one) is very far ahead. Our school doesnt accommodate kids who are far ahead and do not do grade skipping.

 

3. We do not have a local private school, and we couldnt afford it for multiple kids anyway.

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Tentatively planning to put the kids in our decent public school for high school. In our family, going to college is assumed, and I think it will be better for them to learn how to deal with people, multiple teachers, and basically the world while they still live at home. I can't imagine going off to college having never had to encounter views or practices that are different than our family's views and practices. We could change our minds if the high school turns out to be disastrous, but the default plan is that they go to public school for high school.

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I could go either way; our plan is to re-evaluate every year, and go from there, knowing it's only going to be worthwhile if we're all on the same page. We being me and the kids/students. My kids have no learning, health or social difficulties that would make outside schooling an issue, we just like to sleep in and travel freely. I also have nephews in our local schools, friends in teaching and principal roles at those same schools, and am comfortable with the teaching and social environments.

 

My eldest is in 5th grade. We've had a few years of challenging stuff at home, and it's been great having us home together. I'll keep an eye towards each kids' needs (not just academic, but emotional and social) and go with the flow. I'm open. But to me, homeschool is also a privilege - not a default. If my students waste my time or otherwise make it not worth my while ... it's just as easy for me to put them in school, and travel by myself LOL.

 

My kids like being home, for now. We just play it all by ear, keep our options open.

 

:iagree: I could have written this post. Well said.

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I never planned to home school to start with; it was just the best choice for my oldest the year I began. I continue to evaluate each year, for each child to make sure it is the best choice.

 

Same here. We found the local private schools for expat children (state schools are for nationals only) to be very expensive and very inflexible.

 

I would love to hs all the way, although ds said to me he wants to go to school when he turns 10. My concern is that I keep reading local authorities are sometimes very unreasonable and can be very hostile to hs families. I guess I will make the decision when we return to the UK.

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I plan on it, but like everything else in life: it depends. We have had 1 ds attend 2 different private high school for 1 semester each and I was not wowed by the academics at either one (only the chemistry class at one of the schools was excellent). What I provide at home is more challenging.

 

However, we graduated our 17 yod a yr early b/c she had the opportunity to attend a small, private LAC in Canada this yr. (the reason I'm up before the crack of dawn....dh just left w/her for the airport and I am trying not to cry.) Her experience there has been fabulous. If there were opportunities of equal quality for high school locally, I might consider it for some of my children.

 

But another qualifier is that children that don't fit the standard "sequence" mold I would not send. My next 2 oldest at home, our 7th and 10th graders, are definitely not typical high school sequence kids, so I would not consider sending them elsewhere. Being at home allows them to bloom at their pace and in their areas of interest.

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I'm another who never planned to homeschool at all. We started homeschooling because DS10, then 8 yo, was having trouble at school. I now homeschool him, DS7 and DS4. However, we have an excellent school just ten minutes' walk away, which DS12 attends, and DS10 will be joining him in September. DS12 is doing very well, thoroughly enjoys himself, and is very involved in all kinds of extra-curricular activities after school. I really couldn't even begin to compete with the quality of education he receives there.

 

I'm hoping that DS4 and DS7 will want to continue to be homeschooled until they're at an age when they can, hopefully, move on to the same school (it is selective and requires passing verbal and non-verbal tests). If they decide they want to go to school before then they can; I won't be terribly happy about it, but I consider that it's their choice.

 

Cassy

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Planning to hs all the way through high school.

Reasons:

1. I can give a better education at home than he

would get in public school. And we have a quite

good public school. We can just do better at home.

2. DS needs time to pursue his own academic

interests. If he went to public school he would not

have the time.

3. I really enjoy it.

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We started off in the public school system. I plan to homeschool to the bitter end.

 

My reasons:

 

My son was drowning in ps. He's not a sit-down-and-focus-for-hours kinda boy. Even in K, he was taken out of class and brought to the special ed lady every day (he does not have an LD). He hated school. Poor dude.

 

I have absolutely no idea what grade level my oldest daughter is at and I doubt the ps is going to have any resources for her.

 

My kids love homeschooling. Where else can they do unit studies on the Galapagos Islands? Or build solar cars? :tongue_smilie: Or spend three hours researching endangered reptiles of Madagascar? (yeah, my kids are weird ;))

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Tentatively planning to put the kids in our decent public school for high school. In our family, going to college is assumed, and I think it will be better for them to learn how to deal with people, multiple teachers, and basically the world while they still live at home. I can't imagine going off to college having never had to encounter views or practices that are different than our family's views and practices. We could change our minds if the high school turns out to be disastrous, but the default plan is that they go to public school for high school.

 

If you decide to homeschool thru high school, you can provide alot of those things for your kids, too. They can still go to college. As far as challenging them socially and learning to deal with multiple teachers...there are co-ops, they could take classes, my kids are all in scouts and martial arts... I try to teach my kids things like how to follow a syllabus. I usually make them take one enrichment class a semester (we didn't do that this semester - we moved and it was too hectic).

 

They could start taking some college classes in high school. Both of my sisters homeschooled in high school and that's what one of them did. She basically started college while homeschooling high school. She ended up graduating from law school in her early twenties.

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Tentatively planning to put the kids in our decent public school for high school. In our family, going to college is assumed, and I think it will be better for them to learn how to deal with people, multiple teachers, and basically the world while they still live at home. I can't imagine going off to college having never had to encounter views or practices that are different than our family's views and practices. We could change our minds if the high school turns out to be disastrous, but the default plan is that they go to public school for high school.

 

My kids are all college-bound (or finished college). They encounter lots of views that are opposed to our own (many in the courses I actually teach!) as well as simply from being informed and involved. FWIW, my kids have never had a problem adjusting from my homemade courses to college.....they actually think many college classes are easier than mine! ;) (BTW, none of this is directed toward the poster. Every family needs to decide for themselves what the best path is for their individual children. I just want to let moms of only younger kids know that homeschooling through high school does not hamper kids at the collegiate level simply b/c mom has been their teacher and they have not had multiple different teachers simultaneously.)

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We started homeschooling in first grade, ds is now in eighth. We plan to finish high school.

 

It became clear about two years into homeschooling that this was the best option for him. His abilities spanned several grades levels. In a traditional school he might have been doing remedial work in one area while losing ground in the areas he was ahead.

 

His academic interests are not something that can fulfilled at our local high school. He has no desire to attend a traditional school either.

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I put my boys in ps mostly for extracurricular reasons but also because they really wanted to go. It has been a good transition for them though I have a number of concerns about many of the policies at the ps they attend as far as how much they learn year by year and they block scheduling garbage.

 

I plan to homeschool my dd all the way through simply because her passion involves many hours a day of practice which school would complicate and she is very far ahead of age peers and learns best in her own "out of the box" style. I cannot see her ever really "fitting into the mold" ps school expects and being happy...she'd do what she had to do to get good grades because she's a perfectionist (like her mamma) but I think it would be torture for her and kill her love of learning or force her to do all her learning in her time outside of school.

 

I will most likely include either community college or online learning during her high school years.

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At this point, I don't really see any other valid options. That could change, but I don't expect it to.

 

We will be utilizing CC's in high school, as well as online courses -- but since we're attempting to build a curriculum that meets them and feeds their passions, sending them to even a good local high school isn't going to cut it (kids are a bit far ahead... oldest is doing high school level science/math now in 6th grade, he'd be done with the AP science they would offer by 10th anyhow, and he needs 4 good years of solid science to get into the colleges on his wish list).

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I want to mostly because I think the 4 yrs of high school is totally unnecessary, a huge waste of time, in a toxic social environment. IMO the peer relationships take on way more importance than they should and end up consuming too much of a kid's focus at that age. I want them to be more deeply involved in academics and other interests than they could easily be if they were spending that time in school. During those years I would like them to earn diplomas through the American School, study for entrance exams, learn to write really well, start some community college classes, and pursue things that might not be "cool enough" if they were immersed in the peer culture of high school.

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Yes. If I invest 9 years of my life giving the kids an excellent education, I'm not going to bail when we hit pay-off time! I plan to have my kids take some classes at the community college, too. I think traditional high school is a grand waste of time for most kids. And I have a kid in public high school!

 

Tara

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We plan to HS all the way through to graduation, but our reasons have shifted, even over the course of only a few years of doing this. At first, our primary motivation was "better academics," because the local public schools are so appalling and we could not afford private school for three students. But now we feel that homeschooling is a blessing in other ways, too, with positive aspects that go far beyond "better academics." :001_smile:

 

Homeschooling allows us to roll with my husband's irregular work & travel schedule. Sometimes we pack up and travel with him. Homeschooling allows us to relax a little longer in the morning than we could if our routine involved "up and out" each day. Homeschooling allows us to keep the younger years balanced out with play time, exercise, rest, good nutrition, cooperative attitudes, practical skills, and kindness towards each other -- and we still are able to more than adequately provide better academics.

 

Plus, I just LIKE being with my chidlren, KWIM?

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God willing and the creek don't rise -- all the way to college! Loving the first year of high school at home, despite the challenges (which are all about having enough time to do it all). Provided we can pay the bills, quality of family life is the most important thing for us, so we'll keep homeschooling.

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I have graduated two, and will graduate another in the Spring. The other three will also homeschool all the way through high school. Our local high school is not an option, and I don't think I would send them even if the academics were great. I have seen pay-offs in my grown kids that have nothing to do with academics.

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My son is in first. I plan to Homeschool him all the way through right now. Partly because he wants to. If he changes his mind, we will consider it. We will always consider school district when we buy a house, I want to have a choice if we need to make a change.

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I plan to, although I could easily see the kids taking some classes at the local junior/community college down the line. We've always planned to go all the way through, allowing them greater freedom of choice in what to study in the high school years.

 

:iagree: I agree with this, although I get kind of nervous sometimes- wondering if I might "mess up".

 

I have graduated two, and will graduate another in the Spring. The other three will also homeschool all the way through high school. Our local high school is not an option, and I don't think I would send them even if the academics were great. I have seen pay-offs in my grown kids that have nothing to do with academics.

 

(bolding mine). I'd be interested in hearing more about this.

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I plan to homeschool through graduation. I expect that we will take advantage of dual enrollment opportunities at either the local community college or university, depending on what courses they'd like to try. Since I don't feel comfortable with any advanced foreign language instruction, that will most likely be outsourced at that level. Then, I'd think perhaps advanced lab science or advanced mathematics (I only went through calculus, and am not "mathy," so I don't know that I could help beyond that), or electives that I'm not good at/have no interest in.

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Since you have sat on both sides of the fence I would be curious of the differences between private school & home school for your family. ??

 

My oldest dd19 who is in college now, went through k-7 public, 8th hs, then 9 th public, then 10-12 private.

My younger two ds10 and dd9 have been hs since the beginning except for half a year in K for my ds.

 

For us the differences has to be highlighted with the fact that my dc do not have to deal with the peer pressure and criticism my oldest did. My oldest went through a horrible time in middle school with girls who literally pulled her hair out tripped her and even was spat on on the bus. The school did nothing but lip service for us and my dh and I were in there several times. Middle schoolers were wearing bracelets and they paint their nails based on what physical acts they will perform and I guess this is all over. So we pulled her out for one year, she begged to go back and we put her in a private school as soon as we could. Her graduating class was a class of 28. If we still lived in that area, I would consider that private school for my younger 2, but we don't. It was not a perfect school of course, but what a world of difference and her class was like family to her as were the teachers.

 

If I were able to find something like that again, maybe I would consider it. But we are currently in an area where hs'ing is huge and there is a hs building with sports, performing arts hs marching bands etc. So, I may end up hs'ing all through.

 

If we move again, which is a possibility, then I just don't know. It is in God's hands.

:001_smile:

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I want to homeschool through high school graduation and then send them off to college. My husband is definitely not on board with that. He is a year to year type of person which is fine with me. Honestly, God led us to homeschool so if God leads us away from homeschool, I will follow His lead. When God first put homeschooling in my heart, I was appalled and surprised. The more research I did and now that we have started homeschooling, I am just completely in love with it. It truly is the best decision we have ever made for our family. I know things will get tougher as we add more kids into our homeschool and we move up in grades, but I can't imagine not homeschooling at this point.

 

My husband is worried that the kids will want to be in the band or play a sport in school. Those are things to consider, but I am praying that our state laws will change by then so that our kids can do some of those activities without full enrollment. We do pay for those activities with our taxes... :confused: I guess it will be a year to year and child by child assessment. However, I do think it will be best for our children to be homeschooled throughout! God will have a much harder time convincing me not to homeschool than we he convinced me to homeschool (and I thought that was hard :lol:).

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We plan to HS all the way through to graduation, but our reasons have shifted, even over the course of only a few years of doing this. At first, our primary motivation was "better academics," because the local public schools are so appalling and we could not afford private school for three students. But now we feel that homeschooling is a blessing in other ways, too, with positive aspects that go far beyond "better academics." :001_smile:

 

Homeschooling allows us to roll with my husband's irregular work & travel schedule. Sometimes we pack up and travel with him. Homeschooling allows us to relax a little longer in the morning than we could if our routine involved "up and out" each day. Homeschooling allows us to keep the younger years balanced out with play time, exercise, rest, good nutrition, cooperative attitudes, practical skills, and kindness towards each other -- and we still are able to more than adequately provide better academics.

 

Plus, I just LIKE being with my chidlren, KWIM?

 

 

:iagree:

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We plan to homeschool through graduation. In fact, we started to homeschool when our older kids hit high school age, mainly because of the toxic social environment and then later because they actually learned more at home. Only our youngest two will be homeschooled starting in K. I do wish we had known enough to start the olders out with homeschool, it would have avoided a lot of issues down the road.

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I have graduated two, and will graduate another in the Spring. The other three will also homeschool all the way through high school. Our local high school is not an option, and I don't think I would send them even if the academics were great. I have seen pay-offs in my grown kids that have nothing to do with academics.

 

This is exactly how we feel about it, especially the bolded part. We've graduated four who were homeschooled all the way through. We love the academic results, but more importantly we love the pay-offs that have nothing to do with academics, as MamaT said.

 

Our local schools don't have much to offer, but even if there was a great classical school nearby, I wouldn't use it because we've grown to love the advantages of homeschooling too much to give them up.

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I plan to hs all the way. If I felt the need to put them in "ps" it would be thru an early admittance program to a University or by taking classes at a CC.

 

I still remember how shockingly different the social atmosphere is between high school and the Univ. In college, everyone is encouraged to do their own thing and you can find a dozen people with similar interests, whatever those interests are. Most of the jerks in high school either don't make it into college or join a fraternity/sorority (commonly called "high school 2.0" when I was in college). :D

 

May not be everyone's experience, but watching my niece start to navigate high school...doesn't seem like much has changed, only gotten worse ala s/texting and FB.

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All the way as long as there is a way.

 

What are you goals?

Our oldest 3 children (which have since graduated from our homeschool) were getting a good education at the local public school so I had no reason to pull them out when I did other than I wanted for them:

1) to grow together as a family (school has a tendency to split kids)

2) and most importantly get a Godly education.

 

Because I know that #2 will not be met if I put my last child in ps I will do all in my power to keep her home.

 

We have had a tremendously hard time financially the past few years, and it has only gotten worse. Dh is disabled, but we have not been able to prove that to the cold disability court. When you have no money and no insurance and you borrow to go to the doctor there is only so much you can do. And when the doctor doesn't want to perform the right test to prove the problem you are stuck. I have been trying to get a job, but I have not be successful. I can't do online jobs cuz our internet provider provides poor service for a premium price because they can.

 

So....

I have learned how to school with printed materials for a song. I have my hard drive and a backup USB loaded with school books. Using a laser printer we were given and super cheap toner I can make several books for the cost of one new one. And when and if I get a job I know it will be hard to hs at the same time, but I will make a way. Some how, I will make a way. I have schooled through serious illness and I can do this too.

 

I realize that there are some situations where it is near impossible to hs for a season. But those seasons do pass. And as has been mentioned hsing (or just sitting out for a while) can be a blessing to a family by being together, and not having to answer to a school schedule. I pray things begin to look up for you soon!

Edited by Susie in MS
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i never planned on hsing beyond 8th grade, but here i am, with dd in 9th.;)

 

as for 10yo ds, probably at least part time as i am sure he will play sports for the local PS.

 

i actually try not to think about it!:lol: and, i would never attempt to plan more than a year or two...

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We love the academic results, but more importantly we love the pay-offs that have nothing to do with academics, as MamaT said.

 

 

I asked MamaT, and I'll ask you too- what pay-offs? We only know one person IRL who was hs'ed all the way through. He is an awesome young man, but I'd like to hear more stories. :D

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