would you allow your ds to go to PS?

[Sevilla]

If my DS had been asking from age 6-9 to go to PS I w ould allow it for 4th grade as a trial year. I'm not a hardcore ideological homeschooler though, I'm a 'homeschool for academic reasons and to foster a close relationship, and maybe b/c I like having control over what curriculum we use so they can get an excellent foundation in math/lanugage arts/history.

[mytwomonkeys]

i would let my daughter try public school next year. i would not allow my son (not for a few years at least).

[Laura in MI]

Yup, I'd let him try it for a year. :001_smile:

[Little Nyssa]

We have tried PS + afterschooling this year, and so far it has worked out very well.

Do you want him to try it for a few days? Try one class? One afterschool activity? Or do you want him to try the full program? If the latter, it might be good to think about starting him in Sept, not mid-year (see one of the discussions on the Afterschooling board about this).

[DianeW88]

No, I would not. But I am an old-school homeschooler, who started back in the day when pulling your child in and out of the system at a parent's or child's whim was not an option. We don't do public school for academics. Period.

 

I would allow a high school age child to participate in an extra-curricular activity, however, and my dd was on the drill team for her senior year. Other than that....no way. And I don't consider a third grader old enough to have a vote on those kinds of decisions.

[3browneyedboys4me]

If he goes, I would start him at the beginning of fourth grade. I would go to the school, take a tour, find out where he should be academically going into ps 4th grade and work on getting him on "their" target. I would not want him to feel behind b/c we were doing something diff. at home. So, I might just go up there this wk to take a look.

 

We have tried PS + afterschooling this year, and so far it has worked out very well.

Do you want him to try it for a few days? Try one class? One afterschool activity? Or do you want him to try the full program? If the latter, it might be good to think about starting him in Sept, not mid-year (see one of the discussions on the Afterschooling board about this).

[justamouse]

I always thought I would, and I'm never going to say never, but after this completely UNDERWHELMING year with Dd17 in PS as a junior, I'm pretty danged sure what the outcome will be. At third grade they do not have an option, it's OFF the table.

[Stellalarella]

If he goes, I would start him at the beginning of fourth grade. I would go to the school, take a tour, find out where he should be academically going into ps 4th grade and work on getting him on "their" target. I would not want him to feel behind b/c we were doing something diff. at home. So, I might just go up there this wk to take a look.

 

:001_smile:

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I personally would let him try it. He may thrive there, he may not.

 

My kids started out in PS. They repeatedly say they never want to go back, but I think if they change their minds again in a few years, I'd let them go back to see if it worked out.

[raceNzanesmom]

No. Those decisions are left up to my dh and me (and God). There's, actually, a lot of things my kids would like to do that we don't allow. I know without even discussing it that we wouldn't allow middle school or younger. Our oldest did take some classes at the high school his jr and sr year, so I'm not anti-public school. It just wouldn't be an option for younger kids, and I doubt very much it would ever be a full time thing. When our older ds took classes he was still considered hs'd.

 

But, that's us and our family.

[Shellydon]

No. We would never allow public school. We *might* allow private school.

[SuperDad]

Just wanted to clarify my viewpoint - if any of my dc honestly and truly desired to try ps, then I would wholeheartedly support that child attending ps for a few months, or even for a full year (as I said before, I have one child who has already done this and one more planning on it). However, I cannot see my wife and I allowing any of our children to attend ps for the long haul. I suppose anything's possible, but we both are pretty disdainful of public schools, and we both had awful ps experiences as kids.

If any of our dc really want/need to go to a "school", then we would likely choose the excellent nearby Sudbury Valley School-type private school. Wife and I seriously considered this school before choosing homeschooling.

[Mimm]

I haven't read the thread... but not at that age. I would explain that this is what we are doing right now. I would explain our reasons for homeschooling. I've had these discussions with my kids. My older daughter has asked if she can go to public school for high school. I tell her that it's certainly an option, but we haven't made a decision about that yet. I tell her that she has lots of options for high school and I talk about online classes and the local community college (which admits lots of homeschooled high schoolers). I try to make her see that as a homeschooler, she has lots of interesting options open to her. And she gets excited about that. I also point out various other advantages as we go about our day. Just the freedom and fun that we have.

 

Ultimately, they might do well at public school, but as their parents, this is the decision we've made for now. Honestly, I think my children would not do well in public school at all. Older child is very very active and squirmy and day dreamy (almost certainly ADHD). Younger child has a very low tolerance for mindless busy work or repetitive tasks.

[Calm37]

<<would you allow your child to experience PS?>>

 

No, I wouldn't.

[Jann in TX]

My older girls did private, public and homeschool-- depending on what was the best choice for THEM at the time.

 

Youngest dd is my social/competitive child. She is absolutely thriving in our PS.

 

Next year will be 5th grade and I really really do not like most of the current 5th grade teachers... depending on who she is assigned to, youngest dd may homeschool for 5th grade... I really can't see her homeschooled through graduation like her older sisters. We also live in an area with extremely limited options for outside classes/activities. I know if I pull dd out next year a few other families will do the same-- so there is a chance for a small co-op... it would be extremely difficult on dd... but still better than having one of those 'bad' teachers!

 

I LOVED the homeschooling 'lifestyle'-- but in reality we chose to homeschool because it was the best educational choice for our child/children at the time.

[Lawana]

Not for a 3rd grader. Dd wanted to go to "school in a building" for 2nd-4th grades. It was not in her best interest, and at that age, I feel the parents have a much better view of best interest than the child. For an older child, I would consider his/her viewpoint to carry more weight.

[HeidiKC]

Yes, I'd let him, especially since it's 3rd grade. That seems "old enough" and "young enough" at the same time. If he doesn't like it, at least you'll both know that and you and he won't spend years wondering, regretting, etc.

 

And maybe he'll love it and it will be great for him (assuming you aren't strongly against PS in general).

[Heather in Neverland]

Never. Ever.

 

A Christian school? Yes. A public school? Over my cold, dead body.

[PhotoGal]

If either of my kids really wanted to, I would absolutely enroll them in public school. While I prefer homeschooling for many reasons, I wouldn't stop them from attending school if that is what they wanted. (Assuming there is nothing dangerous / harmful going on at that school).

 

I used to teach in a public school and overall I feel it is a positive place for children. There are some things that I didn't like about the school system, but for the most part I think the kids had good experiences.

 

If the kids did go to school, I would probably focus on having family trips and other activities that kept us close as a family.