Do your kids go to public school part time?

[Mallory]

???

I am sure some of you have that Arkansas passed this new law allowing homeschooled kids to play sports, and do other public school activites.

 

But to be able to play the kids have to take a class or two at the middle school/high school.

 

Has anyone ever done this?

 

I have talked to the athletic director (after ds was already aproached by the soccer coach) and they all sound okay with it. BUT I can't seem to get anyone to tell me how the actual school enrollment will work.

 

I know this doesn't even start until next year so no one has any experience in AR with it, but I wondered if anyone is already going to middle school or high school part time and how it is working for you???

[Elinor Everywhere]

I live in a state with incredibly liberal homeschooling laws, and my dd does go to our local ps. She takes choir and marching band, both of which are credit classes (don't love that). I have to say it is extremely successful! She loves them both, and is having the time of her life.

 

The only hiccup has been her time management - she has a very full academic schedule and has been struggling to get it all done (marching band is not only one hour every school day, but 5-7 extra hours in the evenings plus football games). But it's been several weeks and things are smoothing out.

 

Oh, and she just joined the high school's Speech and Debate team, so that'll be interesting....:tongue_smilie:

[snowbeltmom]

But to be able to play the kids have to take a class or two at the middle school/high school.

 

Has anyone ever done this?

 

 

My oldest took a class at our high school when he was 14 so he could play on the sports team.

 

Both of my boys will be partially enrolling in our public school next month so they can play on the sports team together in the spring. They are both taking an "independent study" class designed by me. :D

So basically, they have to go sit at the high school for 85 minutes and complete the assignments that I have given them. Not a very efficient use of their time and a waste of gasoline, but these are the hoops that need to jumped through to satisfy the state athletic association.:glare:

 

I am thankful that our school system permits partial enrollment. In my state, each district determines whether to allow partial enrollment for homeschoolers. My district in the only one in my area that offers it.

[In The Great White North]

Here, we can take classes or do extracurricular activities. Dc have taken a variety of courses, and I have just enrolled them for those courses. It required all the forms and vaccines, but no testing.

 

You do not have to take a class here to participate in sports, which we have also done.

[Samiam]

Our state recently passed allowing homeschoolers and charter school students (ie mostly virtual schoolers) to play sports at the schools...which is awesome! No class requirements. Love that!

 

On the other hand, it would be nice to be able to take classes ala carte in high school, IMHO, like a science w/Lab, or foreign language, because I think those classes are great to take in a group environment, five days a week. We don't have the right to do that.

[Lady Florida.]

Mine is doing it this year, for the first time. Florida allows homeschoolers to play sports and to take classes, but you don't have to take a class to play a sport.

 

Ds is taking German at the high school. The only thing I don't like is the time. The school is on block schedule, and lunch is in the middle of the class. He's there from 12-2 every day. It cuts our day in half, which is the part I don't like.

 

He's had to make some changes in order to do this. He gets up earlier than he used to and gets his homeschool work done before he leaves. Whatever isn't done, he finishes when he comes home.

 

While I don't like it, he does. He's at an age where I think he needs to start taking responsibility for his education, so as long as he takes the class seriously, and his homeschool work doesn't suffer, dh and I will agree to let him keep it up.

[Lara in Colo]

We don't have to go part time in order to play sports in CO, but I know folks that do take classes. However, the ps gets no $$ for a single class, so if the student wants to be there for one, they will be turned down (which is illegal) unless they take two. That gives the ps the $$ and ultimately, it's all about the $$ here. If the student wants to take say, biology at 8:00 and history at 10:00, the student will have to completely leave the building. The student will not be able to do homework in the parking lot or go to the library. The ps just gets their digs in that way. If the student doesn't have a car, he's out of luck as the public library or anywhere else is several miles away.

 

eta: I don't know how AR works, but here, if you're taking the two classes, the student will be taking the CSAP/TCAP.

 

 

My children are enrolled part time and are not taking the CSAP. They are grades 2-7, no mention of having to take them last year or this year.

Our program allows for a free test administered by them, but it isn't csap.

[Sunshine State Sue]

We are in FL and are allowed to participate in all extracurricular activities and are able to take up to 3 classes each year and still be considered hs'ers.

 

Ds (11th grade this year) has played on the PS basketball team since 7th grade. The first 3 years, he took no classes at PS. In 10th and 11th, he has taken 2 classes each year. He says he likes being in school with kids his own age. He is horrified by the academic standards (or lack thereof). I will say that if ds lived in a single parent household, he would not be taking classes at PS. OTOH, I am glad that hs'ers are allowed access to the sports programs.

 

We have to jump through hoops each year and each year they move the hoops. The coach is your best ally.

 

Good luck!

[Mallory]

Glad to hear it is working well for most of you.

 

I do think part time public school could work really well for us (and like Samiam posted) spanish and science labs are two that would really be nice!

 

There is also a testing requirement- every semester they are "required to show average or better on the SAT-10 assessment in the areas of mathmatics, English, science, and social studies."

 

There is some debate about who would set up and pay for it, but when I talked to the athletic director, it sounded like they would only accept the scores if they (the school district) took control of the testing.

 

I am fortunate to live in a state with philisophical exemptions for vaccines, although they are quick to pull you out of school (for weeks sometimes) if a vaccince "preventable" disease is going around and you aren't vaccinated. I guess I should go get my exemption in order.

[KungFuPanda]

We don't have to go part time in order to play sports in CO, but I know folks that do take classes. However, the ps gets no $$ for a single class, so if the student wants to be there for one, they will be turned down (which is illegal) unless they take two. That gives the ps the $$ and ultimately, it's all about the $$ here. If the student wants to take say, biology at 8:00 and history at 10:00, the student will have to completely leave the building. The student will not be able to do homework in the parking lot or go to the library. The ps just gets their digs in that way. If the student doesn't have a car, he's out of luck as the public library or anywhere else is several miles away.

 

eta: I don't know how AR works, but here, if you're taking the two classes, the student will be taking the CSAP/TCAP.

 

Do we really feel it's a 'dig' to not allow unenrolled children in the building? if they are on the property, someone is responsible for them.

[angela in ohio]

Not in Arkansas, but yes. We did it to get access to free DE, sports, and to get some things we needed in an outside setting.

 

Here, the state athletic association runs the show, so it is their rules we have to play by.

Edited September 15, 2012 by angela in ohio

[angela in ohio]

Do we really feel it's a 'dig' to not allow unenrolled children in the building? if they are on the property, someone is responsible for them.

 

Yep. You can't just have students hanging out in the building or grounds.

 

That said, our school found a place for dd to be for an hour to make our schedule work. They put her in a computer lab class, and she works on her online Physics and Latin class.

 

Our school is bending over backwards for dds, but part of it is that as long as they go for any classes, they can use their MME (state test, includes ACT) scores. :D

[4kidlets4me]

We have access here and this year my DD is taking Spanish, Science and Choir at the local high school. It was a real pain to get her enrolled mostly because the school was unsure how to mark her as a part time student. The 2nd week of school she was dropped from all her classes b/c no one could figure out why she only had 3 classes. But I think we've fixed that and everything is fine now. Luckily her classes are back to back. My only issue is the lack of rigor in her classes. So far she has had no homework, no tests, and most days it seems the class is not getting a lot done. But I'm chalking that up to how a public school works.

[Sunshine State Sue]

The 2nd week of school she was dropped from all her classes b/c no one could figure out why she only had 3 classes.

That reminds me of the multiple calls I got from the truant officer at the beginning of 7th and 8th grade...

[mom2scouts]

No, our school district doesn't allow homeschooled children to participate in anything in the schools. You are either all in as a full time PS student or you are all out as a homeschooler. Our superintendents are allowed to decide and I only know of one school district near me that allows homeschoolers any access at all.

[Truscifi]

We are still in elementary, so it is a bit different for us, as there aren't really electives and such right now, but ds is enrolled part time for the gifted program. The school district has been very accommodating, and we will hopefully be able to continue this level of cooperation when he hits middle school and may want the extracurriculars or art/music/language/etc.

[KungFuPanda]

When a child has a class and then has to wait for an hour for the next and there is absolutely nowhere for them to go, I don't think it's unreasonable for said child to be able to work in the library. In this case, yeah, the school did it to be obnoxious. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

I understand that it's inconvenient for you to pick your child up at the end of class and deliver him to the next one because they're not back-to-back. However, I do disagree that the teachers should be responsible for a child that isn't enrolled. If something happened to this student, I'm willing to bet you'd be livid that they didn't "do something" and would be looking to hold someone responsible.

[KungFuPanda]

Well, as it isn't my child, I doubt I would be livid. And it was more than a case of being inconvenient as the family lived very far out of town. The logistics of it all is one (out of many) reason that my children do not participate part time. So, you'd lose your bet.

 

My mistake. I thought you were speaking of your own situation. We seem to agree that it's the family's inconvenience, considerable though it may be, that is an issue here.

 

I can see someone arguing 'He can sit in the media center. Nobody needs to watch him.' Then, if there's an emergency evacuation and this kid is overlooked because he isn't on ANYONE'S head count, that same parent would want heads to roll because nobody took responsibility.

[snowbeltmom]

I understand that it's inconvenient for you to pick your child up at the end of class and deliver him to the next one because they're not back-to-back. However, I do disagree that the teachers should be responsible for a child that isn't enrolled. If something happened to this student, I'm willing to bet you'd be livid that they didn't "do something" and would be looking to hold someone responsible.

But the child is enrolled in the school, and the school is receiving additional money for his enrollment. How is this situation any different than another student that has a study hall in between his classes? The school administration isn't requiring that child to leave the campus in between his classes.

 

Why can't the school treat the part-time enrolled student in the same manner - give him a study hall in between his classes? This seems to be a very simple, common sense solution.

[SunnyDays]

But the child is enrolled in the school, and the school is receiving additional money for his enrollment. How is this situation any different than another student that has a study hall in between his classes? The school administration isn't requiring that child to leave the campus in between his classes.

 

Why can't the school treat the part-time enrolled student in the same manner - give him a study hall in between his classes? This seems to be a very simple, common sense solution.

 

:iagree: That's exactly what I was thinking, and what I would request were we in a similar situation down the road. Seems simple enough. If they were unwilling to do that in the situation Margaret describes, then yes, I'd say they were just being difficult.

 

As to the OP... we have very generous dual enrollment laws in place... even as an elementary student, DS could go for as little as PE class, or for as many subjects as we want. However, as elementary schedules aren't always set in stone (It'd be easy for the teacher to do science at the end of the day one day rather than at 11:00 when it's scheduled, KWIM?), we have opted not to do it right now. We did consider sending him for PE and music, but we haven't found it necessary yet.

 

If we're still homeschooling in middle school, I'm fairly sure we'll take advantage of dual enrollment for a couple of subjects plus sports and activities.

[KungFuPanda]

But the child is enrolled in the school, and the school is receiving additional money for his enrollment. How is this situation any different than another student that has a study hall in between his classes? The school administration isn't requiring that child to leave the campus in between his classes.

 

Why can't the school treat the part-time enrolled student in the same manner - give him a study hall in between his classes? This seems to be a very simple, common sense solution.

 

You're right. IF the school offers 'study hall' and students enroll for it as a supervised class, then that would seem like the best option all around. However, not every school has study hall. I've never taught in, attended, or sent my children to a school that offered Study Hall. If the school in question offered this, it's my guess that this child would be enrolled. I'm surprised the family doesn't insist the boy take a third class to fill the gap if they want him to stay there.

 

Media Centers aren't the school libraries of the past. They are often staffed full time by teachers who are running all sorts of multi-media programs. They have a regular schedule of different classes coming in and out. They don't simply sit on a stool and watch children quietly studying reference books. Sometimes they even house the computer labs and coordinate the classes that need to use those.

 

There's just no getting around needing an adult in charge of a minor child.

[angela in ohio]

You're right. IF the school offers 'study hall' and students enroll for it as a supervised class, then that would seem like the best option all around. However, not every school has study hall. I've never taught in, attended, or sent my children to a school that offered Study Hall. If the school in question offered this, it's my guess that this child would be enrolled. I'm surprised the family doesn't insist the boy take a third class to fill the gap if they want him to stay there.

 

Media Centers aren't the school libraries of the past. They are often staffed full time by teachers who are running all sorts of multi-media programs. They have a regular schedule of different classes coming in and out. They don't simply sit on a stool and watch children quietly studying reference books. Sometimes they even house the computer labs and coordinate the classes that need to use those.

 

There's just no getting around needing an adult in charge of a minor child.

 

Yes, I think sometimes people don't understand how much has changed since we went to school. I asked for dd to be in study hall for first hour. Nope, no such thing. They did us a huge favor and put her in the class that uses the computer lab to do online classes. She isn't enrolled, but the teacher is in charge of her (she's thrilled. :D) They didn't have to do that, and we thanked them a lot. Like I said, they want their test scores, and we have been very nice to them, and our other dd takes a few classes, so we are worth their while. For my other dd who had a gap in her schedule, we put her in art.

 

And besides an emergency, what if the student is mischievous? That's the primary reason students can't just be wherever unsupervised. Like I said, a lot has changed over the years. You can't assume a high school aged student is mature enough for that.

[Heather in Neverland]

My ds goes to the private school where I work for two classes a day and it is working out very well. He is allowed to be a part of whichever extra curriculars he pleases as well.

[Mallory]

I agree with both side, it does seem unreasonable that the school can't be on the property. I took a zero hour class one year so I was done an hour before most other students, but I was still allowed on campus.

 

But if it was my student they were treating like this we would find some kind of filler for that hour- study hall, office aide, drawing, whatever. I also would be unable to make a whole other trip into town for this "break".

 

It seems to me like niether party was interesting in really making it work.

[Rosy]

DD11 goes to our local middle school for 2 classes a day--band and PE. I enrolled her in PE so I wouldn't have to pick her up after 5th period, but she's really enjoying it (go figure). Our biggest glitch so far is that we have co-op on Fridays. Both of her teachers were agreeable to her making up the work, but last Friday is currently marked unexcused in the gradebook. :glare: I'll need to work that out with the principal. I'm happy to pull her out if he has a problem with our schedule, but I don't think he will.

[Trilliums]

Kids can attend public school part time here. Some schools in the district will allow kids to spend time in between enrolled classes at the library and some schools will not allow them to stay on campus. Some schools will let the part time students take the bus to or from school, and some schools will not. Some schools will let kids participate in after school programs only and some schools require students to be enrolled in for credit classes in order to take part of sports and clubs. So, even though the individual schools are all within the same school district, they have leeway in dealing with the details of enrollment. Probably OP will have to wait and see how their particular school deals with all of these little issues.

GL!