mysticmomma Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Two kids involved. Thing 1: She is a very bright perfectionist with a lot of anxiety. She attended a 3's preschool class and a 4's preschool class. These were 3 days a week and 3 hours a day. She was homeschooled for the first half of K (we had been "afterschooling" through preschool). She expressed a desire to try school and I was in a terrible place emotionally. We were a 1 car family and most days I didn't have the car. We weren't getting the group interactions she CRAVED (like most kids) and our FIL offered to pay for her to go to a local private Kindergarten. It was 5 days a week. 2 days were 3 hours and 3 days were 5.5 hours. She thrived! We made the decision to continue with school as long as it worked for her. We moved for her 1st grade year and private school was not an option. Our local public school was amazing. Everything I could have dreamed up in a school and more. She continued to thrive and excelled in every subject. We continued afterschooling (even in the summer). We are now back near family, and private school is not an option. This is the school district that I was in, and I swore my kids would never be in these schools. We decided to give it a shot, and I feel like it's not working. Bella is now in a 2/3 split class which I love. They take the brightest 2nd graders and the struggling 3rd graders and team them up which I think is awesome. She has a great teacher. The hours are killing her. She is a grumpy angry mess. She is up at 7, school from 8-330 and doesn't get to bed until 10 or 11. She has chronic mesenteric lymphadnitis (swollen lymphnodes in her belly) and she is riddled with belly pain and diarrhea. Sometimes this coincides with her stress level. Other times it does not. I found out yesterday from a letter in the mail that the school system is concerned about how many times she's gone to the nurse. At the beginning of the year I notified them of her issues and that I should be called ANY time she says so. She said she has asked almost every time to call me and the nurse does not. School is closed today, so I'm unable to verify that, but I'm pi$$ed. We talked today about homeschooling again, and she wants to. Thing 2. Evan is a smart cookie that learns in different ways. He also attended preschool with his sister for 2's and 3's. He was in a great prek last year that was freaking awesome! He learned so much and the teacher was so aware of his strengths and weaknesses. I am concerned about his eyesight (we're making a drs appointment) and I also wonder sometimes if he is not dyslexic or something. When we read together, he frequently switches words and letters. He too is very tired, grumpy and short tempered. He also wants to homeschool. DH works long hours and is usually not home before school or after school 4 out of 5 days. The kids miss him immensely. This especially effects DS because he is the only boy. I am in school 3 nights a week taking 15 credits. My dad watches them one evening, my sister another and my brother another. I feel like I don't see them from tuesday morning until friday morning. add that to not seeing their dad and it's just HARD. The catalyst for my eyes even opening up and asking the kids were these letters that came home. The one about my daughter going to the nurse I already told you about. The other one was about my sons attendance. They say he has missed 3 days and I am at risk of going to jail for truancy. I realize their funding is tied to attendance, but WHAT!? AFAIK he has only missed 2 days. 1 he was sick (dd was too) and they both missed. The other was the day after I was in a bad car accident and I couldn't safely provide transportation for them to or from school. I sent notes. So, I plan on talking to DH tomorrow while they are at school. I'm going to go in and talk to the nurse and find out if bella has asked to call me and if so, why I wasn't called. For bella we have made it through singapore math 2a and etc 5. We do SOTW inconsistently as a family orally as well as FLL. I can easily add in art music health/pe instruction, but never fell in love with a science curriculum. I'm also not sure how to "place" my kindergartener or my 2nd/3rd grader. Help! Tell me despite the crazy schedule that I can do this and go to school myself. Tell me ways to place my kids into proper curriculum. Please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 They want to come home. You want them home. Presumably you are home during the day so this is possible. Bring them home. Your schedule will be less crazy, too. I don't really see any downsides to this, based on what you've said. Science is easy. Buy some fun kits in areas of interest and some related books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwickimom Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 You are home during the day, right??? I would bring them home in a heartbeat. You have plenty of time to school them and they will get to see their family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txmommyofboys Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 They want to come home. You want them home. Presumably you are home during the day so this is possible. Bring them home. Your schedule will be less crazy, too. I don't really see any downsides to this, based on what you've said. Science is easy. Buy some fun kits in areas of interest and some related books. This! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 They want to come home. You want them home. Presumably you are home during the day so this is possible. Bring them home. Your schedule will be less crazy, too. I don't really see any downsides to this, based on what you've said. Science is easy. Buy some fun kits in areas of interest and some related books. You are home during the day, right??? I would bring them home in a heartbeat. You have plenty of time to school them and they will get to see their family. :iagree: Bring your babies home! It sounds like that's what would be best for your family. Everyone wants that and would probably benefit immensely from it too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 School at those ages doesn't take much time. Science can be done via library books and science kits if you can't find a curriculum you like (we do library book science here ;)). Sounds like you have the basics mostly covered. I'd throw in some composition for the older child (if you like FLL, WWE might be a good choice). The K'er would need phonics/reading, math, and handwriting of some sort, then read lots of books or let him tag along in whatever history/science you do with the older one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysticmomma Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 Thank you guys. Yes, I am home most days. I am worried that I won't have time to do my school work, but when I think about it, I'm doing all my work at midnight anyway! I have a 3 year old too, and she does preschool 3 mornings a week. Turns out we like preschool, but not after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentuckymom Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 I agree with all the posters who said to pull them out. It sounds like school is more stress than it's worth for your kids at this point. I say this even though my son is in school and I see a lot of value in school. That said, my advice (which you can feel free to disregard) is to be careful of the language you use when pulling them out, both with your kids and with the school. Since you don't seem to feel this way, be sure your kids don't have the impression that they're leaving school because it's something they CAN'T do. It's not that they're failing at school, it's that your family has decided that home is the best place for them to learn for now. With the school, I'd be careful too. Unless this is the case (and I didn't get the impression it was), try to leave without making the kids' teachers feel that it's their fault. Especially with your daughter, whose health issues seem to be having a big effect on your decision, make it clear to the teacher that you're not leaving because she's a bad teacher, but rather because learning at home is better for your child's overall wellbeing. Also, before you leave, make sure you're not just leaving because you have a temporary frustration with the school that could be resolved with a little work. Could the school be made more sensitive to your daughter's health issues? Could your daughter get to bed earlier and be more rested for school? Both of these may be unworkable at this point, but I advise considering them and any other issues that have come up. Hope this helps! Oh, and you didn't ask about this, but, if you're concerned your son has dyslexia and/or vision issues, get him evaluated NOW. Don't wait. I'm disappointed that I took my son's kindergarten teacher's advice that reading would "click" for him sometime in the second semester even though I suspected dyslexia at the beginning of kindergarten. He didn't get evaluated and begin tutoring until the summer after kindergarten, and I feel like I wasted valuable time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 The only thing I can think of that you might need to be aware of is that the nurse may lie. Just say "thank you" to whatever she says. And if you've decided to pull them out of school by now, don't even confront the nurse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysticmomma Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 As a family, we've decided to pull them. I'm not going to talk to the nurse or the principal. I'm going to send my letter of intent to the school board and a courtesy letter to the school itself. Now I have to figure out how to get around the 15 day "waiting" period before they allow the withdraw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faiths13 Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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