Another should I put them in PS thread...

[Mom28kds]

I currently am HSing 4 of my kids, grades 6,2,1 & K. Next year I am putting my 6th (7th next year) DS in PS. The trouble I'm having is with my 2nd and 1st graders. I have HSed in the past with my older 4 kids at different grade levels. So I'm not "new" to HSing.

Here is the rundown on my kids and my dilemma:

2nd grader: Can't stay focused and whines. All I'm doing with him is CLE Math, CLE Language, Explode the code, Handwriting and reading (still struggling on reading). He isn't overworked. Some days it takes him forever. Last week it took him almost 5 hours to do just math and language because he just sat there and played around, day dreamed and whined. I do give him a break if he seems to need it. My dilemma is wondering if he would work better in a classroom situation. He was in PS preschool and K but then I pulled him because I didn't like how they were teaching him to read. He did fine and was a great student at school. But here at home he seems to have focus issues and I'm wondering if that happens at school if he would get overlooked and behind.

 

DD 1st grader: Never been in PS but literally cries and whines when she doesn't understand something or gets something wrong. I've explained to her that it's ok if you don't understand something, that's why we are learning and in school et. etc. She'll just sit there and not really focus on what I'm trying to say. If I say are you understanding or ask some question like that she just sits there with tears saying "I don't know" She cries over her work almost every day. DILEMMA: Would it better for her to be in PS where I'm not having to get on her almost every day for her whining?

 

I don't want to have a relationship with my kids where all I do is get on them. That is what it seems to be every day. I enjoy HSing and love the freedoms that HSing brings but I don't want to be in constant conflict with my kids. If I did it I wouldn't make a change until next school year.

If you've made it this far, thank you for listening :001_smile:

Edited November 5, 2012 by Mom28kds

[MIch elle]

Only you and your family knows what's best. You could always try public school for the younger dc and see what happens. If it goes well great, if not bring them back home. :grouphug:

[AK_Mom4]

Do you find that the whining is contagious? I always found that to be the case here - one kid with a bad attitude seems to infect the other?

 

If that's the case, I would recommend that you work with the 1st and 2nd grader completly separately. Send the other right out of the room to play with the K'er so you can concentrate all your attention on the one you are working with.

 

I know that when DD11 was that age, she had to work right next to me all.the.time or she would day dream and lose focus. When she sat right next to me at my desk, she would finish her work in a very short time. You may need to sit right there with the 2nd grader to make sure things get done.

[the4Rs]

This comes from the perspective of a family who has homeschooled until this year...

 

I would put your second grader in. Sounds like he did well in school when he was there except for a difference in how they taught reading, which I am sure you have covered so he should be fine.

 

Your first grader sounds like my oldest.... if anything is a struggle for my daughter she shuts down or cries. Math was that way for us each year we homeschooled. She is a great student but so hard on herself. I say that with your first grader, try putting her in as well and evaluate as the year progresses. She may do well having a different authority over her education and she certainly won't get away with whining very long in a big classroom. Or if it doesn't work it might be just enough exposure for her to appreciate you teaching her at home and you can pull her out if necessary.

 

Having to always be the "heavy" on your kids is taxing. If it is too much...PS is an option...and maybe it is just enough for you all to know that homeschooling is what you want to do but at least you know.

[Ellie]

2nd grader: Can't stay focused and whines. All I'm doing with him is CLE Math, CLE Language, Explode the code, Handwriting and reading (still struggling on reading). He isn't overworked. Some days it takes him forever. Last week it took him almost 5 hours to do just math and language because he just sat there and played around, day dreamed and whined. I do give him a break if he seems to need it. My dilemma is wondering if he would work better in a classroom situation. He was in PS preschool and K but then I pulled him because I didn't like how they were teaching him to read. He did fine and was a great student at school. But here at home he seems to have focus issues and I'm wondering if that happens at school if he would get overlooked and behind.

I wouldn't allow a 7yo to spend five hours on two subjects. See, I'd be doing something else, different math, different something, rather than handing off a Light Unit and telling him to have at it. Maybe R&S 2nd grade arithmetic, where you spend a few minutes teaching--face time--and then give him a page or two of seatwork to do, and you'd sit next to him while you worked with another sibling. I would probably not do CLE's language arts if he's still not readng as well as he might...something more for reading, such as Spalding/Spalding spin-off, which would do everything in one fell swoop.

 

DD 1st grader: Never been in PS but literally cries and whines when she doesn't understand something or gets something wrong. I've explained to her that it's ok if you don't understand something, that's why we are learning and in school et. etc. She'll just sit there and not really focus on what I'm trying to say. If I say are you understanding or ask some question like that she just sits there with tears saying "I don't know" She cries over her work almost every day. DILEMMA: Would it better for her to be in PS where I'm not having to get on her almost every day for her whining?

No. It would NOT be better for her to be in public school. It would be better to consider different methods that don't feel so much like school and which don't set her up to be discouraged and in tears.