Homeschooling…do you reevaluate each year? Are you committed until x grade? Etc.

[umsami]

So, we're winding up our first year back homeschooling after a break.  It's been a really good year for both DS1 and me.  As I'm facing a move and looking at what to do next year, I started wondering if people re-evaluate their decision to homeschool each year or pre-decide that they're going to homeschool until their DC reaches high school, college, or whatever?  

 

DH would love for me to commit to homeschooling all four through high school, but I simply am not willing to do so.  DS1 is extremely intellectual curious and self-motivated, but I know that two of my kids are far more stubborn, and I may simply tire of dealing with that on a daily basis.  My goal is that if I think homeschooling is negatively affecting our parent/child relationship, then i will send them back to school.

 

What's your philosophy? 

[Mergath]

We're committed until dd starts high school, then it will depend a lot on her interests, her goals for college and the future, what the local high school can offer, whether or not she'll take college classes in high school, etc.

[madteaparty]

I am committed until Grade 8. I hope he gains admission to super-selective, really great, specialized public high school by then. Frankly I am terrified of homeschooling HS and have no intention of doing so if it can be helped.

ETA: Homeschooling has a real, easily quantifiable cost for us. I put my highly compensated career in the back burner specifically in order to homeschool. For upper elementary/middle school, it makes absolutely perfect sense. In high school is when I start to recalculate and think about college bills/my own retirement. Also, my DS is very social. I cannot lie and say homeschooling has been amazing for him on that end, because, despite heroic efforts on my part, it has not.

[Runningmom80]

We re-evaluate every day. :lol:

 

 

In all seriousness, yes it's a yearly decision, with high hopes of being able to enroll him in local PS for high school.

[TracyP]

I am committed to homeschooling the whole way. I would be open to not homeschooling high school if we moved to an area with better schools, but this is unlikely. I believe my kids will start college in 11th grade, so I guess my commitment ends a bit short of graduation.

[Crimson Wife]

For quite a while, DH would only commit to one year at a time. The ironic thing was, when we actually WERE looking at possibly needing for financial reasons to put the kids into PS so that I could resume FT employment, DH all of a sudden became strongly in favor of continuing HS through at least 8th if at all possible.

 

I'm bumping up against the limits of what I can teach with oldest DD already and she's a rising 7th grader. So we will most likely outsource high school to either a B&M private school, an online or correspondance private school, or possibly early college. But through 8th we do plan on HSing as long as we are able to.

 

Right now we don't have any plans to HS our youngest child, but that's because she has SN. The district is willing to individualize instruction for my little one (they've got her in a class with 4 teachers for 8 kids) in a way that they are not for general ed students. Plus she needs the associated services like speech therapy and social skills training that I couldn't easily do at home.

[redsquirrel]

There came a point, I am not sure where it was, when I saw DS1 as old enough to have a say in the decision. Last year (end of 7th grade) he told me he wanted to attend high school (next school year). I told him we would go forward this year (8th grade) as if that were the plan, but he was free to change his mind at any time.  We are finishing up 8th grade and he hasn't changed his mind so I am guessing that is the plan.

 

I do believe, given my local school system, that high school is sort of an 'all or nothing' proposition. It wouldn't go well if he went in halfway through. I didn't have to have that talk with him, but I think I would have done so if he said he wanted to stay home.  But, that is just my thoughts on high school. Other people are fine with their kid enrolling as 10th or 11th graders.

 

I also agree think that homeschooling isn't for everyone (just as public school isn't for everyone) and that if it is a source of problems in the parent child relationship then it should be seriously reevaluated. I have two friends who ended up enrolling for exactly that reason. Their kids, who struggled in a homeschool situation, have gone on to thrive at a public school and their family life is much, much better.

[Desert Strawberry]

We have no viable alternative. 

 

I am committed to homeschooling straight through. I believe it's the best option.

 

D would reevaluate if our situation were to change dramatically, such as a move to another state.

[Ellie]

So, we're winding up our first year back homeschooling after a break.  It's been a really good year for both DS1 and me.  As I'm facing a move and looking at what to do next year, I started wondering if people re-evaluate their decision to homeschool each year or pre-decide that they're going to homeschool until their DC reaches high school, college, or whatever?  

 

DH would love for me to commit to homeschooling all four through high school, but I simply am not willing to do so.  DS1 is extremely intellectual curious and self-motivated, but I know that two of my kids are far more stubborn, and I may simply tire of dealing with that on a daily basis.  My goal is that if I think homeschooling is negatively affecting our parent/child relationship, then i will send them back to school.

 

What's your philosophy? 

 

I sort of evaluated as we went along. Initially, I figured we'd keep homeschooling as long as we were all still normal and we all still liked each other. :D

 

There would never have been a decision based on "grade." Homeschooled children are not in grades.

 

It was several years before I knew we would always homeschool (dc were 4 and 7 when we started hsing).

[Pawz4me]

When we pulled our kids out of elementary school to start homeschooling, our plan was to continue at least through middle school.  But we were always open to either of the boys choosing to go back to public school at any point.  We also would have re-evaluated if other family circumstances seemed to indicate that for any reason homeschooling might not be the best overall choice for our family as a whole.  Ultimately we did in fact homeschool both boys through middle school, and then both chose to return to public schools (different options) for high school.

[MinivanMom]

For many years I said that we were committed through 8th grade, and then we would make the big decision about high school. Now my oldest has reached an age where I feel like she needs to have more of a voice in her education, so we are taking it year-by-year. She says she wants to continue through high school, but we will revisit that decision in 7th grade.

[Seeking Squirrels]

I don't plan on re-deciding each year. The plan is to homeschool all the way through. That's not to say we won't re-evaluate if anything changes and homeschooling doesn't seem best anymore. But it's not something I'm considering year to year. The default for us is homeschooling.

[Kelly1730]

Our thoughts about homeschooling have slowly evolved. Our original thought was to homeschool the twins until our dd graduated from Christian school, since we did not want to pay for three tuitions. Homeschooling was going so well for us that we have continued long after dd graduated (2010). Also had thoughts of putting the boys in CS when they reached high school age but now, as rising 7th graders, we will continue to homeschool through high school unless the Lord should show us otherwise. 

[nwmama]

I'm committed at least through elementary school, then will reevaluate for middle school and high school. I'll do the same for each child. 

[mprez]

We are committed to HS until 1st grade. We live abroad due to DH's work. We decided homeschooling is the best option for us. I have come to appreciate the flexibility and learning together as a family. We will see where the next assignment will be and if the school choices is satisfactory, we will reevaluate then. I'm prepared to homeschool until HS if necessary.

[The Girls' Mom]

We are committed through graduation.  At this point in the game, even should my husband and/or I fall ill or die, the girls could easily finish up on their own.  When we pulled them out of PS in 3rd and 6th grades, we were only going to give it a try.  By the time 6 months had passed I was pretty sure that they would not be setting foot in a public school again.  Now, with all three in high school and one set to graduate next year our commitment to finish up at home is pretty much set in stone.  If I had another child I would not hesitate to say that we were 100% committed to homeschooling them from birth through graduation.

[boscopup]

We're committed through high school, but I'm open to a change in high school if there is a reason to make a change. I don't see that happening with at least one of mine. Our school options aren't very rigorous.

 

But no, I don't reevaluate year to year.

[Gil]

Well, *I* reevaluate on the daily! The boys say that they love HS and want to continue forever (Uh...no. 12th grade, maybe. Forever? NO WAY!)

However, I don't want my kids to get a 'standard' education. As far as my experience has taught me, a standard/run-of-the-mill education is essentially a waste youth.

I want their education to mean something to them and/or to serve them in their lives. So there are goals that I have in mind for them--ie multilingualism, specific skill sets, etc--and no matter where they attend school I would strive to make those things a reality for them.

 

I think that I am okay with the idea of homeschooling at least until Middle school. This first year as official HSers is rough but thats not so much to do with their school and more with just the state of our lives right now. Hopefully things will settle down when I finish school.

 

I am open to moving to a new country to help the boys be challenged academically, broaden their horizons, gain more world experiences and to learn a new language, I am open to letting them take the reigns of their own education as they are older (depending on their maturity) because already my boys show signs of knowing what they want and I hesitate to make all the decisions for them, but its tough...

 

all that and I still reserve the right to change my mind every few weeks. But mostly I am in until 6th grade (11/12yo).

[73349]

There would have to be a significant change for me to consider sending him to school before 9th grade. It's not impossible, but I am working on the assumption that he will be at home through 8th and possibly through 12th.

[Laura Corin]

I re-evaluated periodically.  Not exactly every year, but as the children changed, as our circumstances changed.  We put the boys into school when Calvin needed more interaction with a variety of teachers and peers than I could provide - there was no equivalent of community college nearby where he could just take a few courses.

 

L

[Jane in NC]

Do you mind if this veteran chimes in?

 

Homeschooling began for my son in 7th grade.  I was fairly committed to 7th and 8th, while strongly suspecting that we were going the distance given the lack of public school options where we live. 

 

High school is pretty scary.  If you are having some doubts, Nan in Mass has great words of wisdom in this thread which may help.  For some homeschoolers, committing to 9th grade means committing to high school.  Home school high school credits are not always recognized by their public school system.  Truly it is best never to say "never".  We knew folks who were highly committed to homeschooling until our early college high school opened. Then they changed their tune. 

 

Now, as I reflect back on our homeschool days and many sleepness nights filled with doubt, I am happy to report that I believe staying the course was the correct thing for my son who was accepted into a number of good colleges with some lovely merit aid offers.  By the way, he graduates from college soon and continues his adventurous life this summer as a staff member at an archaeological site in Britain.  How he made where he is today is in part due to the flexibility that homeschooling offered.  Keep that in mind as you do your annual re-evaluations--which to answer the OP's question is what we did.

 

Best regards,

Jane

 

 

 

[Loowit]

When I started homeschooling my youngest was going into Kindergarten.  We decided to give it a shot for a year for a couple reasons, basically it boiled down to she already knew what she would need to know finishing K and K isn't required in our state.  We figured, perhaps naively, that she would be fine entering in 1st grade even if we messed up K.  After the first year, we decided to continue to homeschool and to re-evaluate each year.  After a few years, while we did talk about it, it was already in my mind a given that we would continue to homeschool.

 

At this point in our homeschool/life I can't imagine stopping at any point short of high school graduation, but I am sure that there are life events that could interfere.  I did talk to DD about high school and what she wants to do.  In our area the local public school will not accept homeschool credits, so if she were to change her mind to go to PS after starting she would have to enter as a freshman.  So if she wants to try it out, freshman year would be the chance.  She has chosen to be homeschooled, and possibly take a few classes at the high school like drama.  She has a few friends that do this and really enjoy it.  Neither of the boys at this point are the slightest interested in PS.  My middle hates the rules at school.  He goes for 30 minutes a week of speech therapy and thinks that their rules are stupid.

[ErinE]

We evaluate every year. Now, the kids want to homeschool through high school, and I'm committed if they are. Since high school in many states is all or nothing, we'd need to have a serious conversation the eighth grade year about expectations and requirements.

[OneStepAtATime]

For both kids we make our decision as a family each year (including input from the kids), but I have the biggest say since it falls on my shoulders to make it happen.  Realistically, unless we moved to an area that could handle children with learning differences, then at least for DD we are in it for the long haul.  She prefers homeschooling anyway, so that has been o.k. I do worry about effectively homeschooling high school level material when she is still behind in math by quite a bit and still behind in reading skills by a little (and may always need extra time on tests, etc.).  She is 13, though, and has done both brick and mortar and homeschooling so she knows what she would be facing if she went back to a regular school.  I feel she has the right, at this point, to have some say-so in the decision.  If I felt it wasn't working at all, or was causing real damage to our relationship we would either find a way to relocate to another place where she could go to school or we would find a way to afford a tutor.  I would not spend 4 years fighting with her while I clawed my way through homeschooling.

[Heidi]

I intend to homeschool through high school, but I am open to change if I needed to.

[Ameena]

This is the end of our 4th year homeschooling. Baring either major life changes {and honestly we've had pretty much everything thrown at us these 4 years}, or dd getting a full ride scholarship to one of the few private schools I would consider - we will be homeschooling all the way through.

 

The public schools here are terrible IMO. I have watched at one local high school nearby when school let out - after 5 minutes a teacher came out with a bullhorn and used it to announce "All students must be off the property in 5 minutes or you will be arrested". That is not the enviroment I want my child in. I might have considered the Early College Academy for our district, but there is no busing provided & it's not on a city bus line. We have no car, so it isn't feasible for us.

 

 

That being said, I do evaluate yearly. If something isn't working I change it up.

[Critterfixer]

In it for the long haul.

We have no private option for grades six and up. 

 

Now, I'm not good at long term planning. My strength, if I have one, is adapting, making things work, thinking on the fly, adjusting to circumstance. I certainly don't go about figuring that I'll use this one year, this the next, etc. But up until now, I've been able to do things yearly, and really needed to. Some years the boys learned more than others. Third grade for instance, that was a hole of frustration. Fourth grade has been great. We even tested well, big deal....

 

I don't know if I'm going about this correctly, but it's the only way I can think to plan ahead for high school. I'm adding myself as a student this year. I'm taking the ninth grade suggestions in TWTM and selecting my curriculum, making my own schedule for accomplishing the goals, and I'm planning to work right through it as well as I can over a full year. I figure that by doing the work myself, I can note where I see skills I need to develop during the upcoming logic stage (my guys will be going into fifth this year.) I can also find places I may want to adapt for the boys, and best of all, I'll be going through the same material they will be working on, so I'll have plenty to discuss with them. 

 

BTW, that thread that Nan wrote that Jane in NC references is AWESOME. I might just go read through it again. 

[EmilyGF]

I always tell people we'll homeschool as long as it is working well for us. I think it can be dangerous to say you'll always homeschool IF that means you aren't being introspective and fixing problems that come up.

 

We've learned we're having a baby with extreme health problems this summer, so I'll be evaluating our situation come fall as to whether to send one or more children to school. 

[brookspr]

This is also our first year of homeschooling, with an 11yo boy and 13yo girl.  When we made the decision as a family to home school, it was with the understanding that we would continue as long as everyone was still happy with the arrangement.  If one of the kids wants to go back to public school, we will have that discussion.  If not, we are committed to homeschooling thru high school.  My daughter is actually going to go to the public high school part time next year to take band and one other class.  The rest we will do at home.  At first she wanted to go full time, then not at all, and after we found out part time would be an option that is what we all decided would be best.  If things go well and she wants to take more classes there next year, she can.  If it doesn't go well and she wants to stay home full time, that's fine, too.

 

My son thinks he wants to go to the public high school, but he was always young for his grade because of a move and difference in cut-offs for kindergarten, so he wants to take an extra year at home and enter high school with kids his age.  He may change his mind about that in the next two years, but that's his plan for now and we support it.

[Tanikit]

We re-evaluate whenever we need to - I cannot commit for a certain length of time as who is to know what can happen - if my husband were to become unemployed then I would probably have to earn the money, if one of us were to die then of course things would change, if someone got so sick they could not homeschool then that might also change things, we could move to a country that does not allow homeschooling.  For now though it is working for us and for our children. I would be happy to homeschool all the way through, but I also know that life has a way of throwing curve balls.

[Corraleno]

I definitely plan to homeschool high school (DS is currently in 9th, DD is in 6th). That doesn't preclude outsourcing (e.g. Lukeion for Latin & Greek) and we have access to a good CC and a 4-yr uni for DE courses. Neither of my kids has any interest in attending PS, and barring some unforeseen catastrophe, I don't see it as an option for us.

[melmichigan]

I plan to homeschool high school.  I do have plans to outsource to meet individual needs, just as we do now.  We also have access to the CC for middle college enrollment beginning in 9th or 10th.

[In2why]

We evaluate every year.  We choose what is best for our family based on how well they are doing, if they are thriving or if something else might be better.  My 9th grader is in public school this year and as long as he continues to thrive, I believe will stay in traditional school.  If I had to guess, my 10 year old will likely homeschool all the way through and dual enroll at our community college in high school.  But he may choose internships and on the job training as well depending on if his passions stay the same and he thrives.  

[abba12]

School is a non option for us, dh and I both homeschooled high school so that isn't scary for us, in fact its exciting. I would evaluate an opportunity, like a specialized high school or alternative path, but there's no yearly discussion here

[FO4UR]

I gave ps serious consideration for the fall.  We moved and the school is not terrible here.  I decided to hs. Unless something changes, we will homeschool all the way through, gradually sending our baby birds out of the nest to the local community college when they are teens.

 

 

[Aspasia]

We're committed until dd starts high school, then it will depend a lot on her interests, her goals for college and the future, what the local high school can offer, whether or not she'll take college classes in high school, etc.

This is our plan as well. Obviously, if we had a major life change or we were experiencing some major problem with homeschooling, then we would re-evaluate, but that's very different from re-evaluating each year as part of the plan. We operate under the assumption that we will be homeschooling long-term.

[8filltheheart]

Committed

[Courtney_Ostaff]

When I started homeschooling my youngest was going into Kindergarten.  We decided to give it a shot for a year for a couple reasons, basically it boiled down to she already knew what she would need to know finishing K and K isn't required in our state.  We figured, perhaps naively, that she would be fine entering in 1st grade even if we messed up K.  After the first year, we decided to continue to homeschool and to re-evaluate each year.  After a few years, while we did talk about it, it was already in my mind a given that we would continue to homeschool.

 

^^what she said.  My 6-yr-old told me yesterday that during her 4 months at private school, she was "anxious and lonely every day".  She was singing Saturday, and I realized that it was the first time I'd heard her sing since last fall, before private school.  I'm not 100% sure we're homeschooling next year (life happens), but I'm 95% sure.  Long term, high school doesn't intimidate me for the academics, and there are more opportunities for her to socialize as she gets older.  This early elementary is harder on me.  :unsure:

[Roadrunner]

We are hoping to homeschool until high school, but all options are open. If my kids ask to go back to PS, we will honor their wishes. We have choices around here and our local high school ranked among the top 1%, so it's easier for me to be flexible. If we were to end up living in a different place (like some neighboring towns full with gangs), I might not be that open to PS.

[bobbeym]

We are committed through high school graduation.  Here, it's an all or nothing in our local ISD.  Being mostly half-done with high school DS would find it very difficult to transition back into a mainstream PS world.

[Aurelia]

We are committed through 8th grade, and are planning to home school for high school, probably with some community college and other outsourced classes. 

[MotherGoose]

I do reevaluate, but I have always said I do not want to throw my dds into the social craziness of middle school if I can at all avoid it. Elementary school, yes, and even high school when I think, in my own experience, kids are better than in middle school, but not middle. I never say never.

[Dmmetler]

We reevaluate every year, but it wasn't seriously considered for this coming year because the local PS system is in a state of turmoil. In practice, I suspect entering 9th is the most likely time for DD to return if she ever does.

[Farrar]

Pretty committed.  I'm willing to re-evaluate if I really need to just like I think anyone should be because you don't know what challenges - financial, medical, psychological, etc. - the future may bring.  However, homeschooling is the default option through graduation from high school and I'm pretty tied to that.  I don't sit down every year and think, well, am I going to keep at this?  It's a given that I am.

[Mom22ns]

When we started ds was in 6th grade. We said we wanted to give it three years and then if he wanted to go back for high school he was welcome to do that. By the time the first year was finished, we both knew he would never go back. He will be a senior next year. He has done some dual enrollment this year and will be taking some online APs next year, but he will have homeschooled all the way. 

 

Dd started the next year, her 5th grade year. There is a 5th-6th grade building here that is far below the standards of the rest of the distort. She decided she didn't want to go there and I agreed. I told her she could go back any time that she wanted, but she never did. I actually tried to convince her to return to ps for high school. She works harder for teachers that aren't me. However, she chose to stay home for high school and I am happy to have her. 

 

I don't re-evaluate yearly. I love homeschooling and it has been a good fit for our family. I would re-evaluate if I felt there was a reason to though.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

We knew with ds14 we were homeschooling until highschool, and likely through high school as well.

 

With ds11 we reevaluate each year.

 

Both boys have the option to go back to school if they choose. And if there were any major life changes we might reevaluate then.

[Alice]

We started off saying "one year at a time". Then we would say "as long as we think they are getting a good education/it's working for that child". Now I would say that unless something major changes (financial, jobs, health) I am willing and would be happy to homeschool all the way through high school. However, I also believe the kids should be part of the decision making process, more so as they get older. My oldest is finishing up 5th grade and at this point says he wants to homeschool all the way through. We talk about it occasionally and he knows that if he's not happy that we can discuss other options. I think he'll probably stick with homeschooling. He has a personality that it fits well (introverted, self-learner) and he has a lot of homeschooled friends and other social outlets. My second son says he wants to homeschool also but he's only in 2nd grade so he could change his mind. He's also more social than his brother. My daughter has already repeatedly said she wants to "go somewhere" for kindergarten. I told her she doesn't have a choice yet. :) She also wants to be a princess and wants a pet unicorn so I'm think her decision making process isn't the most mature yet. In all seriousness, she is definitely the most extroverted and social of all the kids and the one that seems to need the most outside stimulation. I could see her wanting to go to school eventually, especially by high school if her brothers are no longer home. 

 

We're lucky in that we live in an area with a lot of options. I think our local public high school would be fine. We have friends at good small private schools that share our educational philosophies and that we could probably just manage to afford. And we live in an area with oodles of homeschooling co-ops and options. I could easily completely outsource his education if I wanted to. I realize that we're in a good situation and am very thankful for those choices. 

[IsabelC]

We re-evaluate every so often. 

[ScoutTN]

We are committed to going all the ways through high school. We will outsource some things for sure and make adjustments as we go especially as our kids get older and have more say in their studies. We do not re-evaluate each year.

 

I am currently thinking through logic stage and making a plan for my own studying.

The thought of homeschooling high school is both terrifying and exciting!!!

[Penguin]

One chunk at a time. We are accidental homeschoolers. Started in 6th and committed through middle school. By next January, we need to make the high school decision. I find the upcoming decision daunting because choosing B&M school might involve a transatlantic move. Not exactly a decision that can be fully placed on an 8th grader's shoulders, but I also don't want him to feel forced into homeschooling high school.

 

 

edited