Anyone intentionally postpone HS'ing until MS?

[Lawyer&Mom]

We have a good public elementary school. Well funded, high test scores etc. Could I do a better job? Of course. But I work full time, and I like my job. Prospectively, it doesn't seem worthwhile to make the sacrifices to homeschool when my kids could go to a perfectly adequate elementary school.

Middle school on the other hand... Lots of parents complaining about lack of challenge, even in the gifted programs. We can use the PS for individual classes and homeschool individual subjects as we see fit. This could be worthwhile. The kids are older, maybe they do some work with a nanny, some work with me, nights, weekends etc. The academic payoff makes more sense at this stage.

Anyone else intentionally wait until middle school to start HS'ing?

[Χά�ων]

I have several friends who have done just that.

[Amira]

Most of the people I've known IRL who have homeschooled have only done it for a year or two in middle school, precisely because it was middle school. I think it's a good option.

[regentrude]

I was not aware of homeschooling when my kids were elementary age; I pulled them out in middle school because of low academic expectations and horrible social atmosphere.

But if I had to do it over again, I would again opt to send my children to attend public elementary through 4th grade. The only thing I'd do differently would be to pull the plug right on the last day of 4th grade and not subject them to a single hour at the middle school.

I work, and while homeschooling a middle grade kid works with that, homeschooling a younger elementary student would not.

As an added aspect particular to our family: we do not speak English at home, so attending an English speaking elementary school would be important to me.

[Bluegoat]

I suspect we will end up doing the opposite, but as a concept i think it makes some sense.

 

I sometimes have thought that middle school aged kids should be doing something else anyway, like digging ditches or learning how to build boats.  Really, anything physically demanding that doesn't have them all together in large groups. 

[Heathermomster]

I pulled DS in MS, but it wasn't planned.  Homeschooling became an option out of necessity.  Looking back, my son should have been pulled sooner from a private classroom, but I honestly believed he was receiving a sound education at the time.

 

Until DS came home for 7th grade, he had never diagrammed a sentence or understood parts of speech.  He had barely narrated across any subject, studied Latin, knew no history beyond the US, and had never studied the mythology of any culture.  I learned exactly how narrow my son's education was once he was pulled.  Making matters worse, DS was removed from his life long friends that he saw on a daily basis.

 

I find it interesting that someone would purposely plan to pull their kiddos during logic stage especially since the grammar stage is so formative in terms of habit training, basic reading, math, language, and writing instruction.  If one cares at all about a classical education, placing a child in a ps setting for grammar stage feels counter to me, but I suppose that just depends upon one's goals.  We all must meet the individual needs of our family.  

[Lawyer&Mom]

Why PS elementary? Because my local school is 97% proficient in reading and 96% proficient in math. Because I think we can make up any grammar deficiencies rather quickly in middle school. Because my kids will have a ton of enrichment at home no matter what. But also because I *want* to work and earn money and buy lots and lots of books.

I guess because I think I by waiting until middle school I can sacrifice less with a greater academic payoff.

Of course if elementary school is miserable, we will have to reevaluate.

[Arcadia]

A lot of double income neighbors I know did the PS elementary and private middle school route because of the PS being problematic in 6th-8th. It is less of a financial difficulty for them then paying for private all the way. Their kids are not at high school age yet.

With the layoffs during the economic downturn a few years back, people are wary about dropping an income and hoping to re-enter the workforce if spouse gets retrenched.

 

I have a good friend whose oldest son is the same age as my oldest. Her son is happy in PS and goes to a nice after school daycare. If things didn't work out, she would have put both her kids in private.

My oldest is very independent when it comes to school work. The nanny option might work for your children.

[madteaparty]

Our elementary was crappy, but I did not feel the need to HS until about 4th grade. I worked full time, then part time, now not at all. In terms of financial cost to me, it's not a particularly rational decision, even now.

[Sandragood1]

OP your logic is sound I think. The only challenge will be outside yourself: your kids may not want to come home and leave their school friends.

 

I'd work to help your kids build and maintain friendships based on extracurriculars. Those will be easier to keep up when you pull the kids from school.

[Coco_Clark]

I think it makes sense; the elementary school is excellent and there's no reason to believe the kids wouldn't do well there.  The only "problem" I can think of is the possibility that after 5 or so years making friends in a great school the kids wouldn't want to homeschool.  Not that you can't play the mom card, but kids that age are sensitive to change, and to being "normal", and hard enough to deal with without resentment about pulling them from school.  

That's also a future problem that future you could deal with, though.  

[Lawyer&Mom]

My fantasy is that they would use the PS for electives. Orchestra, art, foreign language, PE, why not? Of course even part time HS may be too weird, I remember vividly wanting to be normal. I also remember being really bored in middle school...

[Heathermomster]

Who says the you have to homeschool at all?  One of my engineering friends pays a tutor to homeschool two of her children, a rising 9th and 12th grader.

 

 

[SeaConquest]

My fantasy is that they would use the PS for electives. Orchestra, art, foreign language, PE, why not? Of course even part time HS may be too weird, I remember vividly wanting to be normal. I also remember being really bored in middle school...

 

This is essentially what we do with our homeschooling charter. He does the core subjects with me 3 days/week and gets all the fun stuff at the charter 3 days/week. He adores it, and it meets our needs both socially and academically. Do they have anything like this in your state?

 

I miss the money that came with working, but not the demands of legal practice. I am glad that you have found something that you enjoy in the law. It's rare to find happy lawyers. ;)

[FriedClams]

One problem I see with that plan is the potential for the kids to rebel against the plan. We read on here about a lot of kids who don't want to homeschool because of their "friends" and being socially entrenched in a school - even a terrible school. There is huge potential for bitterness to be an issue with tweens not wanting to homeschool and putting up a fight. I might try to be very clear communicating the plan to the kids, but even with that you may still have some issues with the transition.

 

Another issue I see is that I've seen the elementary years be the time for training in work ethic (for mom) and attitude. If that groundwork isn't laid well, then you can see some rebellion and attitude from the teen/tweens, and that keeps many from homeschooling. Again, this may not be a deal breaker, but being aware of the potential and focusing on attitude and responding to you with enthusiasm and no attitude (homework, chores, etc.) will make your life a lot easier should you decide to homeschool later.

[Storygirl]

My fantasy is that they would use the PS for electives. Orchestra, art, foreign language, PE, why not? Of course even part time HS may be too weird, I remember vividly wanting to be normal. I also remember being really bored in middle school...

 

I think going to school just for the electives could be a good choice. Except you will be shuttling them back and forth between school and home, perhaps multiple times per day. That could rob you of a lot of the time you will need for the academics.

[My3girls]

The only problem is the child's reaction to it. We pulled my oldest after 5th grade, and even though she understood why, she had and still has trouble with it. She misses the group atmosphere, and an hour here and there at coop doesn't replace it. My youngest had completed 1st grade, and she also makes noise but not nearly as much about returning to ps. If I had it to do over, I would have never sent them at all so that they wouldn't have had to deal with the transition. You might want to look at private middle school instead of homeschooling if the only issue you have is the middle school rating.

[Lawyer&Mom]

I think going to school just for the electives could be a good choice. Except you will be shuttling them back and forth between school and home, perhaps multiple times per day. That could rob you of a lot of the time you will need for the academics.

I've heard it's possible to request your classes be grouped together as much as possible. So put your four classes in the first four periods, for example. Of course that depends very much on the layout of the master schedule. And if you have a gap, you are not allowed to stay on campus...

There is nothing truly wrong with our middle schools, just a lack of challenge and acceleration. That was basically my own middle school experience and I turned out okay. It's not what I want for my kids, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if they stayed in school full time. There are other ways to provide enrichment.

[Bluegoat]

I do think that a challenge to this could be that even kids who are, by the numbers, doing well in elementary school, may not be doing so well in an objective sense.  The most obvious kinds of examples are parents who are shocked to discover that children getting good marks actually are not working to a very high standard.  I saw this a few times with young students I had in the army who were supposed to be good writers.

 

The other issue is habits, work habits and especially study habits.  It is very hard to remedy something like a habit of inattention or sloppy work, or an attitude that believes that school work is arbitrary and mostly irrelevant.  Even some attitudes that can result in good marks - like academic competitiveness - can be detrimental in terms of real education, and they are particularly a problem for good students.