Do you ever wonder if your kids would be behind if you sent them to PS?

[Gamom3]

It is not guaranteed that we will finish homeschooling our younger two children...our plan is to, though! We have 8yrs left and if we can hold out that long would be wonderful!!

I do wonder sometimes if my kids are behind..hopefully ahead of the PS kids.

 

I do feel that they are behind a bit in history and science..math and grammar(not writing, though) I think they are average or above average.

 

How do you make sure your kids are where they should be?

 

I know that it is hard especially in history and science, since we don't use the same curriculum, but do you go by states standards for that grade level and make sure you cover it or at least touch base on it?

[Susie in CA]

I do not think my kids are behind anywhere. I have looked at math and english homework from friends in ps. I think we compare just fine. History and Science, frankly, I don't really think it matters. They would just pick up whatever the ps is studying. I don't see a problem there anyway.

 

What I think would be difficult for my children is to be at school all day long. Although we do a lot of work they have a lot of freedom at home. When they work is done they can move on to play with toys, build with legos, go outside. This freedom is what they would loose! That's what I think would be most difficult for them to deal with.

 

Susie

[Only me]

We sent my oldest dd to high school last year as a freshman. I'm not sure how hold your kids would be if you sent them back but if was high school I don't think you need to worry about things like science and history. I still think it is good that they get a good background in these things but I really don't think they can be behind. In my dd's experience it seemed like everyone was pretty much starting on the same page in those areas and that the teachers didn't really expect the kids to know the material. Most of the kids go through a specific sequence anyway so it doesn't really matter what they did when they were younger. All kids at her school need biology, physical science and chemistry and world history, american history, economics and government.

 

My dd is strong academically and pushes herself to do well. I wouldn't call her gifted but she has been able to get straight A's for the past 6 semesters. I would say that she is about average in math but she seems ahead in things like writing.

 

I am more worried about my other dd who is currently in 7th grade. She does very well in math and science but she struggles with writing. I really want to work on her for the rest of this year and in 8th grade. My oldest dd went to the public school last year and writing really wasn't a big issue but this year we transferred her to a private school and they expect a lot more in the way of writing. I am worried that my 7th grader is behind in that aspect.

 

I do test my kids every year even though it isn't required in Illinois. It just gives me peace of mind and I also know if there are any weak areas that we need to work on.

[Kelli in TN]

I don't worry about them being behind in skill areas at all. If I had to put them in school, I think the tough part would be the drastically different teaching methods employed, that would be a big shock to them. Also, where content areas are concerned, we do nothing like the schools do them! So my kids would be able to rattle off facts about ancient history that the traditionally schooled kids might not know, but the school kids would have been studying things that my kids would not know!

 

But they would adapt. Hopefully we will never have to try that experiment.

[elegantlion]

Ironically my ds was in private school for prek and K and he fell behind then. He was having trouble reading the work pages they were given and would talk to his neighbor and he got in trouble for talking. It was only after we brought him home for first grade that he told us he didn't do them because he didn't understand without the teachers help.

[Aletheia Academy]

Here is a link to the Ca standards, for interest's sake: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/

 

Remember that these are arbitrary, and no better than what a thoughtful homeschooling family can come up with one their own.

 

Also know that no classroom teacher can possibly cover all the standards- they pick and choose based on where the students are in their current level of abilities, the state testing requirements, etc.

 

If you send your kids to ps after hs'ing for a time, there will be differences in skills and knowledge- "ahead" in some areas, "behind" in others. You have to look at the different plans over a long period of time, not just one or two years.

 

Of greater concern are the environmental differences. Having taught for a number of years, even in an affluent, very high-achieving school district, that would be my primary concern. It's a personal decision worthy of much consideration.

 

HTH!

[Daisy]

Well, I'm married to a CA public school teacher so I'm pretty sure that my children would do just fine in public school. (Not b/c they are the children of a ps teacher but b/c I know what the expectation is in ps). I realize that just because something is listed as standard doesn't mean they are going to spend any longer then 15 minutes exposing the child to the concept. I also realize that even though CA is buying new history and science textbooks, none of them are even being touched in my DH's district (the largest elementary district in CA). They have to spend too much time on remediation so many students are getting NO history and science until at least Jr. High. And even in Jr. High, if they need a remedial class they are taken out of history and science in order to get the 3 r's covered.

[Kris]

<shrug> He was two years behind grade level when I took him *out* of public school, so we surely couldn't be doing worse than that!

[Michelle T]

DS is behind in all subjects other than reading. He has raging ADHD and LD's, and would be behind in PS too. Despite knowing that, I do still worry and blame myself for his being behind, and I wonder if I'm not pushing him as hard as I should.

 

Honestly, DH also has learning issues, and isn't exactly a rocket scientist, if you know what I mean. Yet he holds a good job, is extremely positive and motivated, and has so many friends I can't keep track of them all. So my hope is that DS does as well as DH, despite their learning problems.

Michelle T

[mcconnellboys]

I don't use state standards, I simply try to school for excellence. I do use yearly testing (though sometimes not every year), although it's not required for our state. It helps me to gauge where we are. I also used E.D. Hirsch's books, What Your ______ Grader Needs to Know, when I first started hsing, in order to help me gauge what I was covering.

 

I do not worry that my children would be behind. I allowed my older son to return to a private high school this year as a sophomore and he's in a couple of honors classes, in addition to other classes that follow the sequence of what we'd already done at home (Spanish II, for instance) and he's had no problems.

 

Regena

[Antonia]

Whenever I worry about my son being behind his ps friends, I have them over for a playdate, and invariably I feel much better! I have observed the kids playing games where knowlege or strategy are involved and my son is light years ahead, his reading ability is much better, and he will sit and watch a non action-oriented movie with interest and discuss it later, where the other kids are often bored and fidgeting and have nothing to say. I'm not saying these kids are unintelligent or that they have not done some things we may not have got to yet, but overall I am always impressed with how much more well-rounded and intellectually curious my son is in comparison.

[fishnoises]

If I were to send my kids to ps (NEVER!), they would probably be behind for a while and need time to adjust. But then they would catch on. They would do as well as they do now, but they would not be learning what they are learning at home and they would not have the freedoms they do now. Plus I think I would be spending a lot of time correcting the bad behaviors I am trying so hard to protect them from!

In a nut shell, I think it would be more work for me. (The house would be cleaner though!)

Besides, who cares what the schools are doing anyway? I could care less.

[Ellie]

my dc were pretty smart kiddos, lol, and I figured that if they were behind in some English or math skills at the beginning of the school year, they'd catch up pretty quickly.

 

I don't think it's really possible to be "behind" in history or science.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

We're required to test each year for LA and math, so I can look at those results and know that my kids are on or above grade level for the basics. Anything else, I think could be picked up fairly easily. I do wonder how they would do in a school environment all day. I'd guess DD1 would be an excellent student (perhaps a bit of an overachieverbecause she tends to be a perfectionist) but would get very bored. DD2 would probably get in trouble for talking to much and have trouble concentrating. Hopefully, we'll never have to find out.

[Sunshine State Sue]

My sister's oldest was radically unschooled from 4th-7th grade. He returned to ps in 8th grade. He was ahead in math, behind in Spanish (ps'ers had had 2 years, he had had 0), hated the writing, and was bored to tears by history. He had to work to catch up in Spanish, but was fine with everything else. He is now a sophomore at Lehigh University in Industrial Engineering.

 

My sister's youngest went was radically unschooled until she entered ps in 5th grade. She did not know how to write in cursive. She learned quickly. That is the only problem I ever heard of. She's now a freshman in high school.

 

The middle child has always been radically unschooled. She is 16 and taking a variety of college/technical classes. I keep waiting to see if she's ever going to learn a foreign language. She intends to go to a 4yr university.

 

FYI :)

[RoughCollie]

I worried myself sick about this when we sent 3 of our DC to parochial school last fall. I was sure everyone would find out I was a failure as a homeschooler.

 

They took standardized tests right away and all did very well (> 90%-ile).

 

I tested them at home in the 5th grade and they did well then, too.

 

Basically, I worried all the time that my kids were behind because I had left something out, not taught them well enough, and so on, especially when 3 left homeschool. All that worry was a big waste of time.

 

I have one son at home this year. I sent him to the PS for testing to see if he had a learning disability in math. He is 13 and nearly done with Saxon 6/5 and halfway through with Singapore 4B. Well, I got us bogged down in making sure he mastered the material, and we were a year behind anyway due to my yearlong recovery from heart sugery & complications.

 

You'd all agree that is a *big* problem, right?

 

Well, no. He tested at the 75th percentile at the 8th grade level in math. His problem with math (which has diminished lately) is likely due to a lag in brain development -- same thing happened when he learned to read.

 

Do not ask me why. I just count my blessings. I am not worried that whatever I am doing in homeschool may be hurting my kids' educations.

 

So far, at this excellent school my kids are going to, the work is easy and is done at a much slower pace than we did in hs, and there is a lot of time wasted, IMO.

 

For instance, "To Kill a Mockingbird" was assigned to the 8th graders. One of my boys read it in one night. But the class is still reading this book 3 weeks later. They are reading it aloud, with the students taking turns. Then they discuss it. By the time the discussion ensues, my DS is bored out of his mind. The other DS is probably making up baseball lineups in his head because he could not care less about that book and he hates hearing many of the other students stumble around as they read aloud.

 

It has taken my 7th & 8th graders' classes 5 months to cover 6 chapters in their science textbooks. We would have covered that in 6 weeks if we were going at a fast pace, maybe 12 if we were really, really slow.

 

I'm not worried about my brand of homeschooling being less than the kids would get at a real school any more.

 

Just so you don't wonder: I expelled 2 of my DC from homeschool for refusing to do schoolwork and 1 is at the other school because DH said he needed to be around other kids because he is shy. The 2 who were expelled will stay in regular schools next year because they love it (they are extroverts). The introvert has always had the option to come home at the end of any grading period.

 

RC

[Beth in Central TX]

I know it's not perfect, but I use annual standarized testing to make sure my boys are where they should be. I think they would do very well in a public or private school setting.

[prairiegirl]

because my dh is starting to make noises about putting the children in school. I know that both of them would be behind in certain subjects. If anything, they would be ahead in history and science. Unfortunately, my kids would be behind in skill subjects.

 

My dd would be behind in writing. She hates writing so, up until now, I have been going easy on her. This is changing. She is also behind in some areas of math.

 

My ds is behind in reading and all of the language arts subjects. He is way ahead in math. I think, though, that if he was in school, he would be behind anyway, so he's not behind because he is homeschooled but, rather because he is having some learning difficulties.

 

I am trying to step up in these areas in case they do have to go to school sometime in the future.

 

Julia

mom of 3 (8,7,5)

[Jenny in Atl]

I am worried about this as dd12 wants very badly to go to a local charter high school for the performing arts in a couple years. I know in some areas she might be behind (we seems to miss lots of civics stuff and other subjects that schools cover for reasons I don't get), but in other areas, I know she is way ahead, which I think is almost harder. There is nothing like boredom to kill a student in all areas. I know she will adjust, but I still worry. :confused:

[Herding Cats in NC]

I definitely worry about this. It's a big responsibility being totally in charge of your dc's education. If my dc fall behind, then it's all my fault. So, yes I worry. But, I want to tell you that I think that the critical areas are really math, reading & writing. If your dc understands math and can do it well, that will translate to science. If your dc can read well, analyze and then convey their ideas (writing), that will help them immensely in history and science. And, when I look back over my education, I think about middle school - science & history classes pretty much assumed no prior knowledge. High school - same thing. You take intro Biology and then you can take an advanced course. Obviously if you've been exposed to the material before, then the class will be easier. But I never had any chemistry before high school, and I did just fine. And, honestly, even many of my college classes started "at the beginning". Now, I'm not saying to skip these subjects, nor am I implying that they aren't important (I'm a Chemical Engineer, and I had minors in Biology & History, so not only do I think these are important, but they're also some of my favorites), but I really do believe that if a child has the right foundation, and a strong one, they'll catch up very quickly. So, that's what I tell myself when I start to panic :rolleyes:. (And please, don't jump on me! I do teach my dc Science & History!)

 

And I should clarify - obviously when you hit middle school & high school you have to do the work to earn the credits, but I wouldn't worry too much about covering the exact same topics as ps - after all, public schools all do things a little bit different. My point is simply that if you do Earth Science and Chemistry in middle school, it probably won't make a difference if your dc go to public high school and take Biology there. They will understand how science works, have the logical thought process down, and will be able to handle the reading, snythesize/analyze the material, and express their conclusions. If you continue to hs through high school, you'd need to be careful to make sure dc have enough credits for college (if that's your goal).

[Excelsior! Academy]

Do I ever worry? Sure, sometimes. But, I do know my oldest went to public school through 2nd and was behind when I removed her. Now she would be ahead. My 2nd born went through preschool. I homeschooled her in the summer. The school tested her ahead, and wanted her to skip a grade or two. We made the decision to put her in public 1st. After a year of her not learning much we homeschooled her for 2nd. Now we homeschool all 4 of them, and doubt we will ever return them to public school.

 

To make a long story short...in our school district my kiddos would be very much ahead!

[apond]

I was looking the ED Hirsch book just last night. My kids are surprisingly doing just fine with with what he says ( except for writing - no surprise there). Having pulled my children out only a year ago ,I have seen so much improvement. Not just in academics but more importantly in there love to learn and confidence. Priceless. I think this alone would help them the most in suceeding in public school again (although not in the plans).

 

Annmarie

[Bee]

I only worry a little.I don't think their weak areas are because they hs though.I think my oldest dd would have even worse problems with math if she were in ps because a teacher there wouldn't be able to take the time to make sure she understands a concept or how to do a problem before moving on to the next thing.My 6 yo has issues with handwriting.She's strong willed and doesn't want to write in lower case letters much yet.I think I worry more that they would be bored and the boredom would lead to trouble.Oldest would have a book in her lap all the time and youngest would be the class clown.

[MelissaM]

My three oldest are in ps right now and are doing fine. I was convinced that I was failing them miserably and they would be better off in ps. It really depends on the child. My child who tested the highest is struggling the most and can't wait until this summer to begin hsing again. The one I was most worried about is on the honor roll and has no desire to hs again.

 

No amount of testing can tell you how successful your child will be in a traditional school setting.

[Mamasteff]

I give dd the time she needs to complete the work. Going to a government-run or church-run school, she would not be given the time she needs.

 

She was at a church-run school in part of 1st and part of 2nd grade. She never had a morning recess in 2nd grade because she was not doing her math quickly enough. So as "punishment," she had to sit at the table and keep working on math while her classmates got to play. Is this fair, good, or helpful for a 7 year old? Obviously not. She NEVER had the morning recess. The teacher never checked to see that the questions that were completed were completed correctly. She ONLY cared about how many had been answered.

 

So, yes, she would be behind in math because the criteria used is "how quickly can you answer these questions" and not "do you understand this concept? can you apply it?"

 

IMO the second set of questions is more valid, and more difficult for a classroom teacher to determine.

[Guest]

My oldest most definitely would be behind in all the content areas but he has LDs and maturity issues. It is amazing what giving him the time he needed has done for him. He is now zipping along...except in writing. We are tackling that this year. Public school grade for him would be going into 6th or 7th.

 

My second would be right on grade wise in content areas except for writing. He also has maturity issues and some other things I will abstain from going into. Public School and home grade is 4th.

[Lux Et Veritas Academy]

My kids were average in public school before I pulled them out. They are doing so much better now as individuals and as people being home. The only area that I think they would be behind in is writing, but that would be their weak area in PS as well. That is where they struggled before. I think they would be even or ahead in some areas and about equal in math.;)

[beachmom]

which, academically speaking, has quite surprised me. The elementary and middle school are within walking distance and service a large population of students, many of which are children of immigrants. Having met some of them and looking at the school in general, I am impressed with the academics.

 

All of the kids in the fourth grade (based on the state test) are at grade level for reading and math. Roughly 20% qualify for the gifted program. That means taking the IOWA a grade level ahead and scoring 98% or higher plus at least a 130 on the Cog AT test. Several of the kids compete nationally at different things. For example, 2 of the kids at the elementary school are nationally ranked chess players. One more thing, most of these kids speak and write a second language. They learn this at home or at after school classes.

 

How would my kids do? They could keep up with the mainstream but would not be standouts.

[Lori]

dont think my kids would be behind if anything I know my 4th grader would be ahead. I think it depends on the kid. I know for me, I would be more worried about all the other stuff that goes on in school. I think it would be kinda of a shock for my kids to see how school really is. (I do have a son that just graduated from ps)

but as far as academically I dont worry about that.

[at the beach]

Well, one child would be ahead and one behind in math and writing. However, both were in school in the past and one was advanced and one behind the majority of peers. I do sometimes think about this, though. Interestingly, yesterday I spent a couple hours in a local public school for my work and I was sitting in the hallway for a while waiting for the principal to meet with me. Well, I was so turned off by what I saw. It was chaos like. Kids sitting on the floor (why, I don't know) in a row, looking bored out of their minds. They were waiting, I suppose, but for what, I've no clue. This went on for quite some time. Teachers and aides and mom helpers were dashing around, doing who knows what. One kid sat on the bench across from me and the teacher/aide was reprimanding him for wrapping a jump rope around a kid's neck at recess and evidently strangling the kid. The kid was just sitting, staring into space, then hiding his face, waiting to see the principal. Of course, I don't know what was going on in the classrooms, but sheesh, I was clearly reminded of how sometimes kids spend very little time actually doing something worthwhile in school. JMNSHO. I left, feeling much better about what we're doing at home.

 

Anita

[hsmom]

<shrug> He was two years behind grade level when I took him *out* of public school, so we surely couldn't be doing worse than that!

 

Mine was also, but sense being home he has gained all of that back and some. I still feel that he is not up to par in the math department, but other than that he is at or above.

 

When he was in ps here they did not due science or history often enough for him to know anything. I mean they covered like a month on Indians and such when he was really young. All I ever remember him bringing stuff home of the work he had done was math, spelling, and some LA worksheets.

[swellmomma]

I know for a fact my kids would be behind, especially ds. They spent 2 year in ps, at the end of gr 2 dscould barely do early 1st grade work and they wanted to pass him to 3rd. DD while very bright refused to do anywork, so while at the end of grade 1 she was at grade level she would not stay that way never doing any work. SO while there is areas they are still behind it is not by years like they were in ps. To answer your other questions.

 

How do you make sure your kids are where they should be? My kids are exactly where they need to be for them. I don't worry about keeping up with the school system, actually the only subject that they are doing what the schools are is language arts, otherwise the stuff I have chosen doesn't even compare to the school system.

 

I know that it is hard especially in history and science, since we don't use the same curriculum, but do you go by states standards for that grade level and make sure you cover it or at least touch base on it? nope we don't. We do our own science, history and geography, I think they are learning far more than their ps counterparts how only skim the surface of any topic just to pass the test at the end of the unit.

[Ellie]

if for no other reason than the fact that I *know* that not all of the dc in the public school classrooms are at grade level anyway.

 

I don't believe that dc can be "behind" in history or science. There is definitive body of knowledge that is grade-level specific.

 

Even if a child is "behind" in some of his knowledge at the beginning of the year, I would expect him to catch up by the end of the year.

 

Nope, I don't worry about it for a minute.