Different kids- different schooling?

[indigomama]

If you have had your children in different schooling environments at the same time can you share a little about how it worked for your family?

 

I have 5 children, and we have always homeschooled. For various reasons, I have been contemplating doing things a little different next year. Next year oldest will be going into 7th grade and my youngest will be ready for K, and I'm not sure I will adequately be able to school all of them with their various needs and personalities.

 

I have loved homeschooling my oldest: he enjoys learning, he catches onto things quickly, he's a good student, but lately I've been dealing with some attitude issues with him. Nothing abnormal, the usual preteen stuff, but I'm thinking it might be time for me to be just mom to him, if that makes. I am not thrilled with our local middle schools ( I attended one of them myself), and I don't feel like academics are challenging enough in the local private christian school. But 15 minutes away there is a great K-8 Catholic school that feeds into an excellent catholic high school. Tuition would be tight, but doable, and I think it would provide the academic and social challenges that oldest DS needs/would want. 

 

Are there issues with sending one to school and homeschooling the others? 

 

Also, DS2 would be in 7th in 2 years, but the Catholic school would be too much for him, but I think he'd do well in the smaller more relaxed private Christian school (yes, I realize Catholics are Christians, too. I am just trying to differentiate them for clarities sake). So, in 2 years time, I would have one at the Catholic High School, one in the private Christian K-12, and homeschooling the other 3. 

 

Anyways, I would love some thoughts from parents who have sent their children to different schools/homeschooled some all at the same time. Thank you!

[Melissa B]

We have always gone with a combination of what is best for the student/what the student prefers to do. The daily driving and scheduling is the worst part. Bus passes are very helpful. And we keep a monthly calendar on the refrigerator that lists everywhere we need to be. I refer to it daily.

 

My eldest started dual enrollment at the university in 9th grade. She was a full time dual enrollment student by 10th grade. She is in 12th this year and still a full time dual enrollment student. My second daughter chose to go to the local high school part time starting in 9th grade. She is in 10th now, still part time at the local high school. Next year she is leaning toward full time dual enrollment at the local community college while remaining part of the high school theater troupe. Now my third daughter is leaning toward full-time online school for high school. She is going to take 2/3 of her classes online next year (7th grade) and we'll see how that goes. And my son will remain homeschooled by me, at home, for the foreseeable future. It is a bit of a juggling act at times, but certainly doable. :)

[indigomama]

We have always gone with a combination of what is best for the student/what the student prefers to do. The daily driving and scheduling is the worst part. Bus passes are very helpful. And we keep a monthly calendar on the refrigerator that lists everywhere we need to be. I refer to it daily.

 

My eldest started dual enrollment at the university in 9th grade. She was a full time dual enrollment student by 10th grade. She is in 12th this year and still a full time dual enrollment student. My second daughter chose to go to the local high school part time starting in 9th grade. She is in 10th now, still part time at the local high school. Next year she is leaning toward full time dual enrollment at the local community college while remaining part of the high school theater troupe. Now my third daughter is leaning toward full-time online school for high school. She is going to take 2/3 of her classes online next year (7th grade) and we'll see how that goes. And my son will remain homeschooled by me, at home, for the foreseeable future. It is a bit of a juggling act at times, but certainly doable. :)

 

 

Thanks for sharing! It does sound like some extra juggling for sure, but as you've pointed out it's "doable". And I think with my DH's schedule we could share the extra driving. 

[In2why]

We have always went with what works best for each child and our family. I am not driven to homeschool because of a calling but because it provides to best opportunities for us at the time. Our oldest at home child is a Junior at our local high school and has been since 8th grade. He is now taking technical classes because he wants to he a diesel mechanic and at the end of his senior year will be ASE certified and will decide to either enter the workforce or go in the military. He transitioned very well. He especially likes the social aspect of public school and we are lucky that he has a great group of friends and a good sense of himself.

Our youngest is 12 and has been homeschooling since the beginning of 1st grade when the school decided he had a reading disability and ADHD. He reads on level now even though he doesn't and probably never will love it, and he hasn't been made to feel behind or stupid which happens too often in public schools when they need special help. We foresee him staying with homeschooling and possibly dual enrolling at our CC in the future, but we take it one year at a time. People sometimes ask me why we homeschool one and not the other and if I am going to homeschool forever (usually my in laws lol) and I tell them when I know they will know.

[Storygirl]

This year DD14 is homeschooling, and the younger three are in a private Christian school. We are in the process of figuring out our plan for next year, but it is looking like we may have DD14 homeschooling, DD10 enrolled in a school for dyslexia, and the two boys enrolled in the same Christian school where they attend this year.

 

It can be done, but keep logistics in mind. If you have to pick up students at two different schools at the exact same time, how will that happen? Are there carpooling options? It's good to look a couple of years down the line while you make decisions for today, but you can't always predict what things will look like in the future. For example, are you sure that your younger child will go to school at grade seven, just because the older one does? It's hard to predict those things if you are basing the decisions on what is right for each child.

 

One thing that is difficult when you have children who are homeschooling and enrolled in a school is managing the schedule. When the parent is busy homeschooling some children all day, then overseeing homework in the evening, it can seem like the parent never gets a break. Whereas with homeschooling, we were done with schoolwork in the afternoon, we now have homework in the evenings. It has taken some time to get used to that. With an older student enrolled in school, it may not be as much of an issue, because they hopefully will be more independent with their work, but it will still affect the time that you have to spend together as a family.

[indigomama]

This year DD14 is homeschooling, and the younger three are in a private Christian school. We are in the process of figuring out our plan for next year, but it is looking like we may have DD14 homeschooling, DD10 enrolled in a school for dyslexia, and the two boys enrolled in the same Christian school where they attend this year.

 

It can be done, but keep logistics in mind. If you have to pick up students at two different schools at the exact same time, how will that happen? Are there carpooling options? It's good to look a couple of years down the line while you make decisions for today, but you can't always predict what things will look like in the future. For example, are you sure that your younger child will go to school at grade seven, just because the older one does? It's hard to predict those things if you are basing the decisions on what is right for each child.

 

One thing that is difficult when you have children who are homeschooling and enrolled in a school is managing the schedule. When the parent is busy homeschooling some children all day, then overseeing homework in the evening, it can seem like the parent never gets a break. Whereas with homeschooling, we were done with schoolwork in the afternoon, we now have homework in the evenings. It has taken some time to get used to that. With an older student enrolled in school, it may not be as much of an issue, because they hopefully will be more independent with their work, but it will still affect the time that you have to spend together as a family.

 

Thank you, those are some good things to think about. I had not thought through homework and what that would look like. Though, with just sending the kids as they head into jr high or high school, hopefully they would be more independent with homework.  

[wapiti]

I have six kids in three different schools, one five minutes away and the other two each 25 minutes away in different directions.  The driving/juggling is the hardest part as there are overlapping pickup times for two.  Fortunately there's a bus (for a fee) to one of the further schools, with a stop a five minute drive away.  Still, when dh isn't available to help with pickups, some of the kids have to stay in the afterschool study hall for a small fee until I can get there.

[Runningmom80]

Not exactly your situation, but my youngers did 3 years of Montessori while my oldest was HS'ed.  I agree with whoever said the drop off/pick up and schedule was the worst part.  This past year they probably could have come home, as I've gotten to a place with older DS where I can spend time on his siblings.  However, I really saw the value for them in finishing out the Montessori early years sequence, so for K we sent them to school.  They will be home next year, but our plan has always been to HS until high school and then it's a major possibility that we will be using either the local IB program or a private school.

 

I suspect one of my twins will want to go to school sooner than that, for the social aspect, and I'm completely open to that.

[Ravin]

That's certainly a reality for us, because of changing family circumstances. DD started school at a B&M in 6th grade after being homeschooled through 5th. It didn't go well, so now she's in an online charter school. Not sure what we'll do with her next year, but it will be based on what seems the best option that's feasible with our family circumstances (Time and $$). DS will be starting K at the neighborhood district public school in the fall. Again, it seems the best option for him, of what is available to us within available time and money, and balancing his needs against DD's.

[nerdybird]

Our Experience:

 

DS1 and DD both went to public school for K. DS1 went to school until halfway through second grade. We dissatisfied with the level of services of local school system was providing and disagreed with their decision to mainstream him in second grade. He did not adjust well, so we withdrew him and kept his sister in the local school for K until the end of the year.

 

We hs'ed everyone for 2 years. Then in 2014, I had some health issues and we had to re-evaluate our educational plan. We decided to place the oldest in a small private school near our home at the time. My MIL stepped in and continued to homeschool DD and DS2 until the end of the school year. DD went to public school last year for third grade. The two youngest went to a church-run preschool/day care program 3 days a week up until last summer.

 

The hardest part was definitely the pick up and drop offs, along with all of the activities we were doing at the time. Activities fell by the wayside. DD stopped doing ballet because it conflicted with other activities. We stopped doing so many church activities. We managed, but barely. 

 

If you are very organized and have a DH that is willing and able to help, that's great. Definitely look into carpooling. If your area has public transport, maybe your oldest could utilize that too? Stay on top of schedules and make sure any kids who are outside the home are aware of the schedule too. 

 

Last spring we discovered that #6 was on the way. We decided to try homeschooling everyone again because I'm a glutton for punishment. Plus I just couldn't continue to spend 2-5 hours a day in the van with all of the kids and a newborn. Just NO.  :scared:

 

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I wouldn't feel bad about my kid going to ps or private school or whatever, and my other kids homeschooling. Sometimes you have to do what needs to be done and sometimes that involves different strokes for different kid-folks.

[LLMom]

I have one child in a k-8 school and 2 at a private high school (20 and 30 min away)and one at home. Rides are the trickiest part, but one daughter just got her license so it is getting easier. Not positive for next year but it may be one in local public school, with bus access, 2 at home and one in private high school.

[indigomama]

I just saw that more people had replied! 

 

Thanks everyone. We are going to check out a few of the area private schools this week and next (seems to be open house season) for our oldest for next year, but no definite decision has been made. I'm realizing none of them are going to be exactly what I'm looking for and I need to decide what the best thing is going to be for each kid. If that makes any rambling sense :)

[rutamattatt]

We have one in ps and homeschool two.  I agree that the drop off/pick up can be challenging.  The upside is that it helps our homeschool day stay a little more structured though.   :laugh:

 

The only other adjustment that we struggled with is the loss of freedom to up and go.  We have grandparents 11 hours away and when homeschooling all three we would take off for a week and visit.  Now we have to plan our vacations/getaways around the school schedule, which means we don't have as much freedom and we can't always hit "offseason" some places.  It's not a huge deal, but was something we really had to adjust to.

 

Other than that, it's all good.