What percentage of people who "homeschool" preschool aged kids stick with it?

[JennSnow]

When my older ds was 4 we joined a homeschooler Swim and Gym at our local YMCA.  Of that group of young, preschool age homeschoolers I would say about 50% of them are still homeschooling 10 years later :).  None of the families who went back to traditional school did so before 3rd grade and most of them transitioned when they were entering high school.  That's our experience :).

 

[happypamama]

So, for parents with some hsed kids and some psed, are you welcomed at co-ops? I've seen co-op rules that require that families have all hsed kids, not some in and some out. The particular co-op I'm thinking of has the rule of no littles unless there are olders in the family too, also has the rule of all hsed kids in a family. I'm justt wondering. 

We don't care.  We have people who homeschool some of their kids and not all of them, and for all sorts of different reasons.  Some of our members homeschool because they want to avoid the public school government control, and some homeschool because the public school couldn't meet their kids' academic needs, and some are a mix, and some always intended to homeschool, and others turned to it because there weren't other options, and all sorts of things.  

Edited July 9, 2016 by happypamama

[ScoutTN]

Very small. 

 

Most people I know here who are intentional, thoughtful, home educators would never use that terminology. They don't generally even consider sending their kids to preschool and are happy to do some gentle teaching and typical mommy-and-kids activities (library story time, nature programs etc.) during the preschool years. Even those with very accelerated/advanced kids try to keep it low key in the younger years. This is true for people with a wide variety of homeschooling philosophies, not just very relaxed sorts. (I don't know any unschoolers.) 

 

In my experience, people who speak of "homeschooling" preschool are very caught up in duplicating traditional school and rarely make it past 2nd grade homeschooling. They have not really done their homework on educational philosophies generally or homeschooling ones specifically. They are afraid of being too counter-cultural. They are afraid of not keeping up with public school and have not thought through what it takes to homeschool the older grades. They often choose curriculum willy-nilly or because a friend uses it without any thought to whether it is actually appropriate and so end up with a hodge-podged approach. 

 

The number of families here who do not put their kids in preschool is small. The number who do not even do a MDO is even smaller.  A huge percentage of the long-term homeschoolers is in the latter category. They have simply chosen to follow a different path. 

 

I do know a few families who homeschool somewhat reluctantly because the school system cannot meet their child's needs, or because they live in an area with terrible schools and cannot move or afford private school. Many of these entered homeschooling around the middle school years. These would put their kids in school if they could, but circumstances and their own parenting priorities do not permit. So there are some who make a different pattern. 

 

Homeschooling is bottom heavy everywhere, I think. There have been many threads here about that.  

 

Even here where homeschooling is common and generally well accepted, the numbers dwindle quickly at middle school and thin even more at high school. TN is an all-or-nothing state for high school. It is almost impossible to switch into traditional school after homeschooling some high school and there is no part-time enrollment in ps. 

Perhaps in more flexible states, the drop off is less severe?

[FaithManor]

In our area, we a have a lot of parents that explore the idea of homeschooling during the preschool years and will do school readiness work with their young ones. Most of the time they do not end up homeschooling. The last time I was asked to speak to a local group of potential homeschoolers - 37 couples - one couple did end up homeschooling none of the others did. I no longer do homeschool informational talks/classes anymore, but a friend that is the principal of a Lutheran K-8 says that they get a lot of students whose parents said they had considered homeschooling before kindergarten, but when it came time to do so, felt it wasn't right for their family. So locally, it seems that only a small percentage do actually move on to K at home.

[QueenCat]

The last group I was involved only had programming for prek for those who had older siblings in the group. That eliminated those that were looking for a temporary program. And the reality was that there really wasn't space for higher numbers.

[AndyJoy]

Well I'm glad our local homeschool co-op allowed preschoolers without an older child requirement. I decided to homeschool and started researching 9 years before DS was born. By the time he was 3, he was the oldest kid in our MOMS Club group because everyone's kids went to preschool at three. People were so surprised I wasn't sending DS, so I started explaining, "We're going to homeschool; we do our own preschool learning at home." For me that was a lonely period, as I didn't have a "tribe" even though I knew who I wanted them to be. When DS was almost 3 I started my own preschool co-op with 3 other families (1 considering homeschooling, 2 not) for one year. We all thought classroom-based preschool was unnecessary, but thought our boys would benefit from some hands on learning play together. Then when DS was almost 4 we joined the homeschool co-op.

 

I asked the co-op director about it, as I'd heard some co-ops were set up that way. She said there were definitely drop-outs, but she saw it as a great chance to let people explore homeschooling and build relationships with homeschoolers. She wanted those considering homeschooling to have a chance to see it work and ask questions of veterans. I thought that was a lovely approach. Plus, she figured those just looking for cheap preschool would likely balk at our volunteer requirements and the fact that the 3-5 year olds only had art and music classes. There was a limited number of preschool slots, and IMO the co-op was definitely planned with the olders in mind.

Edited July 10, 2016 by AndyJoy

[Bluegoat]

We don't really have co-ops here, but the community overall is bottom-heavy.  Lots of elementary kids, either homeschooled all along or when problems became evident.  In middle and high school, more find some other arrangements.

 

I think all that is natural really, as are changes in plans and circumstances.  I don't tend to think of doing pre-school stuff "homeschooling" but I think that as pre-school has become more the norm, almost an assumption for some, they begin to talk about it that way.  If they aren't going to send their kid to preschool, which many think is necessary to learn the right things, then they must need to "homeschool" it.

[QueenCat]

Well I'm glad our local homeschool co-op allowed preschoolers without an older child requirement. I decided to homeschool and started researching 9 years before DS was born. By the time he was 3, he was the oldest kid in our MOMS Club group because everyone's kids went to preschool at three. People were so surprised I wasn't sending DS, so I started explaining, "We're going to homeschool; we do our own preschool learning at home." For me that was a lonely period, as I didn't have a "tribe" even though I knew who I wanted them to be. When DS was almost 3 I started my own preschool co-op with 3 other families (1 considering homeschooling, 2 not) for one year. We all thought classroom-based preschool was unnecessary, but thought our boys would benefit from some hands on learning play together. Then when DS was almost 4 we joined the homeschool co-op.

 

I asked the co-op director about it, as I'd heard some co-ops were set up that way. She said there were definitely drop-outs, but she saw it as a great chance to let people explore homeschooling and build relationships with homeschoolers. She wanted those considering homeschooling to have a chance to see it work and ask questions of veterans. I thought that was a lovely approach. Plus, she figured those just looking for cheap preschool would likely balk at our volunteer requirements and the fact that the 3-5 year olds only had art and music classes. There was a limited number of preschool slots, and IMO the co-op was definitely planned with the olders in mind.

 

The main reason they created the policy of an older sibling was space issues............ they decided the fairest thing was for people having an older sibling participating to be given the slots. They also wanted the focus to be more widespread and not focused on younger kids.

[Seeking Squirrels]

I called it homeschooling when DD was 3 & 4, but that was because I knew I was going to continue and it just fit. "Is she going to preschool?" "No, we're homeschooling." Because that was the plan, the course we were on. To me it doesn't make sense to call it homeschooling when you know you're going to send them to K. That's just waiting to send them to school until K. 

 

The secular co-op we just joined for this year has a rule that you have to have a child 6+ enrolled in order to enroll a child under 6. They have full classes and fun stuff going on for the under 6 crowd and even a nursery for under 2's, but no one can join just for those things. I know there's more of the younger crowd, but there's also plenty of older kids. When we registered, there were several classes for 12 and up only. We have 46 families registered, 142 kids! 

[DawnM]

No idea.

 

I put my kids in full time pre-school/Daycare until they were K age!  I did it very backwards.   I worked until my oldest was asked to leave his second Kindergarten.  We didn't know what was going on at the time.

[Carrie12345]

I keep meaning to pull out our co-op's yearbook to check our age distribution, but I'm too lazy.  I feel like we aren't overly bottom heavy, though there's no denying some families choose other options the upper (middle/high) grades. I think most of our littles have older homeschooled siblings.

 

But our co-op isn't free, which probably makes a big difference.

[Xahm]

I know this is mostly about co-ops, and I think the solutions others have mentioned sound good. I was keeping quiet, but as the thread keeps popping back up, the title keeps niggling at me. "Stick with it" just rubs me the wrong way. I don't call myself a homeschooler. My oldest is just 4. I do let people call me a homeschooler when it helps them understand why I'm not sending my kids to preschool. I am wary about doing this because I don't want to be seen as wishy-washy if I then enroll my kids in school at some point (not looking terribly likely to happen soon since the school would have to meet their needs better than I can, but I would jump on a good opportunity.)

I understand the frustration of watching kids apparently drop out of your program, but I hope you also extend lots of grace to young mothers who are seeking what's best for their kids at each season of life. What seems wish-washy to you may be very thought-out. Just have a rule or purpose statement to keep them from accidentally taking advantage of your co-op.

I do know many who are very anti-school when their kids are young and plan to always homeschool who later enroll their kids. I don't blame them for changing their minds any more than I blame someone who un-enrolls a child to homeschool. "Sticking with" one method is not very important to me.

[G5052]

 

Homeschooling is bottom heavy everywhere, I think. There have been many threads here about that.  

 

Even here where homeschooling is common and generally well accepted, the numbers dwindle quickly at middle school and thin even more at high school. TN is an all-or-nothing state for high school. It is almost impossible to switch into traditional school after homeschooling some high school and there is no part-time enrollment in ps. 

 

Perhaps in more flexible states, the drop off is less severe?

 

Same here. We homeschooled from preschool through graduation. I have one in college and a 12th grader.

 

Preschool for us was about listening to stories, drawing/crafts, playing outside, going on field trips, and doing a little work with numbers and letters. My budget was less than $100/kid per year, and we made it work. Compared to what my type-A area usually expects, we were very, very light that way. In the long run it made zero difference. My oldest had one of the highest SAT's in my county, and started college with more than a semester of advanced credits.

 

I would say that among those homeschoolers we knew early on, less than 5% went through high school to age 17/18. There was a big drop off after the first few grades, then again at middle school, and then a big one at high school because we also are in an area where the high school is not very friendly with homeschool credits. A lot of people here graduate their kids at 16 and send them to community college. As a community college professor, I prefer doing a little dual enrollment and primarily continuing to educate them at home until high school graduation. 

 

We've had mixed experiences with co-ops and paid classes. I had to let go of some of my plans and hopes and ultimately go with what was best for our family.  

[pinkmint]

I believe that homeschooling a 3-5 year old is basically just parenting.  

 

This is a helpful way of thinking about it and probably true. 

 

I guess maybe we feel the need to call our endeavor "homeschool" because basically everyone else with a 3-5 yo has them in preschool or kindergarten. And calling it homeschool seems to build up some pressure to preform or compete. Other people have expectations too when your preschooler is at home "doing nothing". 

[heartlikealion]

I tend to shy away from the term homeschool before Kindergarten. Though at least one of the private schools around here offers a K-3 class which means some parents are paying tuition for their three year old. I don't know how common this is, but nowadays nothing would surprise me I guess. I assume they may just do this because the parent is probably working and there are limited preschool options and/or a sibling may already attend so it may be the most practical for their family.

[Arcadia]

Though at least one of the private schools around here offers a K-3 class which means some parents are paying tuition for their three year old. I don't know how common this is, but nowadays nothing would surprise me I guess.

Here it is very common. Parents want kids reading at 3 and writing sentences before K. We pulled our oldest out of an academic preschool for those turning 3 in December because he was still bored. When people asked, I just replied I taught him at home.

[LucyStoner]

Our state is flexible and you can do PT entrollment in public school/participate in extracurriculars, free duel enrollment and sports as a homeschooler and we still have the same three big drop offs everyone does.

 

1. Between middle and high school

2. Between elementary and middle school

3. Sometime before 2-3 grade.

 

I think the people I know who have homeschooled preschool for their older or only child and then were in regular school by 2-3rd grade are usually in one or more of several catagories:

 

1. Those who are seriously considering homeschooling but change their minds because after more research they realize it's not for them.

2. SAHPs whose activity and daytime social options have dwindled to nothing because there aren't many SAHPs with kids older than 2 around here. So they connect with the homeschool groups out of near desperation, perhaps paired with an interest in homeschooling, perhaps (often) fully intending to enroll in school come K or 1.

3. Parents who have special needs kids who can't handle school at 5 or 6 but are more suited to it at 6 or 7.

4. Parents shaving a few years off their assumed private school tuition committments.

5. Parents who were gung ho to homeschool until the rubber hit the road they realized that it wasn't the perfect ideal they were counting on. That their kid wasn't earnest about nature journaling and lapbooks or whatever they have envisioned as the way for them.

6. Parents with closely spaced younger kids who get overwhelmed and realize public or private school is a better option for them or their child.

 

So long as parents with younger kids respect the spaces and options that are for social and academic reasons limited to older kids, I don't really care. The only time a parent of a preK homeschooler is going to annoy me is when they whine about a club or field trip or group that is specifically limited to kids who are older/school aged. There's a time at our park day where the parents with tiny tots come and they are welcome to hang around later. There's a lot of activities set up for 4-7 year olds, usually with little siblings welcome. So there are age appropriate options for the preK set. It's when parents whose oldest child is 2 sign up for the 4-7 stuff or parents whose oldest child is 4.5 want to register for a 10+ field trip or class that I get annoyed. There are sooooo few ages 10+ kids that allowing in younger kids quickly means the event or group becomes for tiny ones and the older kids feel more isolated.

[rocassie]

So, for parents with some hsed kids and some psed, are you welcomed at co-ops? I've seen co-op rules that require that families have all hsed kids, not some in and some out. The particular co-op I'm thinking of has the rule of no littles unless there are olders in the family too, also has the rule of all hsed kids in a family. I'm justt wondering. 

In our co-op, a family can just have one.  I'm not even sure they ask about any other children just the ones you are enrolling.  If you do sign up for pre-school, than you have to have an older child participating in the co-op, but no it doesn't matter if you have other children not attending the co-op.  Also, we can choose to sign up for just one class a semester or all of them, or we can choose one semester and not attend the 2nd.  In that way our co-op is flexible.  A parent is expected to help in some capacity during the class periods a child is enrolled.

[rwilk]

I feel lucky that our local homeschool group has included us, despite DD's young age. Mostly the activities are social and mixed age. There's not really a space issue because we meet in parks or other large places for the kids to all run around, and they do.  It's great for her to have social interaction during the day, it's great for me to have support (DD is 2E, so she needs various therapies, but at the same time functions academically like a 8 or 9 year old).  Having other parents to ask about what resources work well for X or Y is super helpful, as well as help finding local connections to SLPs.

 

I also think that these relationships have been huge in helping DH become more of a fan of hsing.  Seeing DD have positive social interactions with lots of other kids makes him more comfortable with the idea.  Socialization was the largest concern he had when we first started talking about this a few years back. We aren't Christian, so he was concerned that it would be too hard for us to find a group. 

 

I'd hate for other parents homeschooling preschool (particularly in an area where almost all littles go to pre-k) to be pushed out of homeschooling due to lonliness or trouble finding a group.  I totally understand in a co-op context it can be hard to include littles, but for social things, I'd encourage folks to consider including anyone who considers him/herself to be a homeschooler.