Thinking of sending oldest to public school

[Janeway]

Oldest is 14 yrs old. At home, I keep seeking out less and less religious curricula. I find myself souring the book stores for secular books. But everyone I know who home schools is religious. My son is very astute academically. They have a gt program here, but I don't even know if that is any good at all. He enjoys things he can outsource to, but is starting to not like going to things that are religious. We have not found anyone near us that is not religious. And far from us, we have only found unschoolers who are not religious. So we fit in better with the religious people. 

 

I took him to tour the public schools today. We do not like the one near our house at all. But the next high school over, which we are not zoned for, he really liked. I have to file paperwork to get them to allow him to transfer in. My main concern about sending him there is that I have been told several times over about how difficult the public school is with taking a home schooler. He says he would like to go, he thinks. He is not 100% sure. I would have to drive him every day, which really is not my thing. Getting up early and driving across town is not my thing.

[OneStepAtATime]

That's such a tough situation.  If he is interested and you think you could actually pull it off, is it possible for him to go for this year and see how it fits?  He may find there is someone else he could carpool with upon occasion.  If it turns out to be a lousy fit, you could withdraw him down the line (more about that in a minute).  If it is a great fit, then would there be the option to move into that district?  This may come up again with your other children, too.

 

As for withdrawal, he is going to have good days and bad days.  Don't let a random bad day convince you both that he needs to come home.  He may regret that decision by the next day.  I would recommend that you both commit to this through December at the minimum, to give him time to acclimate.   If it is working for both of you at that point, then keep him in.  If not, then pull him out.

 

I would do it this year instead of waiting.  He would be a Freshman this year?  Definitely, if you are thinking of trying it, do it as a Freshman, not later in the grade levels.  The school may fight much harder against accepting Mommy grades once he is officially in High School.

[Upward Journey]

That's such a tough situation.  If he is interested and you think you could actually pull it off, is it possible for him to go for this year and see how it fits?  He may find there is someone else he could carpool with upon occasion.  If it turns out to be a lousy fit, you could withdraw him down the line (more about that in a minute).  If it is a great fit, then would there be the option to move into that district?  This may come up again with your other children, too.

 

As for withdrawal, he is going to have good days and bad days.  Don't let a random bad day convince you both that he needs to come home.  He may regret that decision by the next day.  I would recommend that you both commit to this through December at the minimum, to give him time to acclimate.   If it is working for both of you at that point, then keep him in.  If not, then pull him out.

 

I would do it this year instead of waiting.  He would be a Freshman this year?  Definitely, if you are thinking of trying it, do it as a Freshman, not later in the grade levels.  The school may fight much harder against accepting Mommy grades once he is officially in High School.

 

Agreeing with all of this.

[bettyandbob]

If he is in 9th grade this is the year to do it.

 

However what are your options.

 

When can he do classes as a DE student at the cc.

 

Are there local museums/parks that match an interest area of his and have day time docent/volunteer/intern positions for homeschoolers. This could be kind of outsourcing.

 

Are you in a metro area? Could you expand where/how you look for like minded homeschoolers.

 

My oldest went to public high school from homeschool. It was definitely the right thing for him and our family. You do have to fully accept that you live on their schedule. That's especially true since you would be driving to another district twice a day. If you think you are willing to drive that distance that often, you might want to consider expanding the radius within which you look for homeschool resources. A homeschool opportunity that is twice as far, but meets twice a week and doesn't penalize you for missing time based on family needs, might fit you and your ds better.

[regentrude]

. My main concern about sending him there is that I have been told several times over about how difficult the public school is with taking a home schooler. 

 

If it is a regular public school and not some special magnet school, they have to take the homeschooler, period.

The only difficulty can be entering in later grades, i.e. after 9th grade, because they might not recognize the homeschool credits from 9th grade etc. But they must take him if they are a public school.

Edited August 8, 2016 by regentrude

[IfIOnly]

Agreeing that if he'll be in ninth grade to try out this year. Next year, after all the middle schoolers and newbies in the area get settled, kids will be more set with friends.

[DawnM]

Is it easy to fill out paperwork and just go to your high school of choice?  Here it is not.  The only way to make it work is if you go to a school that is not as highly sought after, and even then, it isn't a given.

 

Also, 9th grade should not be a problem at all.  Who is telling you it is difficult?

[HomeAgain]

BTDT.  14yo, who was no longer thriving at home due to a lack of community.  We did online school his freshman year with a state-accredited school and then he walked in his sophomore year.  It has been a great experience for him.  Other than a few learning curves (I had to stop him from taking a large knife to school over his protests that his art project, a cake, needed to be cut), he has thrived.  I don't regret it for a second.  We let him choose the school but kept open outside paths, too, and the school was great about making sure his education was flexible enough to fit him - allowing him to continue online classes, doing classes out of the normal order, etc.

[vonfirmath]

Is it easy to fill out paperwork and just go to your high school of choice? Here it is not. The only way to make it work is if you go to a school that is not as highly sought after, and even then, it isn't a given.

 

Also, 9th grade should not be a problem at all. Who is telling you it is difficult?

Difficulty here depends on the school you are trying to get into. Very difficult if the school is full. Fairly easy if they have space.

 

Also high schools do not tend to do as much with Gifted and Talented. You choose the classes you want to take --regular, honor or AP and that is it. Some classes have prerequisites. Some you need to try out for (band, etc). Occasionally you have to choose because two things you want are scheduled in the same period

Edited August 9, 2016 by vonfirmath

[2squared]

My oldest will be a freshman in public high school this year too. I am wondering what you didn't like about the close high school? I ask because the thing I LOVE about our high school is that it is close. My dd goes in early many days, stays late, returns to the school at night for sporting events, etc. Her friends are close by since they go to the close school too.

 

A school across town would have to be almost magical for me to commit driving there every day, sometimes twice a day. Then if your other kids go to the same school, I can guarantee they will be in activities in different schedules.

 

Our high school isn't anything special, but they have plenty to offer the students, whether it's activities, sports, advanced classes, friends. I can't see not attending the close school unless it was dangerous. The physical proximity images a huge difference in our lives.

 

BTW, public school has worked out well for us. I don't live everything about it, but I didn't live everything about homeschool either. My kids are thriving in their schools. I prefer to homeschool, but that has not been our things worked out for us.

[DawnM]

BTW:  My middle son started PS in 10th grade.  We chose a charter school, further away, started originally for former homeschoolers.  But, in the years it has been open, it has changed quite a bit.  It was still a good transition school.  But we can't provide transportation anymore and it became an issue last year when he wanted to participate in after school activities and I couldn't do the back and forth necessary because the other kids had things to get to.

 

But we thought we were moving, and my logic was that if he want to a charter, he wouldn't have to switch schools.

 

We are no longer moving, and the local school is not only super close (he could walk if he needed to) but it is a good school.

 

He is transferring.  He is thrilled.  He can do whatever activities he wants because we can provide transportation.

[G5052]

They have to take him, period. That's what public schools have to do in all but a very few cases. I know of one homeschooled kid that was turned away from the main public high school because he was on probation for assaulting a police officer, but even then, they offered him a slot at the "alternative" high school where they have small classes and more controls. He ended up just dropping out.

 

There of course may be restrictions too on an out-of-district student. Some schools I'm aware of have just a few slots, and there may be preference for those who are already in the system.

 

Locally, they don't take homeschool credits in anything but English, math, and languages, which of course they have placement tests for. There's an exception if they were doing online classes with a regionally accredited provider or if they have dual enrollment credit. Because of that, most local people that plan to send their homeschooled kids to the high school pretty much need to do it in 9th grade or plan on extra time there.

[Alessandra]

Freshman year is a good time to start, as schools usually have freshman orientation programs, often freshman sports teams.

 

What don't you like about the nearby school? As other posters have said, going to school locally can be a plus in terms of extracurricular activities, even if it's only going to a play or football game with friends.

 

As for getting up in the morning, I totally get it. I love to sleep in and not have to drive too. But imo, it's not a bad thing for kids to learn that in the real world, most people have to get up early and go somewhere, lol.

 

Good luck in whatever choice you decide on!

Edited August 9, 2016 by Alessandra

[AppleGreen]

My oldest is off to public school down the road this year. It is fine, nothing spectacular, but there are good teachers and solid class offerings. The reality is my kid is not uber academic and pursuing a rigorous path; it is just not happening, no matter how much I want that to be the case. We are still trying to figure out what math and language placement. My kid has several learning glitches that mean we may need to do a re-set on those two subjects. Oh well. I can't get too fired up about it at this point. It is what it is. 

 

I do want to say that I had always heard our school was unfriendly to homeschoolers transferring in and they made it difficult for them to take honors level classes, but thus far, that has not been the case. I was pleasantly surprised at how accommodating they have been. I have not loved the way some of the administrative pieces have been handled, but those are mostly logistics and i am trusting all of those pieces will work out in the end. They have reiterated several times that if we were dealing with a rising senior this could be a lot more complicated. Mine is a rising 10th grader and I would say that this is the last year entering high school as a homeschooler would be "easy".

 

 

[bettyandbob]

About going to the neighborhood school: our school was redistricted a few years ago. In the papers we were a ghetto, we were drug infested, the school did not have enough challenging math and science.

 

The reality was my children attended a school that has 35 % free lunch, but also has families with multiple degrees and incomes in the 1% . So a full range. Definitely not ghetto.

 

As far as academic challenge, the school offers math through multivariable calculus and has offered differential equations. They offer the IB diploma and the science classes are top. Besides the math both my kids graduated with superior writing skills that will serve them well.

 

And yes one of the best things is its in the neighborhood. My kids could make their own transportation arrangements as needed. That is a huge deal.

 

Make sure what you've heard about the neighborhood school matches the reality before you write it off.

[Bluegoat]

I would be really hesitant to send a high school child to a school I needed to provide transport to.  I went to an out of district high school, but I could take the public bus system.  I would not have wanted to be tied down to my parents schedule at that age, and I doubt my parents would have been able to accommodate simply being drivers for whatever I happened to want to do.

 

It sounds in the OP that the religious thing is the main motivator, is that really accurate?  While it might be difficult to overcome the problem of finding similar homeschoolers, I think the curricula issue could probably be solved one way or another - I think there are a fair number of options out there.  I also wouldn't be unwilling to tell a student that age that his objections were unreasonable, if that was in fact the case - that would depend of course on what form the religious content was taking. 

 

ETA - as far as other kids, I guess I'd ask what the goal of interacting with other homeschooler is for your student and yourself - if its mostly social differences in approach shouldn't be so important.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Bluegoat

[Janeway]

Never mind. That was a dumb panic moment. He won't be going.

[magnificent_baby]

Never mind. That was a dumb panic moment. He won't be going.

 

Does your state have a public school at home program? Ours uses K12 so they are still home schooled but technically considered a public school student guided by a teacher in the state. We also have the option of homeschooling but enrolling in extra curriculars and (IIRC) other classes of your choosing.