Anyone else put their kiddo's in school, and then want to yank em??

[michaeljenn]

SIGH... So, yes, I thought that the grass would be greener on the other side... well, it isn't. I miss my kiddo's soooo much. We are all just tired! They go to school, come home, do homework, go to activities, come home, try to stuff some food in their mouths at some point, and go to bed and then do it all over again the next day.

 

Yes, it is nice not having to plan anything, and carry it out... BUT some of the stuff they do at school is just stupid. I am finding that either they are bored to tears, or they may move too fast on a concept! Too bad if they don't get something... they HAVE to move on. I also feel like they are learning how to cram for a test, regurgitate the info and then forget it.

 

They do like school, and enjoy their friends... which is another story! Can anyone tell me why 6th graders are obsessed with dating, and "other stuff"??? We are teaching them to remain pure until marriage... but there does not appear to be anybody out there doing the same. So yes, we are different. However, if I may brag, I have some pretty darn good looking kids and they are being asked out or if they like this person, ect... SIGH... it is such a distraction!!

 

Sooooo if I decided to bring them home, they will probably hate me for it because they are having so much fun!! But it is coming at a cost.

 

I just needed to vent... I would love any encouragement, or if you feel the need to slap me upside the head, I will humbly recieve that too!

 

Thanks guys!!!

Jennifer

[RoughCollie]

I have 2 kids in PS, in 8th and 9th grades.

 

They both get bored because either they already know the material (especially in history class) or the teacher is moving along too slowly for them. The lowest grade in DD's history class was a 20%, and over 1/3 of the students failed the test. DD said it was easy and she thinks that most of the students don't bother to study. There isn't anything I can do about that, but I have told my kids to participate in class a lot because that will lessen their boredom and reinforce their memory of the material.

 

I make sure my kids take notes, as the teachers require them to do. Each day, they must type up and memorize their notes, and review the previous notes, along with doing their homework (if any). This assures me that they are learning the material as they go along, so they will not have to cram for tests such that the material never makes it to their long term memories.

 

I am making the kids do this so that they form good study habits -- as the amount of material they have to learn in a given amount of time increases through the years, these habits will be beneficial.

 

My DD has not mentioned anything about other kids dating or having boyfriends. I'm pretty sure this is because she doesn't want to hear what I have to say about it, but maybe the subject doesn't come up among her friends.

 

I do go over the kids' homework with them, to make sure they understand everything completely. I also tutor them in music and math (using Music Ace and Fred) to make sure they are learning the material. This is because they never learned the first thing about reading music in homeschool or when they went to parochial school last year. Their math classes last year left a lot to be desired because their teachers made it through less than half of the Saxon textbooks during the year. I tutor them in Spanish too, because both of them hate taking Spanish (instead of Japanese and German, which are not offered), and they do not study unless they are forced to.

 

So, my enforcement of good study habits and tutoring the kids makes up for the shortcomings of them being in PS. These two kids are extroverts and love going to school and, as long as they meet my standards, they may continue to do so.

 

RC

[Tabrett]

Ooh, I would love to bring my 14yr dd back home. She was HS'ed for the past three year and went to PS high school this year. I feel the same as you about my dc being soooo tired. She goes to school does her few activities, does homework and then sleeps. I hate it!!! But I am letting it be her decision. It is amazing what a child will put themselves through to be able to eat lunch at school!! She just "loves" the social ascpect and is will to do about anything to socialize! If it were me, I would be coming home as fast as my little legs could carry me.:lol:

[Starr]

Your kids are still young. If you want to bring them home I think they'd make the change fine. Go on a little trip, make some interesting plans, field trips and ease back into homeschooling. The things you don't like are not going to get better. I was so happy bringing my then 7 year old home.

[AuntieM]

Our two 6th graders went for the first time this fall. I will be bringing them home at mid-term (but I have yet to share that info with *them*...).

 

DH said it best. One of the reasons we chose to home school is so we could "raise up a child according to his bent." So we could make them adequate in all areas, and have time to really fuel their passions. "Out"school is so...so.... equalizing. There is so much rote busywork. Dh said it is not developing our kids as God may intend for them to grow, as special, individual works of creation.

 

We sent them out for 3 reasons. To give me a break, to give them an idea of how much work could be expected of them, and to develop friendships. The homework monster has eaten my break, it's only taken them a few weeks to rise to the challenge of much more reading and writing (so we all now know what they're capable of), and they have enjoyed their friends. Perhaps too much. The social scene has become the high point of their school day. Oh yeah, one more reason, I hate Bob Jones math!

 

So, as we wait for semester break time to arrive, I have a list of things to do in the interim. Make some schedules, plan lessons, and make arrangements for a continued social life. They need it, they are good kids who can/should have/be good friends. I will just be looking for other outlets to accomplish that rather than giving the entire day over to it.

 

I don't think they will flip out and get very angry, the experience has been eye opening for them. They don't enjoy time lost to transit and carying around 10,000 pounds of books in their back packs. We'll see come December!

[tricia]

I did that only once. I too thought the grass was greener on the other side. But it wasn't. I have just had twins, numbers 8 and 9 and our 6th child was turning 5. So I am thinking I have my hands full with 9 children under 14 and homeschooling them all. I decided to put my very rambunctious 5 year boy in Kindergarten, you know, to learn the basics, phonics, numbers, etc. the things that take a lot of time. I figured I would just have him go to K and then when he has learned to read I would bring him back home. Well, that lasted about 5 weeks:glare: and he was back home. It went like this: teacher says he doesn't like to sit down and do his seat work, all he wants to do is play with the cars and trucks. So we decided we would schedule an appointment with the school psychologist and have him looked at. Mommy says: um, wait a minute, by 5yo boy is NOT a psycho, he only likes to play with cars and trucks and that seems NORMAL to me. So I think I made a mistake putting him here so I will just take him back home where he belongs. :auto:

 

He has been happier ever since.

 

Tricia

http://www.mommyx12.blogspot.com

[Tabrett]

I make sure my kids take notes, as the teachers require them to do. Each day, they must type up and memorize their notes, and review the previous notes, along with doing their homework (if any). This assures me that they are learning the material as they go along, so they will not have to cram for tests such that the material never makes it to their long term memories.

 

 

RC

If you were to take my dd's school and your dc's school and combine them we might have a nice mix. My dd has so many papers, projects and homework it is driving me crazy! A balance would be nice.

[Chris in VA]

I've put dd in school for third grade, and I can't pull her yet, but I am thinking I'm going to do what I can to get her out by next year. I'm looking for jobs to do at home, and I am also looking at how to change what we did while she was at home so as to improve.

 

I was surprised yesterday, when I asked her if she had anyone at school who she'd like to invite over today--she is NOT making friends like I thought.

 

I don't think I'll pull her now, as I really do need to find something I can work at home with first. But next year, I'm pretty sure she'll be home.

[RoughCollie]

If you were to take my dd's school and your dc's school and combine them we might have a nice mix. My dd has so many papers, projects and homework it is driving me crazy! A balance would be nice.

 

Our high school says that kids get 3 hours of homework a day, and middle school kids get 2 hours a day, but I haven't seen anything near that level.

[smilesonly]

Well,we always said we would take hsing one yr at a time.....

 

So, yes, we've tried parochial schools,specials from public,and mostly hsed.

 

I think it is all a give and take.No one choice is always set in stone as the best choice. Life happens,and we need to adapt. The hard part, is trying to convince ourselves,that whatever we do,we aren't ruining our dc.

 

Some of the times we've put our dc in school,has been out of need,due to health or financial reasons. You do what you need to do.

 

No doubt about it though, schools definitely dumb down their curriculum.

 

Smiles:)

[Cindy in MO]

We put 10 gr ds in school this year to help ease my load, and because he wanted to play soccer. Our situation is similar to other's here, also discovering the grass is not greener (still stressed and and too much to do, just different stuff). He'll complete this year, but we are leaving it up to him if he wants to go back next year. Now he says he will probably homeschool next year (Yeah!) or it may be the local Christian school. He doesn't like the lack of respect, the bad attitudes, and all the sex stuff (it's bad at our school). He had quite a social life prior and still maintains that, so the social aspect isn't enough for him to want to continue there. Now I'm concerned that next year we'll be back to what we had last year; I just didn't have enough time for him. But I'll gladly deal with it.

 

Cindy

[Mamasteff]

DH is wanting to put dd in school RIGHT NOW for 5th grade, and I have been trying to tell him that this is not going to decrease the family levels of stress, just put them everywhere else and make sure they happen daily (getting her out of bed, dressed, fed, and to school on time daily - he thinks that will be easy?!).

 

I will definitely show him this thread.

[BizyPenguin]

I could have written a lot of what you wrote a couple of years ago. We put ds in ps for 3rd and 4th grade when dd was an infant/toddler. Glad we tried it, but so glad we brought him home again. I cannot even begin to go into all of the issues. You covered a lot of it in your post. The fact that ds was cooped up in school for over 6 hours per day and then had to come home and do homework was INSANE!! Plus he has ADHD. Imagine that scenario. And let's not go into all of the goofy peer pressure stuff and all of the substitute teachers and wasted time and poorly supervised school yard........ Puuuhhleeeaasssee don't get me started. That said, I do threaten to send him back when he's acting up at home. LOL!! ;) If we could afford the nearby Christian school, I would probably give that a try in the near future, though, but right now homeschooling is the best fit for us. Wishing you all the best!