I am SO glad we sent our oldest ds to high school this fall!

[MIch elle]

He's happy, doing well, and learning SO much more than he would have at home (not to mention how much he loved soccer - oh, his soccer coach's family homeschools their elementary dc).

 

I don't have to PUSH him to do ANY of his school work any longer! I can't believe the work he's doing - it's WONDERFUL! :cheers2:

 

We're now looking at jr. high schools for our 6th grade to attend next year.

 

Anyone else have a similar experience?

[PiCO]

Anyone else have a similar experience?

 

I'm very happy with the schools my dds are in. I don't think I would have homeschooled through high school anyway, though. It would have been too time-consuming (I own a business.)

 

Yes, there are downsides to public school- but you have to take the bad with the good no matter what you do.

[Mandamom]

a similar experience when my ds went to school a couple of years ago after being at home for 5 years.

 

Once we got him in school he started working appropriately and now he's on the honor roll and doing great.

 

I'm so glad that you found a good choice for your family.

[michaeljenn]

Yes, we are having a very similar experience here as well. I put my 9yo, 12yo and 13yo in school this year. They are all 3 learning tons and are loving the dreaded "social" scene. Really, the social scene has not been that bad, however there are many teachable moments though.

 

The only downfall was that my 12yo got the part of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz that a local theatre school is putting on. This is a huge performance with 3 shows....ya ya ya and she has to practice about 12-16 hours a week. Add that to guitar and piano lessons AND an hour and a half or more of homework and it is a recipe for disaster. HOWEVER, she really loves school and knows that next semester will be totally different once Dorothy is over.

 

Funny thing is... they all 3 have a 100 in English:lol::lol: I told them it was all the years of the dreaded Rod and Staff they had to do:tongue_smilie:

 

Math and Science were their weakest subjects:confused: We used Saxon for math and um..... really did not do much science!!!!!!!!!! OOOOPPPPSSS

 

BLessings to ya,

Jen

[BabyBre]

Anyone else have a similar experience?

 

 

Wow! I can't say that we have, but I'm SO happy to hear your story!

[Guest jdjd]

we had a similar experience this year. My 2 ds were home schooled for 3 years. We moved this past year into a great city and school district and decided to put them back in school. They are both doing better than expected and loving it all. They are in 5th and 8th.

 

Janet

[Christi/NC]

My 11th and 9th graders in a charter school for the first time this year. They have been homeschooled since the beginning. Our kids have great teachers and the social scene is better than we were expecting. Having our son (11th) in school has helped our relationship a lot. We needed to have the mom relationship separated from the teacher relationship. This year my 7th and 5th graders are still homeschooling and our oldest dd, our homeschool grad, is working full-time in her field.

 

Christi

[Diana in OR]

My ds went to ps last year for the first time in 9th grade. It has been a very good experience for him. My 7th grader started ps this year. It's going better for my younger ds than I had anticipated.

 

While I am glad that it is going so well for my dc, I do not regret for one minute hsing them for 10+/- years-I really believe that has helped them tremendously.

[Staci in MO]

Dh and I were just discussing our oldest last night. He's only in 6th grade now, but we'll probably put him in school for high school. It'll be here before I know it.

 

I think homescooling has made a big difference for him. He was a late bloomer when it came to reading, so he never had that stigma of being "behind." Now he's a great reader. I think by the time he gets to high school age, he'll be ready. I also think it will be good for him to be accountable to someone other than mom.

[LisaNY]

Our older dd went to ps in 10th gr. She is a senior this year, and it's been a great experience for her. She has done VERY well academically, as well as socially. She is very, very happy.

 

We were hoping to keep our younger dd home until 10th gr., but she's itching to go, so she will be in ps for 9th gr. (next year) I am sure she will do just as well as her sister. She is SO excited to be finally going out in the big, wide world.

[Ria]

Our experience has been very similar. We put our four youngest boys in school at the end of Feb. last year. This year they are in grades 6, 7, 9, and 11. They are doing extremely well and love school. They have so many more opportunities at school than they did homeschooling. The honors classes at the high school are awesome. I couldn't be happier, and my kids are thriving.

 

Ria

[runningirl71]

Yes! We put our 13 yo in 8th grade this year at public school. He is doing very well and loves it. He does get tired out, though, and doesn't want to do homework, but he still has ME for a mother, mmmwwwaaahhhaa! (evil laugh):)

 

All joking aside, it seems to be a good fit for him. Homeschooling was great for him in regards to developing maturity and forming his worldview. He had made friends with other kids who think education is important, which I'm relieved about! And, he effortlessly attained one of the top three positions in the accelerated reading program for the whole school.

 

Glad you are happy with your decision!

[msjones]

I love reading about people like all of you! My husband teaches at a big, urban, public high school. Some of our home-schooling friends speak so extremely negatively about "The Public Schools" when they actually know so little about them. (Some of them, I believe, have never set foot in a public school, even as children...so I bite my tongue very hard when they voice their opinions.)

 

My husband works very hard, loves his job, and has many wonderful students. Most of the staff members (not all, of course) are people I'd be happy to have teaching my sons some day. I know I could not do at home what many of the teachers do at his school each day.

 

It's very encouraging to read a thread like this. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[runningirl71]

Some of our home-schooling friends speak so extremely negatively about "The Public Schools" when they actually know so little about them.

 

Why is this? One of my friends came down hard on me when I told her I was sending ds to public school. She said I would ruin him and all the kids come out messed up, it is scary there, etc. I point blank asked her: "Have you ever visited, taken a tour, met the teachers?" She confessed no, so I take her opinion with a grain of salt. I don't mind opinionated people, I don't mind passionate people for I'm one of them. But, please be opinionated and passionate about what you know.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to get on my soapbox! :tongue_smilie:

[Doran]

Our oldest entered public 9th grade this year while the younger, who *could* be in 7th grade (DOB 12/28/96 -- she just barely made the cut for starting K when she did), entered 6th grade. Overall, no one is miserable, but I am somewhat concerned about our younger daughter who does not learn in the "traditional" way and, therefore, struggles to bring home B's. I'm worried that, at this rate, her self confidence will be completely shot by the time she's ready to graduate. Its hard to witness. So, I'm not sure she's getting the best experience in this setting. I'm not sure I could give her that either! :confused:

 

But, the 14 year old is soaring, loving school, just doing so well. In fact, just today she said, as we left for school and I asked, "Does everyone have all their homework?"

 

"Yep - got it. You know, it's funny. I feel like school has just been calling to me for years."

 

Wow. Can't beat that, huh?

[LizzyBee]

Doran,

 

This is exactly what I'm concerned about with my middle dd. She might go back to school next year and I worry that she will have to work her tookus off for B's and C's, while her older sister (9th grade, went back to ps this year) gets A's easily. Bekah is just as smart as Rachel, but she's wired very differently and she is not the type of student that institutional schools are designed for. In fact, that's why we began homeschooling in the first place. PS K was a disaster for Bekah.

[Doran]

Doran,

 

This is exactly what I'm concerned about with my middle dd. She might go back to school next year and I worry that she will have to work her tookus off for B's and C's, while her older sister (9th grade, went back to ps this year) gets A's easily. Bekah is just as smart as Rachel, but she's wired very differently and she is not the type of student that institutional schools are designed for. In fact, that's why we began homeschooling in the first place. PS K was a disaster for Bekah.

 

 

Yes, it's a tricky situation even without the older sibling who gets easy A's. Add in the inevitable sibling comparisons, and you've got a recipe for some serious self image bashing.

 

On the bright side, our dd 11 (also RACHEL!) came home yesterday proud of an A in math on her interim report card. Wow! It all feels so new still, and we're still learning how it works, as is she. Maybe it won't be a complete disaster after all. ???