Tell me your deschooling stories

[TKDmom]

I'm curious to know how deschooling looks for different people and how (or if) it helped your child, and what it looked like to transition into homeschooling. How did you know your kids were ready to transition into full-time homeschooling? Did you ease into subjects slowly? Or did you have an "official" start date to jump right in with a full schedule? I'm also curious how summer vacation might have factored into your deschooling time.

Edited May 15, 2019 by TKDmom
TMI

[PeachyDoodle]

I think this depends in large part on the student, and on his/her experience in school.

We pulled dd out of ps after second grade. She had a mostly positive experience there. We had several reasons of our own for wanting to homeschool, but she was never unhappy or struggling academically, or anything like that. So our deschooling was mostly just summer vacation. We spent some time talking about fun things we could do next year since she would be home, and I was open to her ideas/requests, but she didn't have much (she was only 8). When fall came around, we started slowly, mostly because I was a bit overwhelmed and trying to find my way as a teacher. Our transition was pretty easy, and dd loved having more free time during the day.

A kid who has had a really negative school experience (socially or academically) might need more time to deschool, and a slower start to getting back into schoolwork.

[Ellie]

On 5/14/2019 at 11:40 AM, TKDmom said:

I'm curious to know how deschooling looks for different people and how (or if) it helped your child, and what it looked like to transition into homeschooling. How did you know your kids were ready to transition into full-time homeschooling? Did you ease into subjects slowly? Or did you have an "official" start date to jump right in with a full schedule? I'm also curious how summer vacation might have factored into your deschooling time.

We didn't "transition" into full-time homeschooling. Once I brought my dd home, we were homeschooling; things just looked different depending on, well, whatever. 🙂

I withdrew my dd from a private school during Easter vacation of first grade in 1982. I came to believe (thanks to John Holt and my homeschooling neighbor) that my dd was burned out, bless her heart (an all-ABeka school). I believed my dd needed to recover herself, however long that took. I figured that there were only six weeks of school left, so we just took an extra-long summer vacation. It was 18 months before she was ready for anything that looked like school. In the meantime, we started a Camp Fire club and worked on badges, also started Missionettes at church, and did some field trips, and spent lots of time just hanging out at home. 

Eighteen months to undo what the school had done in less than a year. A relaxed summer would not have been enough time. And also, because of John Holt, I was not looking at a "school year" that started in the fall; I was just looking at my dc and doing what I thought she was ready to do, when she was ready to do it.