Anyone reconsidering their school decisions for the next couple of years?

[Canadianmumof5]

We hs’d our kids for 7+ years.  They’ve been back in B&M for a couple of years now….with all of the disruptions to their education the last couple of years due to covid + looking ahead to what the next couple of years will look like, I’m starting to think maybe the youngest 2 (grade 4 & grade 6) should just be homeschooled again.  I mean, this whole variant thing can just go on & on & on and their learning is definitely being impacted - no doubt.  Anyone else having similar thoughts?  

[Cordelia]

I would've homeschooled regardless, but I know several people in my local group who switched to homeschooling because of covid and don't intend to go back to B&M school. 

[prairiewindmomma]

We pulled three of our kids out of public school when covid hit. Two are back, but we're likely keeping Youngest at home for a few more years.  I'm less worried about her education being impacted (because school is pretty much back to normal here, and has been) and more worried about her catching covid with how inconsistently some elementary school kids mask + shared school lunch table.  

[Katy]

Maybe.  When our youngest can get vaccinated we're going to move to a different state.  And we may choose public schools there.  Two years of total lock down is too much for me and I could use a break, and putting everyone in school is sounding great. I'm tired and DH has only been back at work for a day and a half. Sigh.

I really miss getting out of the house and exhausting kids with athletics. Swimming, sports leagues, gymnastics, dance, Tae Kwon Do... it's so much easier when the kids are exhausted and I am not.

[Zinnia2]

We are the opposite of almost everyone we know.  

I have long had 1 public schooler and 3 homeschoolers.  When covid hit, the public schooler went virtual.  It was amazing, and it went very well (almost all asynchronous with zoom support from teachers).  It inspired me to look into the option for my next kids.  This year, my long term public schooler is back at b&m school.  My next child is doing half time virtual, with plans to half time b&m in the fall.  My third child will start half time b&m the following year.  And my 4th child will start full time b&m in the fall.  

For us, I saw that supporting a kid, with someone else in charge of teaching, was about a million times easier than full time homeschooling.  And once I realized that and worked through my feelings about it, I wanted it for our family life.  I'm excited by the changes covid brought us

[BusyMom5]

We have been homeschoolers for 8 years, no plans to change.  I do wish there were more outside options, but we are doing the best we can!  Ive graduated one kid who is now in college.  Kid 2 is headed to Dual Enrollment next semester.  8th graders plan to do 2 more years with me, then DE in 11th grade.  I'm not sure about the younger ones, but I intend to HS at least the next 2 school years.  Our public school options don't meet my kids needs. 

[Drama Llama]

I think I'm going to end up keeping my kids where they are because of covid.

We were going to do public, and then I scrambled to find a safer option when Delta hit this summer.  Homeschooling isn't an option, but I found a private school with really good mitigation strategies.  I planned to send my oldest through 8th and then, in fall '22 when covid was all gone (in my optimistic imagination), and both my kids were vaccinated, we'd move him to the high school of his/our choice.  Tuition deposits will be due soon, and at this point I no longer feel that confidence that we won't need the mitigation in the fall.  So, he'll probably stay.  

 

[JennyD]

We have always homeschooled, so no changes here.  However, the pandemic prompted us to push my oldest son's graduation date back by a year, for a variety of reasons.

The pandemic did remove a lot of doubt I had about homeschooling all the way through high school.  Maybe it wouldn't have been the best choice in a non-pandemic world, but given what the last two years have been like clearly it was the right call.  

 

[Ting Tang]

We started to homeschool because of Covid, though I always had a curiosity about it.  I think my oldest would be better off in a B&M school, but I have four children, and I am concerned about going from 3-4 students next year.  But I feel I have no choice.  Our local school is terrible anyway, so if anyone were to go to a school, it would be private.  

[73349]

We are considering either continuing to homeschool for high school or try for admission to a charter (which is smaller than our zoned PS and already made a lot of use of technology). Covid is a point in favor of homeschooling, but then so are the schedule and the length of the commute.

DS has a friend who was pulled from PS when it went virtual and he couldn't keep up with all the assorted platforms, etc., the teachers were using. They're going to continue homeschooling all the way through now.

[deBij]

I was planning on putting kids in school when Covid hit, and I stayed the plan.   It surprised a lot of people when I put kids in b&m just when others were starting to homeschool.

The schools have been good, and I appreciate the break.  I still afterschool the important subjects. 

I hope that by the time my oldest goes to university in-person classes are standard again.

[Hilltopmom]

I do miss homeschooling & we went back to homeschooling last year to avoid the school covid remote mess. I taught in person for most of last year though.

This year they are in public school going to my building & it’s been a very good decision. I’m still a homeschooler at heart and think their education is my responsibility, not the school’s. But I don’t have to run homeschool things in this rural area for years so that they can have peers, like I did for my grown kids. 
They’ve made a ton of growth, socially and academically this year & I’m very pleased.

We’ll still do science experiments, art, reading, nature stuff when we aren’t in school 😉 the fun parts of homeschooling, ykwim?

Plus, I get a paycheck, benefits, & retirement now for teaching other peoples kids!

[Clarita]

We were looking at both homeschooling and private school pre-covid. Right now I'm so happy with our homeschool situation (with a homeschool charter school) that I don't know if we'll (including my kids) would want to go to a B&M school. Of course all that can change and my kids always have a say in how they want to be educated in terms of at home, or at a B&M school.