New with a question

[Guest jjlegalos]

Hi all,

 

We homeschooled for a few years, then sent our oldest son to 2nd grade (he's now in 4th). Our youngest is in first grade now. He is a bright boy, and brings home ridiculously easy homework. He even laughed at it. He is bored in class, as well. We have talked with the school several times about harder work, enrichment activities, etc. He is pulled out for 30 mins 4x week for "enrichment activities". The rest of the time he is bored, except when he is allowed to read books from home (such as the Junior Library Wizard of Oz, etc.).

His teacher has suggested we work with him at home. I have to say, I can't find the logic in that. Won't he just get further and further ahead, and even more bored??? I realize there are many things we can teach at home that they won't even touch, such as SOTW, but what it comes down to is, I don't want my son wasting his entire day twiddling his thumbs. I welcome any suggestions/advice. Thanks so much!

[AnnetteB]

An education at home has been the best way to meet the needs our own eager learners :) They challenge us and we challenge them!

[BabyBre]

It is unlikely they will really be able to meet his needs if he is that bored. Are you open to another school placement? Maybe a local classical school would be a better fit. Are you open to homeschooling again?

 

 

I agree. Don't waste too much time waiting for the school to pay special attention to a child who isn't behind the curve. IMO, you're lucky to have that "enrichment time". I wish my dd could get that in her ps, but they fight me every time I open my mouth.

 

I'd think about your other options.

[Guest jjlegalos]

long story short about how we came to where we are: we started a business in our home caring for elderly folks, when our oldest was 18 mos. old. This was so we could spend more time at home, with family, etc. We ended up spending SO MUCH time at home, that we couldn't get out to homeschool functions like we wanted, let alone spend our days going to museums, etc. Our son grew bored, and so we sent him to ps with a heavy heart. Now our business has grown, and we are just as busy, if not more. If we brought the kids home, I would not be able to find the time to school them (believe me, I have tried to find a way to make it work) but it just ends up with me not having time for them, and I feel like a horrible, guilty mom. I owe it to my children to give them the best education possible; I have fought guilt the past several years for no longer homeschooling, but thought they would get a better education elsewhere, where at least they weren't being ignored.

 

We live north of Austin; it takes 45 mins. one way to get to any private schools, and we just can't afford them. There is a 1/2 day charter school we are thinking about for next year that is a shorter drive but still not close. Why does this have to be so difficult???????????????

 

Thanks for my rant, sorry the short story wasn't so short.....:001_unsure:

[mycalling]

Why not just bring home your one child who is bored? It'll be different for your youngest having siblings coming home for him to play with than it was for your oldest.

[ElizabethB]

I agree with trying to find another homeschooling family to teach him.

 

If you end up keeping him in school, he'll get a lot of reading done! I was bored in school from at least 2nd grade on (I can't really remember clearly any earlier than that) and read about a book a day. You could let him read whatever he wants on M, W, and F, and pick out educational books for him to read on T and Th.

 

Junior high, I was bored in about 1/2 my classes, but I was no longer allowed to read in class most of the time. By high school when I could pick most of my classes, I was hardly bored at all.

[Doran]

Since your child(ren) were homeschooled, perhaps you can discuss the idea of moving your younger son up a grade. I realize there are pluses and minuses to this, so you'd want to think it through carefully with regard to the social ramifications, if you are even able to pursue that route. Just an idea that hadn't been offered.

 

A young friend of ours sounds similar to your son (she's in 5th grade), as is my oldest daughter (9th). My daughter's teachers seem better equipped to challenge her within the context of the regular class content than the 5th grader's teacher. Both of these children were homeschooled long term and have only just started back to school this year.

 

Have you had a meeting with the school principal or guidance counselor (or both?) to express your concerns?

[Pamela H in Texas]

Seriously, you are either pregnant or not, bored or not. If he's at a 3rd grade level, for example, he's bored doing 1st grade work. If he were at a 5th grade level, he'd just be bored doing 1st grade work.

 

Grade skipping if a kid is more than a year "ahead" is rarely enough. If he's doing 3rd grade work and put in 2nd, he's still going to be ahead of the class. And many kids who are grade skipped, even if it is an appropriate placement at first, quickly surpass that level also.

 

I'd do one of two things. Find an appropriate schooling situation for him or consider school to be glorified daycare and teach him yourself. He likely WILL get SOMETHING from school if that makes you feel better. You can probably work with the school to send him work also.

[BabyBre]

My dd homeschooled K and 1st one grade ahead. So when she needed to enter public school, I labored over the decision whether to enter her by her grade level (2nd grade) or by her age (1st grade again). I finally decided it was safest to put her into 1st grade according to her age and not take the risk of overplacing her. I figured the ramifications of her being overplaced and then held back would outweigh those of her being underplaced and then moved up if necessary. While her social development wasn't a concern of mine because she was far more socially adept than most of her peers, it was a major concern as it always is with the public school officials.

 

Now, in hindsight, I can see that repeating 1st grade was a mistake for her, although there was no way I could have known that until I got to know the classroom and curriculum. She was severely underplaced, bored, and began to dislike school very much. So, this year I conferenced with her new 2nd grade teacher and the school principal before the start of school and insisted that something more be done to challenge her than was done last year (despite my pleadings), whether it be additional work, spending part of her time in a 3rd grade classroom, or moving up to 3rd grade entirely.

 

They managed to convince me to give 2nd grade and the new teacher a chance, and as it turns out, this classroom is miles more advanced than her 1st grade class. She more appropriately placed this year that I'm content with afterschooling and the small things her teacher does in class to push her, (They are very small and require my reminding the teacher that she should do them :glare:, as well as reminding my dd to do them on her own, but combined with afterschooling and some additional projects like writing contests and science fairs, it's working out.)

 

The 2nd grade curriculum is far and beyond more advanced than the 1st grade one that my poor ds is now subjected to in that same classroom that dd had last year. However, I wouldn't dream of trying to advance ds a grade level because he's not ready for it socially. He's still very young from a social perspective, but is bored to death and hating the 1st grade.

 

So, dd could have moved up despite the ps's cramming social development down my throat, but ds is in no way ready for the next grade of "socialization" right now. Where is your ds in the social maturity spectrum?

 

I'm now starting to consider part-time attendance for my ds. I'm holding my breath until next year, hoping he'll make it that far before he has a complete meltdown, when he can have dd's teacher for 2nd grade. She's fun and challenging and interesting, and I know she'll keep his attention. Right now he's not learning anything and hates school more than dd did last year, so I guess I'm in a similar boat as you again.