The end of homeschooling--going to school

[Reader411]

DS2 has been asking to go to traditional school for 2 years now.  We have declined.

 

But a local Christian high school has a hybrid option for homeschoolers.  He recently began a class there and is playing a sport.  He would love to attend full time or part time next year.  Homeschooling is more academically rigorous in this case but this child isn't my super academic one.  I think it's possible he would learn more when presented with less material. 

 

If you have been in a similar situation, what all did you do to help decide?

Edited February 19, 2023 by Reader411

[HomeAgain]

DS13 went to school this year.  We toured the school, and honestly we loved the enthusiasm many of his teachers brought to their subjects.  He is doing well, and having passionate people really helped him transition to a group learning environment.  We started him at the same time everyone else was starting a new school so he wasn't the "new kid" bumbling through but just one of many.

It was the right decision for him, even if I think the administration needs work.

[rzberrymom]

We tried a program like this for a year. It wasn’t as rigorous as full-time homeschooling, my DD was frequently bored and watching the clock, and so she begged to go back to homeschooling. There aren’t many homeschoolers in our area, so we thought the hybrid was a better thing for her socially. It’s a hard hard decision.

ETA: we honored her decision to go back to homeschooling

Edited February 19, 2023 by rzberrymom

[kbutton]

We have one in high school for the first time. It's a small school that is like one big IEP support--about 45 +/- in the high school (they have had an elementary school for quite a bit longer). It's mastery-based. Mostly project-based learning with some cross-curricular projects (art overlapping with science at times; history overlapping with literature, etc.). The head of the high school is a former homeschooling mother (this school didn't exist when her kids were of age). They offer DE and lots of customization. Our state has a scholarship program for IEP students that makes this a viable option for us.

I can't imagine going back to FT homeschooling. I intended a more rigorous high school experience than I ended up doing for my older DS (though he could go to college if he wants to work at it, and his ACT scores are great), but he's not as academically inclined (he's taking vocational classes), and he has a ton of learning issues (2e). My younger one is 2e with mostly very different problems (thankfully easier to remediate), but he wanted to go to school (Covid gutted our social networks), and I didn't want to reinvent the wheel for high school a second time. 

He's very happy. We're very happy. I have no idea how to judge if it's particularly rigorous or just average, but the kids do a huge variety of stuff, and their graduates have gotten into a big variety of schools, including select schools. 

[teachermom2834]

After homeschooling my first three through graduation, my 9th grader is in Catholic school. 
 

I just couldn’t provide the extracurriculars and social outlet for her where we live. I could have in another location. I could have with a different kid, perhaps, but I’m not even sure because our location is so limited. 
 

The academics are meh. I could do better in a lot of subjects but there are things she is learning that we wouldn’t have done at home. I think she is going wider on more topics vs. deeper in the basics which is what we do at home. 
 

The deciding factor for my dd is that she is a joiner. I knew she would want to do a dozen activities and she has joined every club and activity that she can fit into her schedule. I know some people think that is a negative but for us that was the reason she had to go. She’s one of those kids that thrives on being busy and wants to join every club and try every new thing. It would not have been worth it for us to send her if she didn’t really do the things that were available there that I couldn’t provide. That is where she is getting her value out of school. All the things that happen outside of the classroom time. 
 

I also knew my dd would want to do all the homecoming dances, etc that my boys 1) didn’t care that much and 2) got to do some of because they always dated girls that went to school. I knew my dd would want that and that she wouldn’t have boys asking her the way my sons had girls inviting them. I was right- she’s been to two formal dances already and wouldn’t want to be missing out on those. Silly to a lot of people on this board but not to her. 
 

I wish the academics were stronger but my dd is very academic. She definitely isn’t at all challenged. If I wasn’t annoyed by lack of rigor I’d probably be pretty happy with the situation. 

Interesting note- my dd is social (though not a popular kid, just a friendly and outgoing nerdy kid). She’s made friends and even had a cute boy who she was “talking to”. She has a five day break over this holiday weekend and she pretty much has silenced her phone and isn’t speaking to any friends because she just needed a complete break from everyone. She’s been snuggling with the dog and me most of the time. Nothing is wrong, she has just hit social overload and really needed a break from it all. It’s been a pretty intense year and a big change.