After Homeschooling for 5 Years....

[dairyou]

...my kids went back to school today

I dropped my freshman son off at 7:40. He was quite nervous! I am so excited for him.

Dropped my 7th grader off at 7:45. He has a little advantage since he has been attending band class there. Even with that I could tell he was nervous also.

Right now both boys are in their English class. I wonder how much homework they will have. Since it is an honors class I'm sure it will be alot.

We'll, I'm a free mom so off to do the laundry in peace and quiet.

Deb

 

[okeydokey]

Wow!! I hope you all enjoy your new adventure. Good luck to your children.

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

Sooo.... what time does the party start?

Good luck to your kids. I'm sure they're missing you right now!

 

[brasswillow]

Hope you and your kids have a great day!

 

[piglet too]

Well, I hope all of you have a great day.

What brought this about? I am always curious as to why a choice like this is made.

 

[Barb D]

I homeschooled DS15 through 7th grade, and DD13 through 5th. They've adjusted fine to PS. It may be harder on your kids starting mid-year, though. Let us know how it goes!

 

[JennyMominRI]

Well, I hope all of you have a great day.

What brought this about? I am always curious as to why a choice like this is made.

I was a homeschooling mom for many years... I choose to homeschool when I felt my children were better served at home..I put them back in school a couple of years ago. They were older and we had moved to a better school district. I didn't feel well equiped to teach older children so I put them back in school.

 

[piglet too]

There have been many times when I have thought about home-schooling. But when it came right down to it, I knew I could never stick to a scheadule like I would need to.

I think it is great that there are people who can do it. I am just curious as to what changes that leads to PS. Thank you Jenny, for giving me insight into your reasons.

 

[momrek06]

...my kids went back to school today

I dropped my freshman son off at 7:40. He was quite nervous! I am so excited for him.

Dropped my 7th grader off at 7:45. He has a little advantage since he has been attending band class there. Even with that I could tell he was nervous also.

Right now both boys are in their English class. I wonder how much homework they will have. Since it is an honors class I'm sure it will be alot.

We'll, I'm a free mom so off to do the laundry in peace and quiet.

Deb

I am curious as why you are now sending your DS' to PS as well?

I am not at all familiar with the homeschooling procedure.

When my DS was in h.s., a student (who was homeschooled his whole life) came in (9th) grade and he was a really nice boy but incredibly overwhelmed. My DS was disappointed as the parents took him right out. My DS was new to the h.s. as well, having just finished up Catholic elementary and moving onto Catholic h.s. He really liked this boy BUT it was such an adjustment for him he was not coping well at all.

They looked around and finally found a PS for him in another town quite the distance from their house.

 

[Barb D]

There have been many times when I have thought about home-schooling. But when it came right down to it, I knew I could never stick to a scheadule like I would need to.

I think it is great that there are people who can do it. I am just curious as to what changes that leads to PS. Thank you Jenny, for giving me insight into your reasons.

I was working 30 hours a week while homeschooling, and it was getting to the point where my kids were either going to need co-op classes or something to do upper-level math and science, and extra-curriculars. Like Jenny, we had moved into a better school district, and I felt good about putting my kids in school. DS15 plays football and runs track, and DD13 is in the orchestra. At this point I can't understand either of their math homework.

DD7 will always be in PS.

I loved every minute of hsing (even though I had to FORCE myself to be organized and disciplined about it). If I wasn't working and could get the kids to co-op classes, etc., I might still be hsing.

 

[JennyMominRI]

I am curious as why you are now sending your DS' to PS as well?

I am not at all familiar with the homeschooling procedure.

When my DS was in h.s., a student came in (9th) grade and he was a really nice boy but incredibly overwhelmed. My DS was disappointed as the parents took him right out. My DS was new to the h.s. as well, having just finished up Catholic elementary and moving onto Catholic h.s. He really liked this boy BUT it was such an adjustment for him he was not coping well at all.

.

I had 4 kids that transitioned to PS..My youngest had never spent a day in PS..Second youngest was only in preschool..The other 2 went through second and first grades respectively
.
The younger kids who had never been in school at all adjusted quicker...That may be because the transition was to Elementary School. One of them went right into advanced classes..She is now an honor roll kid in her first year of Junior High...The other child is slightly above average. The only *issue* was getting him diagnosed with ADHD, which I was pretty certain would become an issue when he started public school
My middle son struggled a bit his first quarter back in school... Bluntly, He's lazy and he didn't like to do his homework..We really struggle with this and finally 2 years later it's getting better...I don't think that's an issue that stemmed from homeschooling though..There are lots of lazy PS kids who don't do their homework..
My oldest DD was homeschoold for 3-7th grade..She went back to school in 8th grade..Her issue,like my older son was in realizing the importance of homework..She simply has more work to do in PS than she did at home. She tests well but is also lazy when it comes to homework and classwork. This is her second year back in school and she is much better. She has learned that she needs to have different habits in school than she did at home.
None of these issues are neccessasarily homeschool related, as , like I said,may public school kids are the exact same way when it comes to homework and classwork.

 

[dairyou]

We initially took my youngest son out of 2nd grade because the teacher insisted he had ADD. We took him to the doctor and they said "What?" We spoke to past teachers and they had the same response. My son just didn't do well in her class. She would let the kids go crazy and expect peace and quiet the next second. We were worried about remarks she would put on his record so we took him out. At the time oldest son said he wanted to come home too.

Skip to 5 years later. There are positives and negatives to both home schooling and public school. What I can offer at home has raised our kids now to Honor's English and in Math they are 2 years ahead. But, I can't give my kids band class which my youngest one adores. I can't have football games or home coming week. Our kids are well socialized and alot of church friends go to this same school. We saw as they got older they wanted to be "normal". I always thought that was related to socialization. Well, it wasn't until they actually told me what "normal" was that I understood. They want to relate to their friends when they talk about "this hot chick" or they want to complain about their teachers. So we knew it was time for them to go. I feel education wise I can offer more to them but at this stage in their life it's not as important as them feeling comfortable in these difficult teenage years. Of course we still expect good grades, that's just a given.

We had talks with them on Saturday. No drugs, no cheating, be careful, don't eat too much junk food, memorize your p.e. locker combo ect.

I can't wait for them to come home so they can tell me how it went. We'll probably have more to talk about also since we haven't been with each other all day

Deb

 

[luvflorida]

...my kids went back to school today

I dropped my freshman son off at 7:40. He was quite nervous! I am so excited for him.

Dropped my 7th grader off at 7:45. He has a little advantage since he has been attending band class there. Even with that I could tell he was nervous also.

Right now both boys are in their English class. I wonder how much homework they will have. Since it is an honors class I'm sure it will be alot.

We'll, I'm a free mom so off to do the laundry in peace and quiet.

Deb

Today is just the opposite for us! It is the first day of homeschooling!

My youngest daughter, a Junior in HS, finished up her first semester exams at the high school last Friday, and will now complete the rest of her high school classes at home.

It was a decision we made a few months ago, and I'll admit it is still a little scary, but it's also exciting, and SOOOOOOOO much less stressful.

Funny, we both slept in and came downstairs in gray sweatpants and gray sweatshirts.

 

[JennyMominRI]

Funny, we both slept in and came downstairs in gray sweatpants and gray sweatshirts.

I really loved the sleeping in option. I also liked being able to take the kids on vacation anytime I wanted...We also did non-traditional school years..We would do 2 months on,1 month off or 6 weeks on 2 weeks off..Year round.

 

[dairyou]

I am curious as why you are now sending your DS' to PS as well?

I am not at all familiar with the homeschooling procedure.

When my DS was in h.s., a student (who was homeschooled his whole life) came in (9th) grade and he was a really nice boy but incredibly overwhelmed. My DS was disappointed as the parents took him right out. My DS was new to the h.s. as well, having just finished up Catholic elementary and moving onto Catholic h.s. He really liked this boy BUT it was such an adjustment for him he was not coping well at all.

They looked around and finally found a PS for him in another town quite the distance from their house.

I feel for that poor student. My kids were in school before so it won't be as much as a shock. Will they have some trouble. Probably. I know they will do fine. The deal was to stick with it until the end of the school year. At that time we can all make an informed decision as what we will do next. I think for us it's all or nothing. Since it involves all 4 of us if one only wants to come back I don't think that would be an option.

So now I can Dis more and my house will probably be more clean. I need to find a fun job though. I think I'll be bored at home. It's already starting...lol

Deb

 

[luvflorida]

I really loved the sleeping in option. I also liked being able to take the kids on vacation anytime I wanted...We also did non-traditional school years..We would do 2 months on,1 month off or 6 weeks on 2 weeks off..Year round.

That's the part that is really strange. We really have no set schedule that we have to stick with. She knows what she needs to complete, but she can do it in the morning, the afternoon, at night, whatever. It also doesn't matter where she does the studying.

 

[dairyou]

Today is just the opposite for us! It is the first day of homeschooling!

My youngest daughter, a Junior in HS, finished up her first semester exams at the high school last Friday, and will now complete the rest of her high school classes at home.

It was a decision we made a few months ago, and I'll admit it is still a little scary, but it's also exciting, and SOOOOOOOO much less stressful.

Funny, we both slept in and came downstairs in gray sweatpants and gray sweatshirts.

Congratulations! I have to admit if my kids didn't bring it up we would still be home schooling. It was hard to get up by alarm clock and get dressed, eat breakfast, ect. We had many pajama days when it was cold and rainy outside.

I can relate about vacation. It was so nice to vacation at WDW in mid-January. It was less crowded and cheaper. Last November we cruised on Carnival and it was only 1800 for the 4 of us! Those days are long gone.

Since your DD has already gone the public school route it will be so nice to have no homework or all the other things that come with "real" school. Have a great time. I'm sure you will become closer and that is the greatest part.

Deb

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

...my kids went back to school today

I dropped my freshman son off at 7:40. He was quite nervous! I am so excited for him.

Dropped my 7th grader off at 7:45. He has a little advantage since he has been attending band class there. Even with that I could tell he was nervous also.

Right now both boys are in their English class. I wonder how much homework they will have. Since it is an honors class I'm sure it will be alot.

We'll, I'm a free mom so off to do the laundry in peace and quiet.

Deb

Good luck to them and you.

 

[minkydog]

Today is just the opposite for us! It is the first day of homeschooling!

My youngest daughter, a Junior in HS, finished up her first semester exams at the high school last Friday, and will now complete the rest of her high school classes at home.

It was a decision we made a few months ago, and I'll admit it is still a little scary, but it's also exciting, and SOOOOOOOO much less stressful.

Funny, we both slept in and came downstairs in gray sweatpants and gray sweatshirts.

Home school uniforms

 

[luvflorida]

Since your DD has already gone the public school route it will be so nice to have no homework or all the other things that come with "real" school. Have a great time. I'm sure you will become closer and that is the greatest part.
Deb

It's hard to shake the "she should be doing Algebra now, or she should be reading for English Lit class now", kind of thoughts!

It's so much more relaxing and the pressure to get something done for the next day is not there anymore. She hated all the time that was wasted in school; the study halls, the time between classes, advisory every day, lunches, assemblies, etc. Not to mention the time wasted DURING class; teachers going off topic, students misbehaving, etc. We figured she was spending six and a half hours at school, (not to mention the time spent getting ready for school and traveling back and forth), but really only spending half that time on academics.