former homeschoolers now going to school -- 2nd term - Page 4

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by coleslaw

I went to a bookstore last night and got so sad thinking of all of the books I would have gotten excited about showing her, buying to learn about with her, etc.

I still read to my kids everynight, so I still share books with them. My younger DD often comes home from school excited about what she is learning and anxious to tell me about it, or excited about a book that a friend told her about that she now wants to read.

So, you still can share books and ideas with your child, but now she'll be able to share them with you, too. For our family, it's worked out to be a far more dynamic way to learn than for so much to be coming from mom.

And since my life is less focused on the kids, it's more focused on things that are interesting To Me, which has turned out to be very enriching for my kids!

Originally Posted by aslyn

Rowan (k) is kicking butt..he got all S's (the equivalent of A's I guess) and a comment from the teacher about how he is a wonderful addition to the class and a joy to have as a student.

Kira (2nd) had all N's (the equivalent of all f's) except for Art,Music,Gym. They are still using her "tier 3 intervention plan" which includes a modified cirriculum until the evaluations are complete.

It's really too bad that they went ahead and gave her grades while you are going through this process.

The school psychologist will be sending home the report on the 19th, We had to make an adjustment to assess her fine and gross motor skills as part of the evaluation so that and the IQ test will be done on the 14th. The school has been awesome with her but I'm still wigging out as I know this is a looong drawn out process, but it feels like an eternity!

It HAS been an eternity! We are going through similar things with my older DD, who currently has a dx og PDD-NOS, but just had a complete neuro psych eval and we still don't have the results. I think I'm getting the results the same week you are.

We don't have 3rd quarter grades yet. Older DD's 504 plan is going well and her teachers are doing a good job with her, except for her science teacher. I have a private conference set up with him on Thursday.

[mom2ponygirl]

We also got 'semester' grades last week. Since dd's school is on a block schedule an entire year's course is done in a semester. So, at 9 weeks they are halfway through a year long course. She is still getting 'A's which is a good thing I guess since the classes will be on her permanent high school transcript.

We are definitely looking forward to homeschooling next year. I think it is much more grueling to do school half-time and homeschool half-time like we have done this year. It would be easier to fully immerse in either one system or the other!

Dd feels, and I agree, that she has learned a lot this year about being a student and about herself. She knows how to handle the routines, take notes, etc. She's figured out which types of classes/teacher styles she really enjoys and others that she can tolerate. She's learned that she can handle a crowded classroom (she's not wanted to do that in the past). She's learned that for now she wants more control over how and what she learns.

[MJB]

My 1st grader just got his second trimester grades, too. He got all S's (As) except for handwriting... which he got the worst grade possible for the second time. I feel really bad for not working on it more last year when we were homeschooling. He's doing awesome otherwise and I know his handwriting is bad because he didn't get good instruction in K at home. The note from his teacher was very nice, though, and she wrote him a glowing recommendation for the magnet school we want him to go to when we move (if we don't homeschool... haven't decided and won't until we know if he got into one of our top choices or not). His music teacher picked him to be one of the leads in the 1st grade play, and his PE teacher also wrote a nice little note on his report card. I was so proud of him when I got that report card. He's also really popular at school and the girls try to kiss him all the time. I sure miss him, though, and 3:42 never comes soon enough! I'm feeling ambivalent about sending him to school next year.

[aslyn]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

It's really too bad that they went ahead and gave her grades while you are going through this process.



It HAS been an eternity! We are going through similar things with my older DD, who currently has a dx og PDD-NOS, but just had a complete neuro psych eval and we still don't have the results. I think I'm getting the results the same week you are.

We don't have 3rd quarter grades yet. Older DD's 504 plan is going well and her teachers are doing a good job with her, except for her science teacher. I have a private conference set up with him on Thursday.

Yes it sure feels like its been years now since this whole process started!! We are in the digital age, so everything should be done on the spot

*fingers crossed for some peace of mind for both of us!*

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by MJB

My 1st grader just got his second trimester grades, too. He got all S's (As) except for handwriting... which he got the worst grade possible for the second time. I feel really bad for not working on it more last year when we were homeschooling.

I just want to throw out that we had problems with handwriting, too. It was slow and painful. When we began HS'ing ds in 2nd grade, I ditched printing and had him start learning to type. This past Jan. (3rd grade) I made the decision to start with cursive just to see what would happen, and ds has done very, very well with cursive and he LIKES it. It's even helped his printing, although we no longer work on that together. YMMV, but just know that in our case, cursive went far better than printing so maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

[SoCaliMommy]

Alexandria's report card for 2nd trimester was all 1's ( not proficient- below grade level standard) and a lot of N's (Needs Improvement- does not meet expectations) and a few I's ( Inconsistent-Does not regularly meet expectations), and a few S's ( Satisfactory- Regularly meets expectations).
She got a S in Physical Education and Tenchnology.


I also found out that any student that doesn't have a burbank buck to give the teacher if they need to use the bathroom during class has to turn their card. They said they are trying to get the kids used to trying to use the bathroom during recess and not during class time.


We meet with the psychologist on the 8th to i guess go over the results from the school. Hopefully he will actually do his own evaluation of her and not just go off of the school's since he had made the comment last visit he wanted to wait to see how the school's evaluation goes.

[aslyn]

Originally Posted by SoCaliMommy

We meet with the psychologist on the 8th to i guess go over the results from the school. Hopefully he will actually do his own evaluation of her and not just go off of the school's since he had made the comment last visit he wanted to wait to see how the school's evaluation goes.

one can hope!

Have you developed the IEP yet for her? It seems like its so late in the year that our munchkins won't really get a fair shake until next yr when we really see how things progress.

[SoCaliMommy]

She has a IEP now she is getting pulled from class for Language & Speech 2x weekly for 25 min sessions and for Specialized Academic Instruction in group form 6x weekly for 30 min sessions.

I agree i don't see how much help she will really get from this when the services started on 3/17/2010 and the school year ends the middle of June.

[Linda on the move]

My DD's 504 plan just went into effect 3 weeks ago but it is making a big difference for her. She is sooo much happier and less stressed.

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

Well, we are officially here. I take in the paperwork on Tuesday, meet his teacher, see his classroom, get the busing and meal plans, find out what the rules are, get a list of things he'll need, and he starts on April 19. He could start on Friday but I'd rather do a Monday.

They're not exactly thrilled (which is why they never returned my voice mail, I'm sure ) about a new enrollment 6 weeks before the year ends, but they're dealing with it politely...which is good enough for me.

I'm happy because this is a good time to transition for him. He's on the local baseball team and will know a few kids in any of the classes, we can get a better handle on what to work with him on over the summer to be ready for next year, and he doesn't have to spend the next few months worrying about school. Plus, they have gym class, which he thinks is the coolest idea on earth.

I'm a little nervous...a little excited...a little relieved. We're still homeschooling DD so it's going to be odd to have them doing everything separately now.

[oceanbaby]

Originally Posted by ALittleBitCrunchy

Well, we are officially here. I take in the paperwork on Tuesday, meet his teacher, see his classroom, get the busing and meal plans, find out what the rules are, get a list of things he'll need, and he starts on April 19. He could start on Friday but I'd rather do a Monday.

They're not exactly thrilled (which is why they never returned my voice mail, I'm sure ) about a new enrollment 6 weeks before the year ends, but they're dealing with it politely...which is good enough for me.

I'm happy because this is a good time to transition for him. He's on the local baseball team and will know a few kids in any of the classes, we can get a better handle on what to work with him on over the summer to be ready for next year, and he doesn't have to spend the next few months worrying about school. Plus, they have gym class, which he thinks is the coolest idea on earth.

I'm a little nervous...a little excited...a little relieved. We're still homeschooling DD so it's going to be odd to have them doing everything separately now.

I thought about doing this but ultimately figured we needed to spend the summer getting ds's writing skills up to speed before putting him in school. Is your son pretty much at grade level academically? I did think it would be nice to kind of get a short taster of school and get to know some kids before starting in the Fall.

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

Originally Posted by oceanbaby

I thought about doing this but ultimately figured we needed to spend the summer getting ds's writing skills up to speed before putting him in school. Is your son pretty much at grade level academically? I did think it would be nice to kind of get a short taster of school and get to know some kids before starting in the Fall.

About grade level...I know he isn't going to go into the classroom and get perfect scores, but I don't think he'll be completely overwhelmed by the topics, either. Assuming that there is a wide range of ability in any classroom, I'd say he is somewhere within the range. He struggles with math but is 'current' against the state's standards, so he is familiar with it but will have to work hard. I'm actually hopeful that the classroom helps him - drills, experiments, wall hangings, new teaching methods, whatever. He also struggles with reading. He doesn't even remotely care about or want to read. Science, history, art - all fine. Language arts...definitely behind. His writing skills and handwriting ability are both low, identification and use of parts of speech is low, his spelling is atrocious. However, it's his favorite subject so I think he'll be interested.

I'm hoping that this will give us a clear idea of what to work on this summer. Figured we'd do 6 weeks, get the evaluation and comparisons to standards and then do focused learning at home this summer. Our theory is that it would be easier to catch up on a long break than to try to do it during a school year.

I meet the teacher tomorrow. I did a little googling and found out that she's in her 3rd year at this school and has always been in 2nd grade. I'm really, really hoping that she doesn't put off some strong anti-homeschool "you've ruined your kids" vibes that some teachers exude. I also hope she's open to listening to my evaluations of his abilities (I am a practical mom and will be completely open and honest about it) and that she'll be flexible with him, knowing that this environment and experience will be completely new to him.

He's excited about this, which I consider a positive as he was originally very resistant to the idea of going to school.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by ALittleBitCrunchy

Assuming that there is a wide range of ability in any classroom, I'd say he is somewhere within the range. He struggles with math but is 'current' against the state's standards, so he is familiar with it but will have to work hard. I'm actually hopeful that the classroom helps him - drills, experiments, wall hangings, new teaching methods, whatever.

I think you are totally doing the right thing.

Both my kids work far harder at school than they ever did at home.

1. They've both really lucked out with great teachers,
2. seeing what the other students are doing is very motivational,
3. the regular-consistant-just-doing-it aspect of school (which we never managed as homeschoolers) really works for them.

I'm really, really hoping that she doesn't put off some strong anti-homeschool "you've ruined your kids" vibes that some teachers exude.

We've had great experiences with teachers! They are far more used to working with kids who are all over the place than I realized as a homeschooler and they really don't expect the kids to be perfect. Even when working on issues with my older DD (who has special needs and therefore problems, but problems that would be VERY easy to blame on homeschooling) I've never had a negative comment from a teacher.

Let us know how it goes!

Linda

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

Both my kids work far harder at school than they ever did at home.

Yes, that is true for us, although dd was only in 2nd grade when she entered school, and I didn't expect much "work" from her before that age.

But writing, in particular, was an area where she was behind and unwilling to try for me when she entered school. We had to crash course printing the lower case alphabet before she entered school that fall

Now, at the end of 3rd grade, her writing talents are truly shining! Her teacher said so on her latest report card! But, seriously, it stuns me how willing she is to work on a piece of writing in school--drafting, editing, rewriting until she (dd) deems it "perfect". I can NOT imagine her doing that at home for me. Her teacher and I are both thrilled by her efforts and achievements, but, best of all, dd is really proud of her writing

[saintmom]

After 20 years of hs my three youngest have been in school since the middle of nov. They are thriving! If anything they aren't really challenged enough.They're all making A's and friends and are really happy.

I'm the one who's a mess. I miss hs, the TIME I used to have etc. I'm working as as an assistant and trying to finish a degree online.It's been a heck of a transition. We gave up the house and moved home to the family farm. Dh is still looking for work. oh well you do what you have to do.....

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

Well, my son starts school tomorrow. I talked to the principal tonight (she realized she had never called me with my son's teacher's name or class info) and in talking to her, I found out that tomorrow is a "special day," as is Wednesday. The 3rd and 4th graders are taking standardized tests so the 2nd graders are going across the street for 2 hours to hang out in a church and watch a movie.

When I didn't hear from her last week, I called the school and asked for the teacher's info, then called and arranged for her, DS and I to meet briefly last Friday. I would never have known she had forgotten if she hadn't called tonight, to be honest, but it irks me now that I know. And the whole leaving-school-to-watch-a-movie-because-kids-elsewhere-in-the-school-are-testing thing just bothers me. And the breakfast they are serving tomorrow is Pop Tarts, which disappoints me. For simplicity and to help with the transition, we're doing the breakfast thing for a few weeks, so...Pop Tarts. Oh joy. This is going to be harder on me than I realized...

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by ALittleBitCrunchy

And the whole leaving-school-to-watch-a-movie-because-kids-elsewhere-in-the-school-are-testing thing just bothers me. And the breakfast they are serving tomorrow is Pop Tarts, which disappoints me. For simplicity and to help with the transition, we're doing the breakfast thing for a few weeks, so...Pop Tarts. Oh joy. This is going to be harder on me than I realized...

Why does the movie in the church bother you? I find that being an ex-homeschooler helps me take that stuff in stride. I think it is good for my child to sometimes have a break and just watch a movie with friends! Or is it the fact that others are testing that bothers you?

Pop Tarts are a crappy breakfast, but I insist that my child eats breakfast at home. She'd like their crappy breakfast sometimes, but I say no . This weekend, I bought and made Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (for the first time ever) because she was wanting the cinnamon rolls kids get at the school breakfast. None of us were very impressed, and I don't think I'll hear much more about that

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by ALittleBitCrunchy

And the whole leaving-school-to-watch-a-movie-because-kids-elsewhere-in-the-school-are-testing thing just bothers me. .

May be the little kids are leaving the school because the big kids need the quiet for the test, or they need the space. Some kids with IEPs must take the test one or one or not timed or in other ways that require more adults and more space than regular school work.

Our school doesn't have kids leave, but I would try to take it in stride. One piece of advice that a former homeschooler gave me when we were making this transition was to look at the big picture of school and not all the details. Is it overall the right choice? Having a child in school means not making every little decision.

Our school has very few *fun* days. Most days are work. The few days that the kids get a break are in balance with everything else they do. Overall, my kids are getting a better education and richer social interaction than they were at the end of our homeschooling.

[mom2ponygirl]

Well, we told the school we are not coming back next year. I told the head that we would consider it in future years, but we are definitely homeschooling full-time next year. Dd and I are both very happy and excited about our plans for next school year! Their response to our leaving was very nice. He told us that they would welcome her back whenever she wanted to return. :-) Of course, her getting the highest end of course exam scores in the school might have influenced them a bit. LOL

Dd is still considering returning for a full-time year, just to see what total immersion would be like. However, when I talk about classes she'd like to take there she just isn't so sure. They will be expanding next year and adding teachers so the school may look much more attractive in a year or two - we'll see.

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

Originally Posted by sunnmama

Why does the movie in the church bother you? I find that being an ex-homeschooler helps me take that stuff in stride. I think it is good for my child to sometimes have a break and just watch a movie with friends! Or is it the fact that others are testing that bothers you?

Pop Tarts are a crappy breakfast, but I insist that my child eats breakfast at home. She'd like their crappy breakfast sometimes, but I say no . This weekend, I bought and made Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (for the first time ever) because she was wanting the cinnamon rolls kids get at the school breakfast. None of us were very impressed, and I don't think I'll hear much more about that

It bothers me because of the way it's presented as so important for the almighty tests. I'm just not a huge fan of the big push of teaching to the test and because of that, I think I see everything test-related in a different light. He's in 2nd grade in a school with only 2nd-4th grade and the second graders have their own wing. There simply isn't a way for them to be disruptive to the other grades...I can't see how they can do anything. Unless it's recess and the classes can hear the playground, but they came back in time for that. And to be faced with it on day 1 (and again on day 3) is just such a joykill for me. It's like he starts school with a movie...literally. He went straight from bus to breakfast to movie. And he didn't even have a chance to make friends in his class yet... I don't know... It just struck me the wrong way...

We're a home-cooked, preferably made-from-scratch family, too, and he's packing every lunch and will pack breakfast next year, but this year is different I'd love to think he'll get bored with the food but I doubt that will happen. *laugh* It just helps us bridge the gap from arrival time to start time for now. I'm opting for easy over healthy right now