Pros and Cons of PT school enrollment

[LauraLoo]

My ds is seriously considering going back to school next year for 4th grade after 2 years of homeschooling.

I have an observation date set up with the school at the end of April. I want to discuss pt enrollment for non-core curriculum subjects (PE, art, music, etc.) while I am there as a happy medium instead of full time enrollment.

In my state, I do not have to register, report or test while I am homeschooling. If I choose to do pt enrollment, I will have to register with the state. I haven't fully explored exactly what that will mean, but I am certain it will at least be more paperwork.

Is there anything else I should know? Any pros or cons to part time enrollment? I'd appreciate any thoughts.

[kathymuggle]

This was my experience - YMMV.

The biggest pro to part time enrollment was being with the same kids every afternoon for 5 days a week. It gave him a great deal of exposure to local peers - some of whom became friends.

There were some cool activites he got to take part in. We do cool staff as HSers too, so maybe that score is even. He also realised (and I think it was good for him) that not everyone is the same. I think it made him realise how good he has it, lol.

The negatives were I had to be home at set hours, and HS activities often took place in the afternoon (which is when he went to school), so he missed out on a lot of that. I felt our freedom was curtailed.

I personally butted heads with the school on how they handled discipline, and , to a lesser degree, on academics - and I found it very stressing. TBH I do not think he progressed much academically in the 3 years he attended part time.

I also had some pratical issues - organisation being one of them. The teacher would hand out papers and announcements in the morning, when Ds was not there. Occasionally the teacher would feel the need to shift scheduels...one time they did a project DS spent a fair bit of time working on during the morning, and Ds did not get to present. Grrrr....

In hindsight I am glad he went (for social reasons), and I am glad he is not going now.

[mom2ponygirl]

My daughter has been doing half-time school this year, although at a high school so some issues will be different.

Here are the cons that I have found:
Driving! My dd goes a half-day everyday. It is 20 minutes to school from home and then another 15 minutes to my work. So at two trips per day that adds at least an hour of driving a day.

Part of the day at school doesn't give you tons of time to do things before you pick up again.

The schedule changes! There will be testing days or picture days or random something else is going on days when the schedule changes. They don't think about part-time kids, so they pass on information at the beginning of the day (you're not there yet) or the end (you've already left) or not at all since it doesn't change the start and end of the day, just when classes happen. So make good friends with someone at the office - it is the only way we made it workable.

In our state, schools are not required to take part-timers but there is a funding formula for it. However, if they can get more money for a full-time student and they are at capacity, they may give you the ultimatum of come full-time or not at all. Just something to keep in the back of your mind and mention to your son.

Half-time high school brings a fair amount of homework which interferes with the rest of our homeschooling. Probably not much of an issue with elementary extras.

The school schedule can prevent your attending many fun homeschool events/field trips.

You are now subject to the school calendar so vacation time can be limited. Since you are doing elementary many absences may not be as much of an issue, but I would check.

Pros:
She's learned how to navigate a classroom, take notes, pay attention, not look around during tests, etc. She's had a couple of really good teachers and learned how to tolerate a couple that weren't so great. I've learned that she can handle a fairly large volume of work in a reasonable amount of time from external sources. LOL
She's met some good kids.

Over all she's decided homeschooling is better and she is returning to it full-time next year. She hasn't ruled out returning to this high school in the future though. We're going to work hard next year to organize regular occurring activities for our local homeschoolers. She likes the group interaction. So, we will be doing a math club weekly, a science club twice a month, and a novel writing workshop (for 8 weeks preceding NaNoWriMo). So, I will still be busy and driving all the time again! LOL

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

TBH I do not think he progressed much academically in the 3 years he attended part time.

Since we will only be allowed to do non-core curriculum at the school, it will be PE, Spanish, computers/technology, music & art. BUT, I have no idea if they will all run concurrently, and I don't know if I can pick and choose what he will or won't take. At least I don't have to worry about academics through the school since we'll be obligated to study science, social studies, math and L/A at home since we'll have to register and our state will not allow part-timers to take these subjects. Not a problem, really, since he already is geared towards those subjects anyway. I think that if he weren't allowed to progress in these areas, we'd have some behavior problems (again!) and it's the main reason that I'm considering part-time enrollment as opposed to full-time. DS is very clear that he wants to go to school for social reasons. I know it's not the best reason, but it's pretty important to him at this point - it never has been before and actually, I think he's avoided a lot of social situations because of some social anxiety. The fact that he feels like he can handle it is a positive step for him.

Originally Posted by mom2ponygirl

Half-time high school brings a fair amount of homework which interferes with the rest of our homeschooling. Probably not much of an issue with elementary extras.

I'm really hoping that he doesn't get a slew of homework! Yikes! I need to ask about that, too!

And thank you both for bringing up schedule changes and how they might not be communicated.

It seems like the non-core subjects are mostly in the morning, so our afternoons would still be free for HS trips/activities. This could change, but I'll definitely keep that in mind when we look at scheduling.

Thank you both again!