Awesome experience with my homeschooler in public school

[annettemarie]

Brief background: We put Michael in school a few months into first grade and pulled him back out around Thanksgiving of third grade. While in school, we discovered he was really gifted but also had some learning challenges, and while I am glad we were able to bring him home, I really do credit the school with helping is figure out what was going on with him and how Michael best learns.

Moving on. In Pennsylvania, homeschooled children are legally allowed to participate in extracurricular activities like band, orchestra, and sports. We also have a nationally renowned strings program. Michael has been playing cello since he was in third grade. Today was his very last concert at "his" elementary school. *sniff*

I got there a little early so I could thank the secretaries and principal for working with us. And everyone was so sweet, telling me stories they remembered about Michael when he was there. One of the first grade teachers remembered when he started, it was such a long day for him and he was sniffling on the playground and she said "Michael, it's OK. It's only 2 more hours." And he looked at her and burst into tears and said "THAT'S 120 MINUTES!!!!"

Anyway, my two favorite parts:

The strings teacher, who doesn't care if my kid is homeschooled or not because he just wants the best orchestra possible, offered to give Michael over the lessons this summer and gave him tips for auditioning for chamber orchestra next year.

And the teacher who had him when we pulled him out in the third grade said "I just think you're doing such a great thing for Michael. It's been so wonderful to watch him grow, and he's really turned into a nice young man."

And maybe it's the hormones and maybe it shouldn't mean so much, but it just made me so happy. I feel really blessed that we're able to participate in both, and that, for the most part, everyone has been so accepting and understanding.

[tammyw]

What a great experience you had mama

[ikesmom]

[LuxPerpetua]

Hi, Annette.

What a great story!

Since we're in PA too and will be figuring out all the hs-ing ropes in the near future, would you mind elaborating on how you were able to get him involved with your local school--like, did you arrange it with the principal or . . . what? I'm assuming that participating with extracurricular activities is only possible once one registers with the state, yes?

[isabchi]

Congrats!!!... Wow! What a great support from the school teachers!!

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by LuxPerpetua

Hi, Annette.

What a great story!

Since we're in PA too and will be figuring out all the hs-ing ropes in the near future, would you mind elaborating on how you were able to get him involved with your local school--like, did you arrange it with the principal or . . . what? I'm assuming that participating with extracurricular activities is only possible once one registers with the state, yes?

Here's a really good overview of the law. IME, there really isn't a whole lot to do before third grade, which is when you register them. But yes, technically the law says they have to be "registered homeschoolers". We let the school district know in our cover letter that we included with our affidavit, but really, we live in a larger school district and just made our own arrangements with the individual teachers. It probably helped that Michael had been enrolled in the public school, so he was already involved and we already knew the teacher.

The hardest part is knowing when things are and who to contact. They don't exactly advertise it to homeschoolers, you know?

[annettemarie]

I wanted to add, Michael has also participated in Odyssey of the Mind and he'll be doing chorus and drama next year as well.

[treegardner]

What a great story!

[phathui5]

That's really nice.

[ebethmom]

I'm envious on so many levels! First, that your schools have a great string program. Our county doesn't have ANY strings in the schools, much less a great program. It's so hard to round up viola students when no one has ever heard of a viola.

I wish that we could participate in the school programs. Homeschool and PS are completely separate in our state.

Congratulations on raising such a fine young person!

[annettemarie]

It was a big fight to get equal access in PA. I was reading about it last night.
http://www.equalaccess.cjb.net/

The governor actually gave a really nice speech when the law passed.

And yeah, DH and I were both music majors, so we are absolutely thrilled to be in a district with such an outstanding arts program. Thank goodness the district was already known for its great program when the economy tanked, because there's no way they could have cut it without a huge uproar.

The other funny thing yesterday was that the chorus sang "Fifty Nifty United States," which I conducted when I was student teaching a billion years ago, LOL!