Please share experiences and opinions about partial homeschooling

[straighthaircurly]

DS just started 2nd grade at a nearby PS. We love many things about the school: year round schedule, looping (keep same teacher for 2 years), science emphasis, very diverse student body, wonderful and energetic teachers. DS tests in a level 2 gifted range, has very strong verbal and reading skills and is strong in math. He teaches himself most math concepts long before his class ever reaches them. But the past 2 years have had plenty of challenges for him with learning to manage his sensory processing issues and learning to write so I haven't worried about him getting bored. And his K-1 teacher had a group of students with whom she did math enrichment/differentiation including most of the 2nd grade math curriculum.

However, we are now 5 weeks into his 2nd grade year and his class is still on Unit 1 of the 2nd grade curriculum in math which consists of reviewing adding with 1 and 0 and just now working into adding and subtracting some single digit numbers. I have touched base with the teacher about doing differentiation but she keeps having reasons not to: wait for the test results, worried he will have holes in his knowledge, no one available to help do some pull out activities, etc. She will discuss it more at conferences in a week, but I have a feeling not much is going to happen. I don't think math is her strong suit.

So in researching options I came across the concept of partial or part-time homeschooling. I can't homeschool full time because DH and I run a business together. But I was thinking of asking the school about me keeping him home Monday morns and working ahead in the curriculum. I would be able to lessen the amount of repetition for him but he would still be able to prove competency to the school by taking the Unit tests. I could also give him some more open ended types of problems (he loves logic type puzzles). I would plan to provide a packet that he could work on during the other math sessions at school during the week. The teacher also likes using his ability of explaining math concepts clearly to help other kids who are struggling so she could utilize him more for that. I figure he could easily complete the 2nd and 3rd grade curricula this year if we get started soon.

Sorry this got so long. But I would really appreciate hearing from people who have tried partial homeschooling. How did it work out? How accepting was the school? Our state law allows it, no permission from the school required, but I still figure they might freak out a little. What lessons did you learn from the experience that you can pass on to me? Did it work out as you expected?

Thanks for any and all input!

[jeteaa]

dd1 is in ps 1st. When I enrolled her 4 weeks ago, my intention was to pt hs her. SHE LOVES SCHOOL... she wants to go every day.... so for now the best option is for me to go into her classroom and voulunteer, working with her and other kids at her level.

[moominmamma]

My eldest is a part-time homeschooler, but she's a high schooler, so I'm not sure our experience will be terribly helpful to you. She was unschooled until 9th grade at which point she decided to start some course work through our local small rural public school. They were awesome about it, letting her take 10th and 11th grade courses with no pre-requisites, waiving rules about attendance in order to facilitate her participation in advanced music training out of town, giving her credit for a number of things she had accomplished outside of school.

Her course work has mostly been of the indepedent-study variety, in the "facilitated learning centre" which is used for senior students who want to study courses not offered by our tiny school. She's taken one or two in-class courses per year, but the self-paced independent study approach has been her mainstay. It's worked well for her, because she can progress at her own rate, and for the school because she's not disrupting the flow of the classroom teaching by dropping in and out.

My youngest would love an arrangement similar to that of her oldest sister. However, it's totally impractical for her. She's nominally 2nd grade age although her math and reading level are at least 5th grade level. On the surface it might make sense to have her in a 2nd or 3rd grade classroom part-time, but pull her out for math and literacy learning. But at the elementary level the teaching here is quite thematic and multi-disciplinary. There's not necessarily a clear division between social studies, science, math and literacy. A trip to the salmon spawning grounds might involve learning about art, science, the economy and ecology of the region, and a bunch of literacy areas. It would be quite disruptive (to the child and to the classroom teacher) to have a student missing for a couple of half days a week and then re-joining the class part way through a project or unit study. And because the day isn't divided into subject areas there really wouldn't be a consistent block of time when it would be possible to remove a child to provide enriched learning in a particular subject. Math-like learning might happen in the middle of the morning one Monday, not at all the next Monday, and all afternoon the following Monday.

In the case of elementary-level education in our school district, part-time attendance is not really a realistic option. I know a couple of families have tried it here but they've ended up reverting to one or the other full-time option (homeschooling or public schooling).

Miranda

[straighthaircurly]

Originally Posted by jeteaa

dd1 is in ps 1st. When I enrolled her 4 weeks ago, my intention was to pt hs her. SHE LOVES SCHOOL... she wants to go every day.... so for now the best option is for me to go into her classroom and voulunteer, working with her and other kids at her level.

I did this a lot in K and 1st, although I didn't have any control over how the teacher would utilize my skills on a given day.

[straighthaircurly]

Originally Posted by moominmamma

But at the elementary level the teaching here is quite thematic and multi-disciplinary. There's not necessarily a clear division between social studies, science, math and literacy. A trip to the salmon spawning grounds might involve learning about art, science, the economy and ecology of the region, and a bunch of literacy areas. It would be quite disruptive (to the child and to the classroom teacher) to have a student missing for a couple of half days a week and then re-joining the class part way through a project or unit study. And because the day isn't divided into subject areas there really wouldn't be a consistent block of time when it would be possible to remove a child to provide enriched learning in a particular subject. Math-like learning might happen in the middle of the morning one Monday, not at all the next Monday, and all afternoon the following Monday.

In the case of elementary-level education in our school district, part-time attendance is not really a realistic option. I know a couple of families have tried it here but they've ended up reverting to one or the other full-time option (homeschooling or public schooling).

Miranda

My son would love that type of approach but his school is not thematic at all. it is divided into very clear, predictable blocks of time. Fortunately this year the math block comes in the morning right after their morning meeting so it would be very easy to just bring him at 11am one day a week.

[moominmamma]

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

My son would love that type of approach but his school is not thematic at all.

With full-time homeschooling we can use a thematic approach and tailor it to my kids' individual needs, no matter how asynchronous or advanced their learning might be. But in school it makes differentiation extremely difficult and is the main reason my dd doesn't attend school. While it is a lovely way to meaningfully link learning in different areas, it only works if the level of the learning is appropriate in more or less all areas. Much as I hate to compartmentalize learning by subject area and schedule I think it's the most suitable regime under which to attempt part-time homeschooling.

Miranda

[Lisa1970]

We don't have that sort of thing here where you can do school part time and keep home parttime.

If I loved the school and math was my only issue, and I could pull my child out for math and teach them that myself, I would.

[iamama]

I don't think it is fair for the rest of the students. What if every student went home for some lesson and came back? Seems like a an extra disruption to the class and teacher.

[AAK]

Instead of coming in with a particular arrangement in mind, perhaps come to the school and ask how a person would attend pt. If math is always first, like you mentioned, you may need to be willing to bring him late daily. Or, maybe agree to provide his own math assignments/work for him during the week. He can go to a different space to work while the rest of the class does math. In that case, I imagine he would need to attend Monday mornings as well because of truancy issues. You would need to provide something that could be easily done by himself with any instruction occuring after hours.

If math is the only issue, then perhaps he could just join the third grade class during math time and return to his class afterwards.

Does your school have a gifted pull out program? Technically we pt homeschool because my oldest goes once a week to our gifted pull out. We really like this arrangement, but it doesn't sound like it would work with your family. However, the gifted program can satisfy that need for challenge and he may be fine being mainstreamed the rest of the week.

Also, when you go in. . . keep an open mind, but be firm. We didn't get any response from our school until they heard we were looking into hs. So, mentioning it as a possibility might help get gears working.

Amy

[AAK]

Originally Posted by iamama

I don't think it is fair for the rest of the students. What if every student went home for some lesson and came back? Seems like a an extra disruption to the class and teacher.

I have to disagree. Kids get pulled out all the time for remediation and it doesn't seem to disrupt the class. Not only that, but often the children that are more advanced (tend to get bored) and then deliberatly disturb the class simply for entertainment. We hold our kids to a high behavior standard, I was repeatedly told that my dd wasn't "that smart" because she wasn't disturbing the class! I said she was smart enough to know better!

Amy

[straighthaircurly]

A couple clarifications. Our state law allows for parents to decide if a particular portion of school isn't meeting their needs or standards. They have the right to pull the child for part of the day (coming late to school or picking up early works best) as long as the parent provides the curriculum to make up for the time missing from school. The school can not punish the student for this or decare them truant because their are being partially homeschooled.

I had a nice chat with my son today and he does feel the math is really basic. I loved his approach. He said, "Mom, they have us all pick out 'just right books' for our reading level, so why can't we have 'just right' math work to do?" I also spoke with the parent of another gifted child and she has spoken with the principal. Apparently the 3-5 grade students are already getting to participate in pullout programs for gifted reading and math. This is a new thing this year but they haven't gotten the program going in K-2 and she didn't know when. She was just told to be patient. The problem is I was told to be patient last year also because they were starting to use a new curriculum annd wanted all the kids to participate together at first. I will try to set up a meeting this week with the person who is supposed to coordinate the K-2 gifted programs. I will listen and learn and if I feel the school isn't going to move on this issue this year then I will propose the partial homeschool option.

In regards to having my son come late once a week being disruptive, there are lots of kids pulled throughout the day for special ed and ESL classes, so I don't see how this would be different.

I would love to hear more examples from people who have tried this.

[AAK]

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

I would love to hear more examples from people who have tried this.

Have you tried the gifted board?

Amy

[Linda on the move]

My DD attended school part time last year as part of trying to find something that would work for her. She is 2E.

The thing that I find totally unrealistic about your idea is the schedule. If your child is doing a part day at school, the times they need to be at school are totally determined by the school schedule, not you. It requires far more parental flexiablity than any other educational option. YOU live on the school schedule, the school schedule doesn't work around you.

It's really a lot of work. Your child's schedule is what drives everything, not what is convient for you.

If you just want to move ahead in math, it would be far simplier to just do that outside of school time.

The staff at my DDs school was fantasic to work with, but I totally understood that they needed her there are certain times, she has a stack of paper work documenting her differences, and we (the school and I working together) tried lots of other things first.

[phathui5]

I really wouldn't consider it even partial homeschooling if you're just talking about one morning a week.

What is it you're looking to get out of it? More challenging work for him? Less repetition? Have you talked to the school about the issues?

[raelize]

i don't see how 1 morning a week is going to make a big difference. if it was every morning, or every afternoon, then yes, i think it would be worth it. but 1 morning isn't going to add anything more than if you were spending 1 evening a week. doesn't he have math every day? what about those other 4 math periods during the week?
i would either go for a time slot everyday and try to pull him out then, push the school to pull him out for math and send him to an older class for math (they did that for me when i was in elementary school, every grade past kindy i was pulled out and sent to the next grade up. it didn't affect anything)
or i would just continue to work with the teacher and work at night at home.

[straighthaircurly]

Originally Posted by rachel_eva

i don't see how 1 morning a week is going to make a big difference. if it was every morning, or every afternoon, then yes, i think it would be worth it. but 1 morning isn't going to add anything more than if you were spending 1 evening a week. doesn't he have math every day? what about those other 4 math periods during the week?
i would either go for a time slot everyday and try to pull him out then, push the school to pull him out for math and send him to an older class for math (they did that for me when i was in elementary school, every grade past kindy i was pulled out and sent to the next grade up. it didn't affect anything)
or i would just continue to work with the teacher and work at night at home.

The goal would be to take the pressure off the teacher. DS works pretty well independently. However, he would need some teaching time. I DO NOT want to ADD to his school day as people have suggested. He just doesn't have that kind of energy left at the end of a day and he is a kid who really needs unstructured play time. I also think it is silly for him to spend his time at school doing really, really simple math and then be expected to do EXTRA work outside school just so he gets something challenging.

I would like to avoid partial homeschooling if the school is able to step up and provide some positive direction. However, they seem to have put most of their energy into reorganizing the gifted opportunities for the 3-5 graders. I have a conference next week. I want them to pretest him on each unit and then allow him to just do the sections he doesn't understand yet. Then he can move ahead faster. If it is too much for them right now then I am willing to step in. The idea would be for the teacher to administer a pretest and give me the results (or let me administer it myself...my background is as a math teacher). Then I would put together a packet of work for the week. On Monday, he would stay home with me during until 11am. He would only miss morning meeting and math time. We would cover concepts and math vocab that he doesn't know yet so that he could work on his packet fairly independently during the other 4 days at school. I would also be able to supplement his math packet with some logic type puzzles and thinking puzzles that are completely lacking from the school's curriculum.

I really don't understand the poster's comment about us being at the mercy of the school's schedule. We aren't. The state statute gives me power as a parent to do what is best for my child's learning.

Update: Today the teacher sent home a more challenging homework sheet that is pulled from the 3rd grade standards. So some progress is being made. I am just worried that it is haphazard progress. But I will talk to the teacher at conferences.

Thanks for the comments. They are keeping me thinking about the best way to go here.

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

I really don't understand the poster's comment about us being at the mercy of the school's schedule. We aren't. The state statute gives me power as a parent to do what is best for my child's learning.
.

you would think that's how it works, but I have very rarely heard of it actually being that way. My son takes band through the public school (we homeschool) but I can't decide when he will go. The band is at a certain time and he has to show up them. Same with his technique class. The school can only work within certain parameters.

[phathui5]

Today the teacher sent home a more challenging homework sheet that is pulled from the 3rd grade standards.

That's something.

Has she changed his classwork?

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

I really don't understand the poster's comment about us being at the mercy of the school's schedule. We aren't. The state statute gives me power as a parent to do what is best for my child's learning.

That simply isn't how it works in most places. Students are either legally homeschoolers or legally schoolers. If they attend school, the school has a wide variety of laws they must follow, and those laws dictate many aspects of the schedule.

If the time that works for you happens to when they have math, then it's all good. However, if it isn't, I don't see them being nice about you taking him out of other subjects. I'd focus on what they are doing in school during that time, not on how that works for you because of your work schedule.

I suspect that having a different attitude than you do would help the meeting go better. Going in with some understanding of the parameters that the school must work within and seeking ways to work together would most likely serve you better than "I'm the parent so I can do what I want."

[raelize]

i have never heard of a school being that accomodating. not that it can't happen or doesn't in other places, but i jsut have no experience or know of anyone who had that much flexibility within a school system. and i used to teach.

i would still be a little surprised that the school would let you have that much input into your son's math education. to basically let you design his math program to be administered by the teacher during school hours seems incredible to me. i'm not saying they won't do it, i'm just saying that all the schools i have ever been involved in would not let that happen.

i know that some school systems will allow the hsed kid to participate in music or sports or arts programs, but i think they are usually more protective of academic programs because 1) they are tested and graded on a students performance ( i realize that your son would test higher than basic profiency,but the school is still giving up the respobility of teaching math to your son) and 2) if one parent is given this opportunity, what will stop every parent from doing this with their kids?

i would be very surprised if the school let you test your son and determine what level he should be on.