pulling my kids out public schools to be home schooled

[pattyhenry35]

i want take both girls out public schools over christmas vacation and start then in january and i not sure what say to school or her teachers i'm little scared of it .

[heatherdeg]

Check your state's laws about how to notify the school district.  You may be able to just keep the girls home one day and send in a letter.  That's really the extent of it in most states.  Even in states that don't require it, it's recommended to avoid a truant officer at your door.  

And don't feel like you need to explain your motives, just notify of your actions.  There's a big difference.  If you wind up face-to-face with someone and you feel like you're on the spot to say why you're doing this, just keep it vague to avoid a tit-for-tat.  "I just think this is the best thing for the girls right now," should cover it.  If someone presses you about WHY you feel that way, and/or you get bombarded with questions about curriculum and socialization, just tell them "This was a decision I made after a great deal of consideration and researching my options.  Thank you for your concern, but I feel certain that I have it under control and that this is what we need to do right now."  If they ask if and when the girls will re-enter public school, just tell them that you're not making any longer-term decisions about it, but will respond to their needs--whatever those needs are.  You don't want it to get nasty and you don't want to insult their profession.  The reality is: your kids MAY not do well at home.  It happens.  And you want to make sure that IF (big "if") re-entry is necessary, it's a team effort.  Of course, I'm assuming (big assumption) that your motive has nothing to do with the individuals as opposed to a larger concept.

You don't want to be rude, but you could be facing people who get into panic mode about you taking their jobs.  I was a public school teacher and there was a great deal of resentment towards homeschoolers among a subset of the group.  It was always the more secure (and frankly, the more current) teachers that felt that parents could probably do just as well homeschooling as the kids being in school if not better.  With the exception of special needs children.  Then, it appears that all teachers jump on the "they need to be in school because you're not qualified" wagon (and frankly, I'm a licensed teacher with additional graduate credits in SpEd and they bullied me about it, too).

Good luck to you!!!!

[bobandjess99]

Hi patty Welcome to MDC. 

Would you mind sharing your state?  Homeschooling laws differ from state to state, so without knowing your state, we can't help you as much. 

You must follow your states laws.  As the PP said, it may be as simple as just keeping them home and filing a litter with the school district...however, in some places it is a bit more complicated, and if you have any hoops to jump through, you need to make sure you do everything correctly.  It can somtimes take a few weeks in some places to do everything you need to do prior to pullingthem out,  and during that time, they will need to go to school or be truant. 

I live in a state where all that is required is to send a letter notifiying the school you are withdrawing them. 

I'm not sure how much you have researched it, but if you are not familiar with the term "deschooling", please look it up.  Basically, it is a time after leaving public school where you relax and decompress before starting in on homeschooling....many parents are tempted to skip it, but it's actually really important. 

[pattyhenry35]

i live in omaha neb and i was approved for homeschooling i just take them out and send letter to main office.

[heatherdeg]

Originally Posted by pattyhenry35 

i live in omaha neb and i was approved for homeschooling i just take them out and send letter to main office.

"Approved"?  Now I'm curious about Nebraska and am going to go look up how it works there... but score for you that it's that easy.  :)

Agreeing with the pp about deschooling.  Hope to see you here more!