Part time homeschool/ part time public school?

[pranava]

Has anyone ever done half days at public school and half days homeschooling?  Just wondering if this is a possibility.  

I like the idea of public school for the social/cultural aspects of recess, gym class, riding the school bus ect.  but also would like to follow my kids lead and interests in learning and not have them pushed ahead in a subject before they are ready, or held back becuase the class is working more slowly in some area.

[Rebecca2009]

A friend of my daughter's has been doing this for awhile. We live in a fairly small town in   Massachusetts.  I don't know any details but apparently some districts allow this.

[Mrshawwk]

I did this when I was a senior in high school. (15 years ago). I had homeschooled most of my life, and was drowning in school (I started my sophomore year), I just hated it.  When we talked to the school counselor, they were so intent on just keeping me as a student for number purposes, they did all they could to accommodate me. So I took half the classes, and graduated just fine. It worked really well for me. But, that was 15 years ago, and a small town school, so.... it's at least worth looking into.

[Daffodil]

In my state, homeschoolers have the option of attending school part-time, as long as they get at least 60% of their core academics at home.  At the elementary school level, I think it's most common for homeschoolers to go for things like art, music, PE, and recess, but they could be involved in academic classes, too.  For us, right now, I think the hassle of working around the school's schedule would outweigh any advantages. 

[SundayCrepes]

Do you not have an active homeschool community around you? Our kids get so much socialization with homeschool kids that their social lives would suffer if we put them in school even part time. (Plus I don't want my kids around so many kids with so little adult supervision.)

If you don't have an active homeschooling community, this does seem like a way to get kid contact.

[Roar]

My suggestion would be if have not already done so I'd start with subscribing to the homeschool elists for area to find out the laws. Only some states allow part time enrollment and in those some leave it to the discretion of the individual school system. So, I would find out if it is even an option before you decide it is a good one.

By subscribing to the lists you will also get a better idea what is available within homeschooling communities. In many communities homeschoolers could easily have out of the house activities with peers every single day. There are PE classes, field trips, classes, meeting at the park, etc. Personally I'd be more inclined to pursue that option of full time homeschooling first for a few reasons. Kids vary but for some going to school part time would be a perpetual feeling of being left out and would before long lead to a push to go full time. There will be teachers who are really irritated to just have your kid there half a day. Also, just for practical reasons, most school isn't neatly divided into half day segments where half day is fun and half day is work. School is increasingly academically focused at younger grades and in many areas kids barely get recess. In the homeschooling community there may be the option of getting to know kids they will know for many years and to have the freedom to be fully included as participants in a community. You have a lot more control to pick and choose activities that are a good fit for your child.

[Laur318]

I'd love to know if it's allowed in CT, so I'm turning to my homeschool co-op. since my son's too young for most of the clases, we will be attending the "after school" playtime which is outside and pretty active. maybe you can find something like that to meet regularly and get some more organized, structured socialization and physical fitness in.

[starling&diesel]

My 17 y.o niece does this (and has been for about three years since she first came up with the idea) ... she is home for the most part, but attends the local high school for science labs and math class because she wants to be a veterinarian, and my sister is a radical unschooler, so she wanted a bit more focus in these areas.

We have an option in this city to register with a homeschooling support program (through the school district) that has a classroom component and a home component.  Your child can attend all the time, none at all, or a few days a week.  It's more of a gathering place for homeschoolers, and some families like to send their kids there for one day a week with the same group of families.  Makes sense?  The 'teacher' is there to help formulate lesson plans or help to achieve goals or hook you up with resources, or brainstorm ideas.  Unless we unschool, we are obliged to register as a homeschooler, which requires 'attaching' your family to a school, so this is the one we'd probably be connected to.