How do you decide about school vs homeschool?

[leighi123]

My choices for next year are to homeschool, or send ds to a Montessori program which will either be 2.5, or 3.5 hours a day depending on if they approve him for 'late arrival' (which will let him skip lunch, he has food allergies so that will make it a lot easier for me).  

I love the school, teachers seem nice, kids are great, lots of really smart kids and its a mixed age group so half the kids would be older than ds, and ds would be one of the youngest of the younger half of the class (I think there is only 1 younger than him).   They do lots of outdoor time, and individual work where the kids can work at their own pace.     The schedual is nice because ds could still do his current science class and library class, and gymnastics class.   The biggest issue I think is ME.   I dont know if I'm ready to send him!    It is a pain in other ways though (having to drive him mostly!)

I think ds NEEDS to be with other kids on a more regular basis, so he can "be a kid" more and just play!  

Its also free! 

Or I can homeschool him.   I found out about an awesome homeschool group that has kids from baby to teens and they do co-ops for things like art, science, drama, dance, etc., all with mixed age groups.   Less consistant on the interaction with him any other kids, and I think I'd need to buy a curiculum for him, so far I'm homeschooling him without one and its difficult for me not to have structure.  So it is a little more work for me having to plan 'school' for him, and no free time for myself.  

Or I could just do nothing, and let him learn without bothering to do any type of school.  But again no interaction with other kids, and my mom being a teacher, doesn't 'get' this idea at all (we live with my parents)

There are free preschool programs he could do durring next summer (florida has free preschool), but I don't think the montessori school would be an option.   This might be helpful for me sense summer is when I work a lot more (I teach kids camp classes, so have more enrollment when most kids are out of school).   Here 4yr olds can either go for the school year, or for the summer (not both), so maybe waiting until next summer would be better.    

He would be very happy regardless of what I choose.  He is so easy going that he would have no issues with me dropping him off at a school, or staying at home with me all day every day.   

I'm not even sure what to consider when deciding, and what to look for in the school for a gifted kid.   

[pigpokey]

I thought your decision was more related to what you would be doing in coming years?

Kids do not have to go to preschool, particularly gifted kids.  Are there kids playing in your neighborhood?  Can you make it a habit to go socialize at the park or the pool every day at 4pm, say?

But if you can see benefits to the Montessori school, why don't you check out if there is a gym or a YMCA right near the school and you could work out a bit and hit the hot tub every day?  That could be a nice benefit.

I believe home schooling is the best choice for my kids mainly because I can do it and because we avoid the inefficiencies of group education, particularly for smart kids.  They are with kids every day in various sports and activities.

[Galatea]

We sent my kids to preschool, sort of against my wishes.  You don't have to go to preschool to "turn out okay."  Dh didn't and is appropriately "socialized."

My first liked preschool and is very outgoing and hyper.  My second likes it okay, but is very self-contained and sort of mystified by the other kids' behavior.  I don't know if we'll send dd.

We pulled our first out of school to homeschool.  IME, attending preschool didn't affect our decision to homeschool.  Actually, if public school had been more like preschool, I might have kept him in it!  (Playing, crafts, etc.)

[KCMichigan]

I think it would depend on the preschool.

The one I teach at is play based and great for kiddos at varying levels. Really- our bright kiddos really have gotten some fantastic ideas from each other from everyday play and their 'base' of how to socialize and play is great. Somethings need multiple kids to act out ( a small group of boys have been acting out life on another planet with the blocks- it has gotten quiet complex and all the kids have contributed to it. We also do journaling, interactive reading, and lots of hands on science. It is not for gifted kiddos, but I am positive a few of ours are.

Montessori could be good too, depending on the particular school. I have heard great things and not so great about gifted kiddos in such programs, it really depends on the kid, the program, and the teacher.

Also long term- will you do public school or homeschool. That , too, would play into my choice. At PreK kids learn all sorts of social lessons on the dynamics of school, as well as how to follow direction from teachers, etc. 

If you think *he* will benefit from it- go for it. Worst happens you enroll, decide it is not working and keep him home. Best happens, he enjoys it and you get to continue to do all your other activities too!

[heatherdeg]

I answered you in the thread in the LAHAB forum.  The fact that your child is gifted doesn't change my thoughts.  Although it makes me wonder if you're more concerned about your ds socially and maybe that's making you feel some pressure to get him with other kids?  Are you worried about some level of "weirdness" socially because he's advanced and you're trying to avoid that?  Because for gifted kids, sometimes the classroom is a rough place to be socially and exposing it to them for the sake of making them get over it can be akin to CIO.  :/  I'm not saying it's like that for all of them and it may not work out like that for yours, but it's something to consider.

You'd also be making a lot of changes to how you live to accommodate going to the Montessori (based on the things you said in the other forum's post).  But I spoke of that in that thread so I don't need to repeat it here; but I notice that in this post--you didn't really mention any of that and I'm not sure why.