Almost ready to take the leap!

[kecmom]

I have been thinking abt homeschooling for quite awhile now but ever since our move to another school district, it's weighed heavily on me.
dd's always thrived in school. We both loved everything abt her last school from the office staff, to the admin, to the teachers. I was able to volunteer as often as I liked, which was at least weekely and bring my younger dd's along. We were always warmly welcomed and dd2 was incorporated into the class activities. She loves the social aspect and it was such a terrific experience that I couldn't see a reason to homeschool.
Having moved over the summer, I am less than thrilled with her new school. We are in the same county but in a school where I am not welcome to volunteer b/c I would have my younger dd's w/me. (The teacher would allow it but the admin does not.) There have been lots of reasons that have come up for me to homeschool but only one against it... dd enjoys school. I like her teacher but I am just afraid that she's not getting everything she can from it.
I am on the fence and have been for awhile. Dh is supportive of the decision to homeschool but I am simply not sure abt it. I have looked into private schools, which are simply an impossible financial reach and local homeschool co-ops, which would also be a financial strain. I understand that homeschooling doesn't have to be expensive but any additional expense would be a huge stretch for us.
Has anyone pulled their dc from school even when they weren't having problems per se?
Opinions/stories are welcome!

[Lillian J]

Well, if she likes school, and your main concern is that she may not be getting everything she can from it, you might think in terms of just providing her with lots of enjoyable enrichment at home. There's an excellent book I'd recommend by Linda Dobson called What the Rest of Us Can Learn from Homeschooling: How A+ Parents Can Give Their Traditionally Schooled Kids the Academic Edge.

Time will tell how it will go - but you might read a few books about homeschooling and be prepared to make a move if it doesn't work out in school. Grace Llewwelyn also has a good one called Guerrilla Learning: How to Give Your Kids a Real Education With or Without School.

And there's a whole annotated list on this homeschool association site:
Books about learning and homeschooling

I think homeschooling is a wonderful life - but I've never been comfortable about the idea of taking a child out of school if she'd be significantly happier there and will come out at the end just fine. I wish you the best in making your decisions. Lillian

[kecmom]

Thanks for your thoughtful response. I have been researching homeschooling since before dd started K and have have the opportunity to read Guerilla Learning, (just one of many) which I would also highly recommend.

I don't think that I want to send her to school for 8 hours a day and have her come home only to do more work, even if it's not presented in that way. Her day is long enough as it is, leaving at 6:50 and not getting home until after 3PM. I would see her 8 hours away as a complete waste of time if it weren't for the social aspect; and even that seems like a ridiculous reason to send her off every day when I could easily arrange for playdates and such outside of school b/c we would have a lot more time to do so. She still enjoys riding the bus, going to school to see her friends and such but the educational aspect leaves a lot to be desired.

I am very dissatisfied w/her current school. I am completely put-off by the apathy of the adminstration and the ludicrous rules. They aren't allowing children to be children by dictating what they are to eat, read and how, what and when to learn. She has expressed her desire to learn things ie: script but she's 'not allowed to do that until later' or read a series of books but 'can't do that until 4th grade' etc... I feel like they are stifling her. That's a huge issue for me.

We have chatted abt homeschooling and she's not adverse to the idea. I am just afraid that she'll be resentful down the line.
I am tempted to pull her now and give it until the end of the year to see how it goes. I am sure that I am not the first apprehensive mom to feel this way, and I know that this is a complete trad school mind-set but my biggest concern is that she won't learn everything that she's 'supposed' to learn during the rest of this year. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make sure I meet those requirements so that if we decide to go back to ps, she won't be lost?
I sincerely hope that we can just fall into a comfortable homeschooling experience and just 'do it' but there's just a little part of me that's scared to death to jump.

[mama2cntrykids]

It really sounds like you'd like to get her out of that school. I'm going to tell you what my mom has told me. If you or dd don't like hs or it's not working for some reason, you can always put her back in ps. It's not a one size fits all situation, kwim?

HTH! GL in your desicion!

[ABand3]

Originally Posted by kecmom

There have been lots of reasons that have come up for me to homeschool but only one against it... dd enjoys school.

But perhaps she would enjoy hs as much, or more? She just might not know what she's missing!

I'm pulling my 1st grader out of school next week, and he had some hesistation about leaving school. So I've tried to point out things over the last few weeks that I thought he'd really like about hs, and now he's completely excited about it.

[kecmom]

Originally Posted by mama2cntrykids

If you or dd don't like hs or it's not working for some reason, you can always put her back in ps. It's not a one size fits all situation, kwim?

That's very true; my fear is my own insecurity that I will screw my child up. : I don't know why the decision is so hard for me when it seems that lots of people just inherently 'know' that it's the right choice for them.

She is just ahead of the class and I want to keep her interested in learning. I can see that she's getting bored and it's so frustrating. I don't want to overwhelm her but I don't want her to lose the thrill of the challenge she really seemed to enjoy either...

[kecmom]

Posted at the same time...

Originally Posted by ABand3

But perhaps she would enjoy hs as much, or more? She just might not know what she's missing!

WOW! That's such an obvious thought but not one that I had explored!

Dh and I have decided to talk w/dd at length this weekend and make a final decision after a conference w.her teacher.

Can I ask how you are planning the transition? Are you going to de-school?

Also, for those who have de-schooled, did your dc just all of a sudden thirst to learn again and jump into it?

I am kind of a middle of the road type

[ABand3]

Originally Posted by kecmom

Can I ask how you are planning the transition? Are you going to de-school?

We're using the time between thanksgiving and christmas to get into a rhythm and try to get DS's creativity and imagination flowing again. He's very academically oriented --loves workbooks, writing notes on everything, doing spelling, money, geography quizzes, so we are not going to force him to abandon those things, but we'll let him set the pace and lead the way with his interests.

During our transition month I plan to go to the library a lot, go to the art museum, and to the park. I've already joined a local HS group and plan to go to many of their less structured activities (park day, game day, open gym) so he can start to meet other HS kids (and me meet other HS moms).

Perhaps after the new year we'll add in more of a curriculum.

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by kecmom

I don't think that I want to send her to school for 8 hours a day and have her come home only to do more work, even if it's not presented in that way.

Ohmygosh, I would never ever want to see anyone do that! I was just thinking in terms of reading her wonderful books, watching interesting videos with her, taking her to museums, and theater and that king of thing. Lillian

[kecmom]

We do that kind of stuff for fun and never really thought of it as schooling until recently... Thanks for the clarification though. I am still new to the ideals and terminology of hs and us!

[Lillian J]

double post

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by kecmom

Also, for those who have de-schooled, did your dc just all of a sudden thirst to learn again and jump into it?

I don't think that's usually the case - it's a process. I didn't allow for decompression/deschooling time when we started, by the way. We took things pretty casually, but I was still doing schooly things. If I'd known about the need for it, I sure would have, but I'd never heard of it. One thing to realize is that it's pretty rare to be able to just successfully skip over it. I know how strange that sounds - it's interesting that it's so universal, but I've seen this to be the case over the years. The idea of that time is not to push a child to stop doing things she enjoys, by the way - the idea is to just let her do things she enjoys, even if it's just enjoying the freedom of being a complete couch potato for a while. Also, to resist the temptation to start trying to coerce her to do things that seem more productive to you. There are a lot of fun things you can do together instead. Here's a whole MDC thread on it, with links to good articles about it:
Decompression/deschooling

- Lillian

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by kecmom

We do that kind of stuff for fun and never really thought of it as schooling until recently... Thanks for the clarification though. I am still new to the ideals and terminology of hs and us!

Wait - I don't want to make it even more confusing. I didn't mean those things are schooling - I meant them as educational and enriching. Schooling, to me, is a whole different thing. Lillian

[kecmom]

Originally Posted by Lillian J

I don't think that's usually the case - it's a process. One thing to realize is that it's pretty rare to be able to just skip over it. I know how strange that sounds - it's interesting that it's so universal, but I've seen this to be the case over the years.

How interesting! Now I understand that each kid will deschool in their own time; but how will I know when she's ready to move on? Is it just one of those things that you inherently 'know' or are there specific cues abt which I should be aware? I am afraid that I would be the type of person to 'push' before the time is right to move onto the next step... Is there a general time frame that most kids fall into? (I know, I know, wrong mind-set again- Perhaps I need more deschooling than dd...)

Off to read those links!
Thank you!

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by kecmom

How interesting! Now I understand that each kid will deschool in their own time; but how will I know when she's ready to move on? Is it just one of those things that you inherently 'know' or are there specific cues abt which I should be aware? I am afraid that I would be the type of person to 'push' before the time is right to move onto the next step... Is there a general time frame that most kids fall into? (I know, I know, wrong mind-set again- Perhaps I need more deschooling than dd...)

Well, yes - that's the thing. Parents need deschooling too - much more than the child oftentimes - so that's another advaatage of taking that time for your chlid. A common amount cited is a month for every year they've been in school. I don't know who first came up with that figure, but I've yet to hear anyone argue with it. Just try to keep in mind that there are a bizillion things to learn about life and the world - she doesn't need to be simultaneously learning the same things they're learning over in the classroom, but she might even learn a whole lot more than them and still "catch up" later on the rest. There's no hurry - because you learn so much easier and faster in a home enviroment without all the form and structure and other children that take up so much time in a classroom situation. Lillian

[kecmom]

Originally Posted by Lillian J

Well, yes - that's the thing. Parents need deschooling too - much more than the child oftentimes - so that's another advaatage of taking that time for your chlid.

Well, at least I'm on the right track abt something! Thanks for the info! I've so much to learn! :