Homeschooling to Public School..concerns

[Alana]

Dh and I have been talking. And he really thinks that homeschooling is truly adding too much stress on me, and our family. I will actually admit..he is right. I have tried doing it a hundred different ways...nothing makes it better. Dh is gone 12-16 hrs a day, and Im all alone with the kids without any real outside support.

Here is my dilemma. DS is 6...his birthday is at the end of July. We wanted to wait till he was 6 to enroll him in K..because at 5 he was just not ready. Anyway, we are with a homebased charter school right now...and he is in K. We have been working on things...but he still is having a hard time with letter recognition...we can go over and over it, and he forgets or says a letter is a different letter. He is unable to read yet, but has strong math skills. He would probably need to be placed in a K class...but he is very tall..people usually think he is 8.

Im worried that he will be teased for being so big, and in a younger class. Im also worried that when we go to enroll him the teachers will be critical of me for not homeschooling well...and he will be treated differently and I will be talked about. (i used to work in a school, and remember the teachers always gossipping about parents) Dh said he will take him to enroll him so I dont have to worry about explaining everything.

Dh said that as soon as school starts up after winter break he will be enrolled. But, another thing...he has a hard time with impulse control, and is very active...he has a hard time sitting still. Would his teacher be annoyed to have to spend extra time to bring him up to speed and possibly deal with his activity level?

Would his teacher work WITH me to help him and strengthen areas where he is weak? I dont know how all this works. Should I spend the next couple weeks working really hard with him on letter sounds and names???

[mattemma04]

Since you are doing a public charter school that is all that needs to be said.We did a charter with my dd for 6(K), and then put her into ps 2 weeks into the year in grade 1. She was just beginning to learn basic reading. I think K would probably be better,because grade 1 can require some reading on their own and that could stress him out a great deal. Every school is different though.

If the school is still open you could go and get some packets on what they are doing in K. You might just get those things once you register.We waited 5 days after registration before dd went,though we did go in to see the classroom/teacher before that.Unfortunately my dd got 2 weeks worth of work to make up on her first day of school even though we were told she would start where they currently are.

You will just have to try it out,and do what you can to help him get up to speed.Sometimes you may need to switch classes if things do not click with the current teacher/students. I am sure the teacher will do what she can,and if she has room helpers they will assist as well.

If I were to put my ds in ps I would do K at 6 though I know the norm these days is 5.Most of the kids in dd's grade 1 are 6. She is a big girl as well,but as far as well know no one teases her for any of her limitations.Ofcourse she has learned to do a good job of *pretending* to know the material since she sees no one else asking questions.

Hopefully things will work out well for your ds,and remember that boys tend to learn these things at a later age.Don't blame yourself.You can push and push and then one day on its own it just *clicks* for your child with no help from you(or a teacher).

[mommy68]

Your son is probably right on track for his age. Not all children learn at the same speed and the children in school are no different than those that are at home being schooled. There will be other children that are behind in some areas more than others. Try not to worry. If you have to put your child in school then be sure and check it out well, visit a few times and even meet the teachers and other staff and make sure they test him thoroughly. I'm sure he will do just fine. I have 3 kids and my youngest is very small for her age and I dread her starting K next year for that very reason, most kids seem very big compared to her. So it goes both ways. Try not to worry.