one in school, one at home?

[carmel23]

My oldest son is about to finish kindergarten at our parish school. He really likes his school, and for at least another year we plan to keep him there.

DS#2 is 3 years old, and I really would like to keep him home for at least preschool, and possibly even kindergarten. There is a very active homeschool group here in our city that we would like to participate in and tons of things we can do. Plus, the playschools that we like have a huge waiting list and I'm not sure if the money couldn't be better spent on materials used in the home...

But I would like to hear if other families have done something like this. What were the problems? Were the kids jealous of each other? Did it feel really weird as a parent? Is this just not really done unless one of the kids are older and wants to go to school?

I'll have the both during the summer and we have no camps or anything planned for either child. DS#1 is an avid reader and we already do a great deal of learning at home. Ds#2 is teaching himself to read already, and both boys will be learning to swim intensively this summer... But then when fall comes?

[dharmamama]

We have somewhat of a different situation, as we adopted an older child and homeschooled her for a while, but the situation became untenable and after 9 1/2 months we put her in school. She is 12.

Our other two kids are 5 and 4(ish; also adopted and his age is uncertain). They are homeschooled and we plan to continue homeschooling them.

It is a little awkward at times, such as when we do something or go somewhere really cool and Efram and Ramona tell Desta all about it when we pick her up from school. I think Desta is jealous of the things we do without her, but she also didn't like being homeschooled very much (she liked not having to go to school, but that does not mean she liked being home with us all day).

The biggest issue with having one in school is that it puts a real crimp in our freedom. Whatever we are doing, we have to make sure we are done in time to pick up Desta. I don't travel with the kids as much as I had hoped to because we have to either leave Desta at home so she can go to school (which she doesn't like) or take her out of school (which I don't really care about, but if I took her out as often as we wanted to travel, she'd be out more than she's in).

For me it's hard to have one in school because I never, ever, ever wanted the lifestyle where we are beholden to someone else's schedule. Emotionally it is hard for me to feel like my life is impinged upon by the school. I also don't believe that school is a good environment for most kids (mine included); putting Desta in school was a survival tactic for the family as a whole, not necessarily a decision based solely on what was in Desta's best interest.

If you are not really philosophically invested in homeschooling, those issues might not bother you as much.

If your son likes school, it probably won't be a problem to have one in and one out.

dm

[Ruthla]

I started out with all 3 of my kids in private school this year, but pulled DD2 out in January. I'm definitely sending DD1 to a DIFFERENT private school this upcoming year (this particular school isn't meeting anybody's needs very well), but I'm not yet sure about DS. He'd do well in school, and he'd do well at home, so I need to really think about what I want for him.

DD1 has not been jealous of DD2 at all. They really enjoy the time apart, and having different friends. DS has been jealous that DD2 gets to stay home when he has to get up early and go to school. I've been letting him stay home a lot more lately, if he just doesn't feel like getting up in the morning I'm much more likely to let him sleep in rather than rushing him to get ready in time for the school bus.

I say you should do for each child what meets his or her needs best. If that means one in school and one at home, then that's what you do. You can re-evaluate the schooling situation each year, so you can continue to do what's best for each child as they grow.

[rmzbm]

Tried that. I have one child that, for a variety of reasons, I thought needed school. School made it all worse.

[carmel23]

I'm really torn here... I guess we'll do our summer things and see how it goes until fall... thanks for the input!

[zonapellucida]

I have one in shcool and 6 at home, LOL!