Is it possible to go to 2 different schools every year?

[mamarabolli]

I live in NY, and want to winter in FL. I have a 3 year old who might start preK next year, but don't know how to do it. I thought of homeschooling, but I really don't think I have it in me. NYC has some amazing schools and I'm not sure of FL yet. Any ideas on making this work, or do schools frown upon the idea?

[alegna]

I think it would be very very difficult on a child, both emotionally and educationally.

-Angela

[Momily]

I think the answer is "it depends".

First of all if you're interested in choosing your child's school, I think this is unlikely to fly. My son attends a charter school with a long waiting list, there's no way they'd hold a slot for someone who was part time. The same would be true of the more popular private schools around here, or an out-of-bounds public spot.

If you're thinking of moving her back and forth between two "home schools" in the public system, it can definitely legally be done. How it would effect the child would, IMO, depend on a number of things. What's your child's personality like? Are they extroverted? Are they comfortable with novelty and change? How similar are the curricula between the two schools? How much work are you willing to expend to keep connections at both schools so that she'll still have friends when she comes back? Is your daughter a strong student who can afford to lose a couple of weeks of progress with each transition? All these things would, in my opinion, make it more likely that you'd be successful.

One thing that might work if you could pull it off would be to pick something like 2 montessori schools so that she'd be moving back and forth between the same curriculum at least.

Another option would be to have her attend school in whichever place she spends more time in and then homeschool in the other, using as similar a curriculum as you can, and following their scope and sequence.

Good luck!

[rabrog]

Homeschool - yes.
Private school or a school with a waitlist - if you pay for it, you'd have to pay for both schools all year to secure your spot and that's if they'd even go for this.
Public school - I don't know how you think this would serve your child since school districts have different standards. Same can be said for private or any other school, actually.

I think if you really need to do this, you need to homeschool and get involved with homeschool groups in both areas. This does not sound like it will do anything good for your child to be uprooted twice a year.

Jenn

[Ruthla]

The only people I've ever met IRL who summer in NY and winter in FL are retired adults- I've never met a family with young children with that lifestyle. Most families with school aged kids only go to "summer homes" or "winter homes" during school holidays.

[Kleine Hexe]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

The only people I've ever met IRL who summer in NY and winter in FL are retired adults- I've never met a family with young children with that lifestyle. Most families with school aged kids only go to "summer homes" or "winter homes" during school holidays.

Yes, the "snow birds" are retired people. Haven't seen any young ones. Speaking of....I need to prepare myself for the season.

[s_kristina]

Originally Posted by Kleine Hexe

Yes, the "snow birds" are retired people. Haven't seen any young ones. Speaking of....I need to prepare myself for the season.

The snow birds are already showing up around here

I can't imagine my dd doing well with being uprooted twice a year and having to deal with new schools. We moved several times while I was in school and my parents always made sure we moved over summer vacation to make things as easy as possible on us. There are some online schools in FL for school age children, but I don't know what the website is. They are run by a school, but give flexibility.

[bobandjess99]

As someone who moved all the time due to my dad's job, I have to say it'll suck hard for your kid. Unless she just has some sort of extraordinary self-esteem/charisma/ability to make friends, being the new kid in school bites. How bad it bites does depend on different things, of course, but it still bites. If she is very pretty, extroverted, and average intelligence, then maybe. If she is super smart or needs extra help, fat, wears glasses, talks/looks funny in any way, is not able to easily make friends/adapt to change, it's going to be hell.
Plus, even if it is the same 2 schools, she gets to see certain friends only for half the year? Then what? those friends go on hold for 6 months? Also, what about when she is older if she wants to play sports or whatever? Most teams aren't gonna let ya join up/move/quit/join up somewhere else in the middle of the season, etc.
The "snow bird" lifestyle really isn't for families with children. It's cruel to the kids, IMO.
The best suggestion I have heard is the one by Momily where she said to send to school in one place and homeschool in the other, so she doesn't have to deal with 2 schools. Although you'd have to look into the 2 states homeschooling laws to see how that would work exactly...

[LovemyBoo]

Ds had a girl in his class for several years who not only switched between two schools but between two countries every year. Her family spends half the year in the USA and half in Brazil. She seems to do just fine and has lots of friends here, I can't speak for Brazil. So it is possible. I think it depends on the child and the schools. You know your child better than anyone. If you think this is something she can handle, research schools and give it a shot. If you think the discontinuity would be too difficult, I'd homeschool.