What was it like putting your dc (back) into public school? Why did you do it? Are you happy with the decision? Anyone do it not just for academic reasons?

The reason I'm asking...
I am seriously thinking of putting my oldest three children into school again. They have been homeschooled since they were 5, 6.5 and 7.5. Now they are 13yo, 12yo and 10.5yo. We're accomplishing nothing & everyone is miserable here. I think everyone would be better if we were all apart for a few hours a day. I just can't take day after day of this. The 13 yo and 10.5 are fighting like crazy. 12yo is constantly hiding or going for walks just to get away from the other two and their ongoing war.
I realize that putting them in school isn't going to help address the problems but at least we'd all get a break from each other and maybe that would help.

Thoughts?

What was it like putting your dc (back) into public school? Why did you do it? Are you happy with the decision? Anyone do it not just for academic reasons?

The reason I'm asking...
I am seriously thinking of putting my oldest three children into school again. They have been homeschooled since they were 5, 6.5 and 7.5. Now they are 13yo, 12yo and 10.5yo. We're accomplishing nothing & everyone is miserable here. I think everyone would be better if we were all apart for a few hours a day. I just can't take day after day of this. The 13 yo and 10.5 are fighting like crazy. 12yo is constantly hiding or going for walks just to get away from the other two and their ongoing war.
I realize that putting them in school isn't going to help address the problems but at least we'd all get a break from each other and maybe that would help.

Thoughts?

My crew were in public school and then pulled out to homeschool for a year. I put them back in public school. They have done pretty well. This is year three in public school again. The biggest issue I had was my oldest had trouble staying on task (though it could have been his AD) and had trouble with time limits on in-class assignments. They all are thriving now and love being with their friends during the day. You can also enroll them and if things go crazy with public school, you can pull them out again.

Hopefully you have also seen this active thread!!

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=964923

I put my dd in school this year for non-academic reasons. She is 7 (entered 2nd grade), and was very bored at home. She needs a lot of attention and interaction, and I just could never "fill her up" and also meet the needs of my toddler, my household, my part time job, and my self.

Putting dd in school has been a positive move for us. Each day, she goes to a place where there are 7-year-old activities planned for her all day long! Amazing! She comes home filled up, and ready to spend some peaceful time with her family (instead of pestering, arguing, complaining, begging.....when dd is miserable, everyone is miserable, lol).

Your household sounds a lot like mine last year. We had some other mitigating factors that made it worse (several terminally ill family members and tons of stress in the house).

In short, my kids started school last year, partly to help me retain my sanity. And it worked. My kids are younger than yours and had never been in school. But the transition went well, they're mostly doing well academically (although I'm really sending them to school for the academics). My kids are going to a charter school that is incredibly holistic (they make a big deal of meeting the needs of the whole child, not just working on academics), and they LOVE it. My kids started school last spring. This fall, I gave them the choice to go back to school or homeschool again for this schoolyear, and they all chose to return to school. It's been good for all of us. The kids still bicker when they are at home, but it's been very positive for all of to have a break from each other during the day.

I think it depends on the children. I have had my kids in school and at home at various times. They've all tried both. :nod This year they are all at home and so far so good. We have good days and we have bad. But we had worse days when my kids were "in" school so I don't miss it. They all attended school for 2 years each and during the 2nd year for them all it got almost unbearable. They wouldn't want anything to do with eachother after being around kids their own age all day. :( They all were so stressed with no time to do homework and other activities and spending time together was hectic and never seemed to be calm and happy.

I see many families that HS the whole 12 years so I know it can be done. But I realize not all families can do it. Good luck to your children if they go back to school. It can be tough. To me it's much easier having them at home.

I put my 7 year old in school after hs'ing for K & 1st grade.

It has been an incredible blessing. She is happy and thriving and learning,and I feel bad because she is learning more than I could have taught her. I feel like I might have failed her a little bit, academically.

But she loves school and adjusted unbelievably well.

:Thanks
Thank you everyone for your replies. Dh and I have talked more and we have decided to enroll the children in school in January. Now that we've had a chance to talk I realize it wouldn't just be for the reasons I discussed in the original post, there's a lot more to it than that. I really think it's the best decision for our family. That is very strange for me, I thought I was a "lifer" as far as homeschooling goes.
Now to tell them. :uhoh I worry about their reaction. I know at least one will think it's a punishment when it's really really not.
Before we talk to them and tell them our decision we want to call the school and make an appointment to talk to the principal and, if possible, their teachers so we can discuss how to make this transition good for the kids.
Thanks everyone.