would you let them?
My 7.5yo says he wants to go to school next school year. When I told him all the reasons I don't want him going to school he cried. He says he feels odd because all the other kids in the neighborhood go to school. He has a "friend" who brags about all the stuff he supposedly knows from school that my ds does not, like multiplication tables. I talked to my ds about that and demonstrated that he knows how to multiply, also. The difference is that he knows what it means and what it's for whereas this other kid only knows how to recite memorized facts. He doesn't understand how multiplication fits into the real world. I guess at 7 that's a hard concept for my ds to grasp.
Aside from all the educational issues I have with schools, my ds is not vaccinated. I will not get him vaccinated just so he can go to school. My state has only a medical and religious exemption and I am atheist. I know I can still file a generic religious exemption but I don't want to deal with all the hassle. If school admins decided to question it, who knows what could happen. I've already been investigated once by CPS after being reported by an OB for having a homebirth. Even though the case was closed without incident and the "allegations", whatever they were, were deemed unfounded, I now have a permanent record with CPS just for being reported. I've been told every time you are reported is a mark against you even if any allegations are unfounded every time. It's safer and easier for me to homeschool.
There's also the issue of whether or not my ds is prepared for 2nd grade. I had to give him a nationally standardized test this year (I have to administer one every year that we homeschool). I haven't gotten it evaluated yet but I know he did very well. However, he can't read books very well and doesn't write much. I don't think he's ever written a complete sentence on his own. Since we unschool I'm not worried about that but I am worried that he would be kept back in 1st grade if we enrolled him in school. Then there's also the issue of whether or not someone might construe that as educational neglect.
So, at 7 years old, would you let your child go to school if he really wanted to or would you tell him he could not no matter how upset he gets?
My 7.5yo says he wants to go to school next school year. When I told him all the reasons I don't want him going to school he cried. He says he feels odd because all the other kids in the neighborhood go to school. He has a "friend" who brags about all the stuff he supposedly knows from school that my ds does not, like multiplication tables. I talked to my ds about that and demonstrated that he knows how to multiply, also. The difference is that he knows what it means and what it's for whereas this other kid only knows how to recite memorized facts. He doesn't understand how multiplication fits into the real world. I guess at 7 that's a hard concept for my ds to grasp.
Aside from all the educational issues I have with schools, my ds is not vaccinated. I will not get him vaccinated just so he can go to school. My state has only a medical and religious exemption and I am atheist. I know I can still file a generic religious exemption but I don't want to deal with all the hassle. If school admins decided to question it, who knows what could happen. I've already been investigated once by CPS after being reported by an OB for having a homebirth. Even though the case was closed without incident and the "allegations", whatever they were, were deemed unfounded, I now have a permanent record with CPS just for being reported. I've been told every time you are reported is a mark against you even if any allegations are unfounded every time. It's safer and easier for me to homeschool.
There's also the issue of whether or not my ds is prepared for 2nd grade. I had to give him a nationally standardized test this year (I have to administer one every year that we homeschool). I haven't gotten it evaluated yet but I know he did very well. However, he can't read books very well and doesn't write much. I don't think he's ever written a complete sentence on his own. Since we unschool I'm not worried about that but I am worried that he would be kept back in 1st grade if we enrolled him in school. Then there's also the issue of whether or not someone might construe that as educational neglect.
So, at 7 years old, would you let your child go to school if he really wanted to or would you tell him he could not no matter how upset he gets?