my kids want to go to PS and my hubby said OK

[mchel210]

So...I am a nervous wreck. I know they will do fine...but they want to go. I have no idea how the topic came up but they dont get along with many of the homeschool kids. They dont ever get together...maybe once a month...and they have 2 families that we get together with all the time...thats it. But ...they all said they want to go to school.

My 12 yo will be in 7th grade...but has LD Dysgraphia...so they will have to make tons of accomodations for him...but it looks promising. We have a meeting with them on Tuesday. Then my 7 yo is very advanced. She is reading up in 7th grade level...but writing more on 3rd grade level. She finished abeka 2nd grade last year...and PS here is going to be interesting. I am waiting to hear from them to see if they will do Gifted testing or place her in an advanced 2nd grade. I dont want her in regular 2nd grade as it looks too easy. (otherwise...she gets no choice and will stay home)

My 5 yo is going to be 6 in Nov...but misses the cut off for 1st grade here in FL. She doesnt want to go to K as they are way behind her. She is doing Abeka 1st and Sonlight LA1...with no problems. Our 1st grade is behind her...ughhh....so they said they will allow her to test into 1st if she passes the tests. I have no clue what to do with her. If we lived in another state she would be 1st grade. I am lost. She would like to play in K but she would be bored for 2 years. Ughhhh...so frustrating.

They will still be doing afterschool homeschool with me as they did in the past. I love SL and I will continue that with them. They are learning so much with it.

[Mandamom]

the transition goes well. Come on over to the afterschooling board on this site and join us :)

[littlefamily]

Good luck! We just made the transition and I have to say it has been surprisingly smooth. Both of my girls are enjoying it because of the social aspect. The teachers have been very welcoming and I have been pleased with the amount of communication between home and school during the transition.

I do find the academics are lacking, but that doesn't really come as a surprise. With 25 or children in the class with one teacher, unfortunately they teach to the bottom half of average....

I also have a daughter who is right on the cut off. Remember that as they get older, your child will always be younger than her peers if you put her in the older grade. In a former life I used to teach and I never ran into anyone who was glad they had the youngest in the class, most wish they had waited and kept the child back. I think that year actually makes more of a difference in older grades...

Too bad public schools can't get out of that age = grade formula and group children with similar abilities for academics, but then have them come back together with age peers at social times such as lunch and recess....

I also find we can do a fraction of what I hoped after school. We do read history daily and I require they read for 45min. We also do a read aloud at bedtime and both take a book to school to fill in all the down time. I have another post on this board where I got some great advice about the focus in afterschooling. They were right on the mark!

I hope you have a positive experience and it ends up being a good decision for your family.

[PollyOR]

I think this is the thread littlefamily is referring to: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50166

[4pillars]

Hi,

We just put our children in school this year too. Mainly for the same reasons yours are wanting to go. We just had a hard time connecting with other homeschoolers. It was tough to go to too many social events because of my little ones, but like you we just could not find friends! When we did find children of the same ages, they just could not connect with them. Many were waaaaaay over sheltered to the point that they just could not communicate well at all. It is just sad. Anyway, they were very lonely and loooooooonged for a social life.

So far, things have been great at their school. We will begin our 4th week this Monday. They have all made friends and are doing great in school. My son is in pre-ap classes and has already brought home several projects. For example, in his math class he was given 10 past mathmeticians and has to reasearch and write a report on each and every one of them. Then after he turns these in, they will draw two of the mathmeticians names from a hat and will be expected to write a full page from memory about these guys!! Oh Boy.... they are not used to things like this. However, he is excited about this project.

I think it is still too soon to really judge the academics they are recieving thus far. However, since we are getting into the 4th week of school, I think they will start giving much more work.

Ok.. need to go, I have 4 children trying to talk to me all at the same time... geez, can't they see I am trying to type! :lol::lol: Now my head hurts.... Would it be rude to tell them to "GO AWAY?":lol::lol: My 4yo is telling me that we need to buy some pixie sticks???!!!! Oh yeah, like we need that much sugar so early in the morning.....

Anyway, I pray that your transition into school will be a good one!

Jen

[KinderSafari]

I think you are doing a great thing, asking questions.

It sounds like you are a diligent mom!

I know many in the same boat as well. It's often a conflict. Our family is not on the same page either - and it's hard when my family attacks me and does not stand up for me. My husband is very lukewarm to the idea of homeschooling as well, and at one point I had made up my mind that he could bring them to school if he made one more negative comment, and 9 months went by without him saying a thing! Wow! After 8 years of homeschooling, I think he's finally starting to see some benefits and is slightly better with supporting aspects of it.

[KinderSafari]

Just keep up the diligence in watching them!

I have a good friend who has moved her children a few times - from public, to private, to homeschool....and questions all the changes, but seriously just does what she thinks is best for everyone involved at the time. The kids are doing great, and I think the changes have actually HELPED for all of their family too to really see how they did in each area, and to back them even more now in their schooling (one is in public, and one is homeschooled).

Each family is different! And their needs change all the time too.