When deciding to make that monumental decision, was it your idea initially, or your child's? Maybe after examining the pros and cons of such a serious (yet exciting) undertaking, you reached your conclusion together? I find it fascinating as I speak to homeschooling families and learn how many of us never envisioned it any other way. Other families pull their students from school over poor school standards, inability of the district to properly challenge their children's intellect, individual learning disabilities, and of course the grand-daddy of them all... religious freedoms.
I am so very curious to know how many of you pulled your child from school at their request? If this is your situation, what were the reasons your children wanted to come home? Were they bored? Bullied? Struggling? Was the classroom too structured? Perhaps the teacher was too mean or overbearing. Maybe they just wanted to be home? How did they approach you on the matter and what was your initial reaction? Was it fear, excitement, or possibly confusion? lol
On the contrary, if you and your spouse made the call to bring them home after they'd been in a structured public or private school setting, how did your children react to such a change and how are they doing now? Was it a welcomed decision or did they protest? There is such a huge difference to homeschooling and the structure and formality of a classroom, I just have to wonder what an adjustment in that direction looks like. lol Do your kids seem happier to be home or do they feel lonely? I ask this fully realizing that homeschooled kids can and often are exposed to daily activities where other children are present... but I know there are exceptions. When we homeschooled, we had no transportation during the day, which made getting out and about somewhat of a challenge!
Our experience is the reverse of what I'm currently curious about... we've experienced the adjustment from homeschooling to sending our students to public school and while it's not all peaches, it's mostly peaches. We've had only a couple rotten apples to contend with, but our 8 year son has just recently asked if he can come home again. I have promised him that yes, certainly after he demonstrates that he'll allow me to be his teacher again! lol So long has he doesn't fight his lessons and fight me tooth and nail as we face challenging subjects like math and writing, we will most definitely give it another shot!
Even as he asks me this question I know he'll probably have days where he'd rather be at school and days when he'd rather be home... regardless of which path we take. That's just life. Sometimes the grass is greener in the neighbors yard, sometimes it's greener in your own. Usually it's not greener in your own lawn for very long before you find another lawn that looks a lot better. We're all that way are we not?
More to come! In the meantime, let me know who made the call to keep your children home, how it happened and how it's going!
1 comment:
My husband always said that the kids could choose when they were high school age. Two chose public high school, one chose private high school and the last two (ages 6 and 2) will probably not get a choice. The adjustment from homeschool to private was not a big deal...to public highschool on the other hand was like stepping onto another planet!!! Kim
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