Homeschooling question about my soon to be kindergartner......?

Question

my oldest child, she is 9, has been in public school since kindergarten, her sister who is 4 is scheduled to start school next year. i wanted to homeschool my children, but their father would not let me. i am now married and have a child with a new husband and we are planning to homeschool this one and our next one. we both believe that the 4 yr old would be SOOOO much better off with a homeschool education then a public school education, she is extremely smart, has a very analytical mind and is super creative. i have seen public schools suck so much creativity and vitality out of my 9 yr old that it makes me sick.

my question is, do you think i should leave my 9 yr old in public school even though we are planning to homeschool the other kids? she loves the kids she has class with and it would be a big fight with my ex in laws, their father has no rights to his children any longer and his opinion is moot.

i guess i think that her education is worth the fight, what would you do

Answer 1

Have you found a local homeschool group to be a part of

we have several 4 year olds in ours.

I was thinking that if you started taking your 4 year old to park days, field trips, possibly co-op classes then you will have a comfort level and also be able to meet other families that have children that your 9 year old would like to be friends with.  Then it would not be as difficult for her leaving friends as she would have new friends to learn with.

I think that an open discussion with your 9 year old would be good to get her feelings on it.  You never know she may like the idea of being homeschooled.

My almost 6 year old is takes an art class, spanish, karate, gymnastics, piano and is in a homeschool girl scouts, science & math club, history club, volunteers at a local history museum, goes skating every week and goes to the park and library at least 2 x a week.

She likes her friends and likes to keep busy so thats what we do.

I think that her education is totally worth the fight and while understanding about keeping the in-laws happy they don't have any say in it.

Answer 2

I would not worry about  your ex-inlaws. Talk with your 9 year old, see what she has to say about it and take that into consideration. Of course you will have the final say, but knowing her thoughts could help in your desicion.

Answer 3

I think homeschooling is for control freaks.  Education is education.  What you children are going to learn from public schools is diversity, opinions, socialization and job skills.  WHat you can do at home is incorporate a higher learning, so maybe they can learn more than the average public school child.  If it is that important, send them to a private school.

Answer 4

I would talk to your daughter about it.  If she is doing well in public school, it may be a good idea to go ahead and leave her in it.  But, you also don't want her to feel rejected because the other kids are getting homeschooled and she isn't.

Answer 5

I don't think you have the abiltiy to be a teacher.  Do your kids a favor - leave them in school with someone intelligent.

Answer 6

I wouldn't consider my ex-in-laws' opinions of it. My child, my decision to make. It's not like I'd be deciding to feed her only apples for the rest of her childhood; homeschooling is legal and not a form of neglect.

I would, however, discuss it long and hard with my 9yo, pointing out all the benefits and really listening to her concerns. It can be a drastic change, one that she may need to be guided into rather than forced. Making connections and friends with homeschoolers in the area would be good regardless of where she's educated. If she really enjoys being around kids a lot, the sudden change in socializing may not go over so well and it'd be good to already have some connections in place.

Answer 7

You ex in laws do NOT get a vote here.. Ask your daughter how she feels....And after that, it's your decision.. YOU are the parent......  And I'll repeat.. Your ex in laws DON'T get a vote here.....

homeschooled for 6 years.. have 1 child in cyber school and 2 in public..

Answer 8

Your daughter has no reference point yet. Of course public school is all she knows and she has friends there and probably can't imagine being home all day without them.

You should prepare your home for homeschool. Invest in very good books, curriculum, maps, a good computer, some nice study space and start to include her in the choices for your Kindergartener. Offer her a trial homeschool week during the holidays. Have her choose some of the subjects she would prefer to learn. This will allow you to "try" and for her to "experience" homeschool directly!

Remind her that you have her best interest at heart and that you believe she will thrive academically and emotionally in that setting better. If the two of you have a caring, loving comfortable relationship with one another, this should fall into place. Involve her in teaching her younger sibling as well. As she is still a child, you are still able to make a difference in her life. If you allow her to remain there, she will soon notice that she does not get the same attention, and the same education, as the other children, and this she may regret later. Right now, she has no clue about the world and its demands on graduates. Friends are nice, and she can have friends while homeschooling too, thru extra-curricular sports, music, or clubs.

But "friends" should never be the reason to base such a hefty decision on.

Answer 9

Pull the nine year old!!! I pulled mine last year but we got her really excited about homeschool first. Ok it helped that she knows a bunch of home school kids. But do join a home school group in your area if there is one so that she can make new friends that are home schooled. Do join hslda so that if your exin-laws report you to child services for any thing you have legal council for the home school part at least. If the father doesn't have parental rights they have no say as too what you do with your child. You can tell your daughter that instead of working all day long that scoll can last as long as she wants it too as long as all the work gets done does she want to be in school for 7 hours and then do home work for another 2-3 hours that's what we were doing while in public school or does she want to get out about 3 hours after she starts and be done with it for the day (our average day now while home schooling). Look into the ciricullums first decide what one you'll use and describe it too her. sonlight is excellent its history and litature based www.sonlight.com but its a bit on the expensive side or I use ACE www.schooloftomorrow.com they have a free diagnostic test and tell you where you need to start to get that you go under lighthouse christian academy then look for the test but for my 9 year old it runs about 40 a month is very GOD based teaches morals and obedience and is work book based. science is Creation so if your not into a Christian education than it is not for you

Answer 10

At 9 you should still be able to say "I'm the mom and this is what is best for you". If you are passionate about hsing then you will do a great job at it and she will grow to love it. Life is about changes. There really shouldn't be any big concern about her adapting.

Answer 11

Well I think you answered your question in your last sentence.  Her education is worth the fight.

If you homeschool her here are some things to make the transition easier...

Start at the beginning of a school year rather than pulling her out in the middle of the year, it will be less of an upheaval for her.

Make sure to give her some chances to see her old friends from school, at least for a while.

Give her the chance to make new friends in the homeschool community by joining groups and co-ops.

Make the first year as interesting and fun as possible, with lots of field trips and game days and such.  Nothing makes homeschooling look quite so nice as passing by the school  full of kids on your way to the beach, zoo, or park and commenting, "Oh look at those poor kids who are stuck inside on this nice day!"

As far as the ex in-laws, they probably don't have legal rights to make you do anything.  If they question you just explain that you believe this is the best choice for your daughter.  If they really persist and push, then thank them for their concern and remind them that as her parent you have the right to make the decision.  Keep doing these kinds of things for a time and see if they back off, but if they continue that then leave (or ask them to leave if they are at your home) and don't have any more contact for awhile.  At some point reconnect with them but let them know ahead of time that you have made your decision and it is not open for discussion.  When you reconnect with them again, they will probably not say more, but if they do then leave (or ask them to leave again).

Answer 12

You should take her out. She might fuss at first, but in the long run, it'll be much better for her. As for the in-laws, just ignore them.

Answer 13

Her education is absolutely worth the fight, but this kind of conflict is only worth engaging in if homeschooling is something your daughter is willing to try, to get excited about.  Lots of things can be done to ensure she has plenty of time with school friends and other kids - and there are huge benefits to the flexibility and fun that homeschooling allows for, especially by focusing on your daughter's interests and doing hands-on thematic units that blur the conventional subject-specific boundaries - but only if she's willing to give it a try with a positive attitude, and if someone else is there as her educated guide.