My talkative child is struggling in public school....?

Question

Hi - My sixth grade boy is very energetic and outgoing and loves to socialize. He is highly intelligent. However, he is not maintaining an acceptable GPA. A couple of his teachers attribute this to his "talking" and "getting off task". I think that perhaps he is also bored with the curriculum. I have thought for many years about homeschooling my children, but have never taken the steps to go forward with it. I am wondering if this will help him or hinder him and make him resent me for "taking him away from his friends". My fourth grade daughter, who is a straight A student would LOVE to be home schooled. I also run a preschool/daycare out of my home so that I can stay home with my younger two children. Is it possible to do what I am currently doing from home and homeschool my children? Any advise? I live in Arizona.

Answer 1

I think homeschool would be a perfect solution for your son's, "problem". In situation where he has the opportunity to self regulate his lessons a bit more, he can divide his focus between social and academic pursuits more appropriately. Brick school is often boring to bright, vivacious kids. He may want to talk because he's bored, or just because he has so much to say! Homeschool can open up a whole other world of possibilities for him. Martial arts is great for learning discipline. Theater is also a great place for kids, since it is one of the few places where they are not told to sit down and be quiet, but to stand up and be louder. Both of those things can become part of his curriculum. There are so many interesting things your kids can do in the community while they homeschool.Your children will grow closer by learning together and their love of learning will fed off of one another. The social aspect is a non-issue. Keep your kids active in their community and let them play in the neighborhood, the parks and where ever they already go with their friends and they will be happier than before. My daughter loves homeschool. She's a social butterfly. Homeschool is not locking your kids in the basement and throwing them a National Geographic once and a while, as some people would have you believe. I'd go for it if I were you.

God luck!

Answer 2

Everyone is different on the subject of homeschooling and public sector.  I have twin boys and my one son talks too much and the other nothing.  Both of them are A students. Not talking is just as bad as talking too much. If you disrupt others you can't learn because you are not listening, not because you are bored.  I put them in the main stream school beause I felt discipline by someone other than me was necessary.  They must adapt to listening and working with others.  Children tend to try to get away with more with a parent than a teacher. Please don't give up by reverting to homeschooling.  Because of my children going to school the quiet one learned to open up and be himself, and the other guy got shot down a few times until he got the message talking while listening doesn't work. Maybe it can be a personality clash with the teacher or he is just too friendly whatever it is he has to learn it's affecting his grades. Good luck.

Answer 3

Yes you can home school your children or hire a certified teacher to come your house to do it also. You have to contact your school board for the laws and certification, there is a process to apply for it and make sure your child is kept up to date for the curriculum. I would focus more on finding out why your son has trouble concentrating at school? Is it only the public school environment? Has he been tested for ADD? Rule out all other options first so you can really make a decision on his education! And I would ask him how he would feel about being homeschooled, there are even homeschooled clubs for children to meet so they still have the interaction with others if you are worried about that! Good luck!

Answer 4

homeschool.com has some resources and advice from other homeschoolers.  Also there is a place to find homeschool groups in your area or nearby to get some advice.  If there isn't a homeschool group in your area, contact the closest one that is in Arizona and contact them.  They most likely DO know other homeschoolers throughout the state.

Each state is different.  In Maryland, only a parent can homeschool.  You can't hire anyone to homeschool your child.  If you want to hire then you need to enroll them in parochial/private school.  

As for the talkative behaviour, could it be food/dye allergies?  My son had that behaviour and when I took him off processed food (junk/snack foods) and food with dye in them he dramatically changed.  I didn't think it would work, but my ped dr suggested it before we went any further for testing for Asperger's etc..and the diet change worked for us.  Boys have a higher sensitivity to food dyes, processed sugars and food additives which conflict with brain chemicals that are found in the male brain.  Yes, boys and girls are different.  

I homeschool and feel that it's great for kids, especially boys, but I would also do the diet thing if you DO decide to homeschool, just so the transition for your and your son is smoother.

Answer 5

I think home school is fine, but you also might want to give them the opportunity to socialize with their peers.  If you think the public school curriculum is too easy for him and that's what's causing the problem, maybe you can try getting him (and your girl) into a magnet/gifted school.

Answer 6

Go to some online groups of homeschooling moms who have kids the same age as yours and chat with them.  Figure out if you can do both your preschool and homeschool your children.  It works for many but not everyone.  Public school will always be there if things don't work out.  Also, if he's truly bored with the curriculum, why not try getting all his assignments for a time period and see if he gets them done faster under your tutelage?  Most schools when you go on vacation have a contract where they will give you the children's assignments with enough notice so maybe you can do this for a 2 week period (or whatever works for you) to see if this may work).  The thing is you would have to make sure the teachers are actually giving you everything they plan to cover during that time which will be difficult.

Plenty of homeschool groups get together for field trip and social opportunities as well.

Answer 7

that is  a very powerful question.  Since I was homeschooled my entire life this seems like info. that I could help with.  I opinion is since he is only in sixth grade, take him out of school for a year or two, and see how it effects him.  be sure that he graduates though.  That's something that I missed out on.

Answer 8

do not home school them! trust me! there is nothing wrong with being talkative. give ur son consequences at home for talking out of turn!

Answer 9

Home school Your child Please.

I am speaking from experience. I DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL because I was "talkative" and " off task"

Believe me it will never get better it will only get worse. My mother tried everything with me but nothing ever changed. I just talked my way into flunking then I was so tired of flunking I dropped out. As long as there were other children around I was distracted.  

Dont be concerned about your child not having friends and being social he will have friends.

Dont hesitate. If you want him to succeed then home school him it is probably the only way.

Answer 10

You run a day care and want to home school? You go girl!!! Yeah you can do it! You can do the bulk of your teaching while the kids are taking naps! As for the older one talk to him. If he hates the idea then give him a chance to do better in school. Meanwhile bring the younger one home and start teaching her. Maybe the older one will see that home school is more fun and decide to come home. Who knows any way have fun with it!

Answer 11

i think you should do what makes your child the happiest and benefits them...as long as it is not detrimental to their health, morals, etc. if public schooling is what they want...i would give them all the info and every opportunity to homeschool if they chose to be. if you see that they are on a downhill road and where they are becoming dangerous to there potential in growing up to be a well adjusted, happy, successful adult...then sometimes you just have to make the decision and hopefully one day they will grow up and understand why you did. (if not...at least you know you did your best) #1 thing...though some may feel it is stupid and worthless...PRAY!...pray about it and God will give you an answer...i guarantee! Put God first...and everything else will fall into place. (I have to give myself that advice sometimes too!)

Answer 12

I have 3 kids.  We started homeschooling over 4 years ago.  My daughter at the time was finishing grade 1 and was always in trouble for "socializing".  *grin*

She was bored out of her mind at school.  Now at home she can learn to her hearts content.   She can get into a subject and not have to change to another one just because a bell rings.  

We love homeschooling and we'll never go back to the system if we can help it.  I have friends that run their own daycare and homeschool their kids.   It works but it does take commitment.

Answer 13

I just answered your AZVA question....

I know many HS'ers who have in-home businesses and also do HS'ing or virtual schooling.  It can be done, although it takes a bit of work.

If you chose something like AZVA, your son would flourish with the curriculum as he could go at his own pace through courses.  He may also be able to mix and match grade levels (don't know AZVA's rules here).  He would have a lot of independent work.  Your fourth grader would need a little bit more guidance from you, but not much.  K12's 4th grade has a lot of self-guided work.

FWIW, my son has MORE friends since he's HS'ed.  They are various ages and live in different parts of the city.  He prefers it that way to just the neighborhood kids.  He gets way more free time since his "school work" only takes 2-3 hrs per day.  He has a lot of time to do independent study, sports, and time with friends.

There are some "work at home" HS 'net boards.  I'd suggest you join one and ask questions there.

Answer 14

Wow!  I think you have enough on your plate at home with your daycare business & with the rules/regulations of home schooling, I don't believe this is a task you should take on.  Try communicating with him to get to the root of it and see if he indeed needs more challenges.

We have a newly enrolled student in our martial arts class that has similar issues. He's 8 yrs old, has been with us for 3 weeks, and is in our kids Tae Kwon Do class.  There is so much action, memorization, class participation, and discipline.  His parents have already written us a testimonial on how he has drastically improved.  Maybe just more challenges or activities will help.

Answer 15

Why not try it for a term, semester, or year? Remember, you can always put them back in school if it doesn't work out for you. Socialising with your day care kids will be just as valuable for your school age kids as it is for your younger two. Kids need to be socialised with all age groups. Make sure this is balanced by opportunities to hang with kids their own age, and older kids and adults and they'll be fine. There's enough extra curricular activities around and he can always hang out with this friends on weekends and after school just like he has always done. Explain to him why you want to take him out of school, and see what he has to say about it. If you decide that is definately what you want to do, and he's not too keen, take your daughter out since she's keen. He'll probably find that being bundled off to school by himself isn't so good. He may need to "unschool" for a while, but if you've done your research and picked a curriculum, you'll be ready when he is.

Answer 16

I currently home school my two daughters, age 15 and 11. I also run an in home daycare for 4 children, so yes it is possible. I pulled my oldest out of school in the 6th grade. She enjoyed being home and we where finished with our school by noon most days. She then had time to socialize with some other friends we hooked up with through a home school group at our church. She had plenty of time to pursue her own interests as well.

Just remember you are the parent in making this choice. Keep him involved in community events, church, sports, volunteering, ect.

Take your time jumping into a curriculum as well. If ou would like to ask more questions, feel free to email me.

Answer 17

It sounds to me that you have a great set up for homeschooling your children.

If you need and you can swing it, hire someone part-time (couple hours a day?) to help out with the day care.

As part of your children's learning, you might want to think about having them do some assignments that they present to the younger kids (nothing gets one to learn a topic like having to teach someone else).  Now at first you might think "but wait there is such an age difference!"  Yeah, but think about your 4th grader or even your 6th grader or both together taking some history lesson (say on Ben Franklin) and turning it into a puppet show that they put on for the kids in your day care.

Things like that...

I think that if you get creative with this and think out of the box a little it could be good for your children and your daycare kids and business.

Just some thoughts.