Readers Forum:
I'm just curious 🙂 I have a lot of friends that are home schooled, and a few of them desperately want to go to public school, but their parents won't let them (for various reasons). Some of the reasons I don't really understand very well. So– would you let them go to public school? Why or why not?
Yes, definitely. My kids never wanted to go to public school, but if they had, it would have been their choice.
It is their life, and while I have had more experiences and have my own opinions, it is not my place to choose for them against their will.
I suspect these friends of yours are wanting to go to public school have difficult family relationships.
😀
As high schoolers, we have let them decide. They “attend” an hybrid independent study high school for homeschooled kids that offers some classes, ( yearbook, speech, spanish, science labs) along with prom, mock trial and graduation.
It does leave us in the middle sometime. It’s considered a public school so some purist homeschoolers don’t agree that we are even homeschoolers anymore and then again we are not traditional public schoolers either.
The school is run much like a junior college with semester long classes-a full year condensed into a semester. So the students take 3-4 classes at a time. It is fully accredited and a model school because it is so unique.
I think teens who have been homeschooled need to feel like they have some control over their lives. I know many teens who have gone back to public school and realized that they weren’t missing anything.
And some teens who were willing to sit through all the classes to have the “extras”.
jana
No.
My husband and I make decisions in regards to the best interests of our children, and that includes the decision to homeschool. I would not let them go to public school just because they wanted to, just like I woudl not let them have ice cream for breakfast, skip a bath when they are dirty, or jump off the roof jsut because they wanted to.
If they had a valid reason, we would hear them out and that would factor in our decision. But, in our household the parents call the shots.
It really depends on the situation. If it is because we have not been getting along for a few weeks and arguing or he did not like the school work we chose then no way. It also depends on the age he or she asked me. My daughter (4) no way, that is my choice. If they are teenagers, then yes they have a say. It really is situational. I am hoping that we never have to cross that bridge but I am very flexible too.
I let my son go to public school when he started high school (he had only been homeschooled for 6th, 7th, and 8th at that time). Best “teachable moments” that he ever had.
What he realized is that public school is NOT the “real world”, it is far from it – he had been living in the “real world” for three years where he had freedom with his schedule, could devote more time to learning endeavor, and didn’t have to raise his hand to go to the bathroom. He could learn anything from anybody, not just what his teachers wanted him to learn.
While he enjoyed some of his classes, he found most of them boring/tedious. Halfway through the first semester, he was asking to come back home again.
It was totally worth it to me to give him that freedom to make that choice. He never whined about it again.
No.
We chose to homeschool our children from the beginning mostly because we have experience teaching in both public and private schools. We know too much about all that goes on in them and don’t want our children involved in them if we can help it. Don’t want them involved in places that cater to bullies and bad kids out of fear of law suits, that waste so much of their time, that give such a lousy education, that expose them to such rampant poor behaviour and lousy attitudes, etc. We feel that we as the parents are the ones with the responsibility to decide what’s best for our children, that they are too young and inexperienced to make such momentous decisions for themselves. They can always choose (as adults) to go to a public college or to be a teacher in a public school if they really want the public school experience….
Once my son is old enough to make that decision objectively, yes, I would – as long as he could show me that he had actually thought it through. However, the jr. high and high schools in our area are such a joke academically (though they have great sports programs) that he’s already decided (at 10) that he never wants to attend one. He’d rather work at his own pace and take classes as he’s ready for them than have to pick and choose from the measly offerings at our local school.
(We have a terrific homeschool sports organization that allows kids to play, recreationally and competitively, against the public and private schools in our area; sports are not a reason for him to want to go to ps either.)
The public schools here were in terrible shape 7 years ago. While they have improved, they still have a long way to go. Right now, the answer is a resounding no. I might consider it in the future, however I highly doubt my DD would ever want to give up her home-school activities to sit in a classroom for 7.5hr a day
As for your friends that desperately want to attend public school. Just because they want something, doesn’t mean it is in their best interest.
Not in the state I live in and expecially our town. We have some of the worse Public Schools in the State.
Drugs, violence, bullying, theft, latchkey kids as young as 5 years old, lack of discipline, lack of everything is more like it when it comes to the kids, parents, teachers, and head of district.
My Daughter has no desires to go to Public School and I doubt she ever will.
My children have been in public school and know what it’s about. They hated it. Why would they want to go back? Around here its a motivation factor. If they won’t settle down to their work someone will say well you could go back to PS and that usually settles them down pretty quickly with responses of Oh God no! My kids truly love the environment of home schooling better.
No, I wouldn’t — and didn’t. We pulled our ds out of public after fourth grade and homeschooled him until he was done. He decided he was ready to take his GED, so he finished a year ahead of his former classmates.
He complained the whole time about wanting to go back to public school. We kept telling him no. Now that he’s older and married and has a son of his own, he’s planning on having us school his son — like we did him.
Probably not. Quite frankly the education system as it is right now is junk and I’d rather keep my kids where I could tailor their schoolwork to their levels and interests. The only exception would be if we were lucky enough to live in an area with truly excellent schools, but even then the schools would have to be really damn good before I would seriously consider sending my kids there.
My 12-year-old is taking high school classes. Would I put him in public school and set him back a couple of years? And worse, a FLORIDA public school?
Nope. Never.
i think i would
I would let them go to Public School. Public School may be more…unsheltered. In Public School the people are very…crude if one has never been exposed to it before. But what are the kids going to do when they are released into the “real world” It will be a culture shock for the home schooled kids. College is hard enough but it will be even more difficult to adjust. It will be even hard for them becuase they are used to always having mommy and daddy around and college is not sympathic of having a rough time. GO TO PUBLIC SCHOOL!!!
Home Schooling is also nice since you got to always see your kids..`”
I am a homeschooled student. I was homeschooled for 7-8th grade than i went back into school at freshman year of highschool. durning second semester of sophomore year i got really sick and two months before school got out i had to be homeschooled now that school is out i want to be put back in school. i feel if you go to public school you show everyone you accomplished something