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School choices

1.5K views 34 replies 28 participants last post by  longshadowfarms  
#1 ·
Good morning,

I have a question for all of you that have school age children. Not sure how to do a poll, or I'd do it that way. Do you homeschool your kids or do they go to public/private school? Why did you make the choice you did?
I know this is kind of a hot button issue with some folks, but I'm asking with real intent here, not to start a debate. We moved to a new area just before the school year started and have to make a decision. Just looking for others' experience. Thanks! :cowboy:
 
#2 ·
We are homeschoolers. We were led by God to homeschool (please don't allow this to become a religious debate). At the time we didn't understand why, but His plan has become clearer to us over the past 2 years. For us it's a year by year choice, I don't know what we will do when we move back to the US.

Homeschooling for us has been a fun and wonderful experience. My kids have thrived and it has been a joy to see my children learn an to be a daily part of it.
 
#3 ·
If your child is a hardworker they will excel no matter where they are planted. Many folks here send their kids to a 20,000/yr private school because it's supposed to be "better." It is in the way that they have smaller classes, and yes, with smaller classes you can do more hands-on learning.

Our kids have done well here, and their test scores, college prep scores show that they received a good education right where they are with huge class sizes and not having all the bells and whistles.

It's because it's not all about the schools - they are well-read and taken to many experiences by their parents. In addition, they have always had the daily tv news and a daily paper. From a young age they knew where things were in the world, who was running our country and other countries.

Even the best school in the world cannot make up for a child who is brought up in a vacuum. Yes, there are many dropouts here and overall test scores aren't that high for the schools, however, that doesn't affect how my children do. They have parents who step in to help and who expect them to do their homework and classwork. If you don't have that, you will have a harder time at school.
 
#4 ·
I suppose any issue that involves the well being of our children is bound to be a "hot button" one!:) It's also a complex one, taking into consideration the public school district, individual childs needs, and families personal beliefs. Our son goes to public school. There were times, early on, where we came very close to pulling him out to homeschool him. We have the benefit of an excellent school system (not only my opinion, but actually rated "excellent" by Ohio's school standards system). I work closely with our teachers as the local youth services librarian, and I feel that, for the most part, we have an experienced and caring staff. I also feel that we have a hardworking student body with relatively few bad behavior issues. My son is an only child as well, so the opportunity to socialize with other children daily is important to us. Yes, there are some children who we don't particularly want him to be influenced by, but his own personality and upbringing have caused him to make really good choices in friends so far. When he was starting school, he had an extremely difficult adjustment period (we're talking two years). Was it wrong to make him take that uphill climb? Well, I don't think so. He's stronger for it, and he's well adjusted and happy now. Honestly though, when it comes to parenting, all any of us can do is the best we can and hope that, after 20 years or so, we've made enough good decisions to turn them into happy, independant adults.
 
#5 ·
We chose to homeschool after the fancy private school wasn't offering what 'struggling' kids needed. They felt that there were no problems just failing a child if they weren't meeting the criteria for passing. It didn't matter if it was something that could be helped with extra assistance. If you were an 'average joe' to somewhat gifted you did well. They offered only one type of education and that was that... children weren't made from cookie cutter molds. They are all so unique in what their learning styles and needs are that one schooling way can't fit all types of children. We didn't send them to the public school here either because quite frankly the schools here are just pitiful...

My kids didn't fit the mold and I took them out to starte homeschooling. They aren't special needs, but are unique just like each child is and I've been able to tailor their education to fit them. When they 'get something', we move even faster along. If they don't understand, then we slow down until they do. I want stuff to stick and be remembered. I want them to have real learning, not being taught to some test so that they'll pass and earn the school more money...kids aren't there to work for the schools. The schools are supposed to work for the kids. Socialization is a moot point and if you decide to homeschool, you'll have to get used to that question from just about everyone until they get to know you and your kids...my kids get more 'socialization' from all ages of people. They aren't stuck in a class with kids their own age all day. Not to mention the fact that children 'aren't at school to socialize, they're here to learn'...atleast that's what I kept hearing as a student and then as a teacher. Besides, they are surely not going to work as adults with all the same aged people. My kids are so active in so many groups and activities, we are able to take really cool trips across the US to visit places or things that we are studying about, if they are sick we can just hang out and read all day and not be penalized for missing school-but yet we'll still be learning, and the best of all (for my kids that is) is that we can visit Disney World for a week during the 'school year' and there will be hardly anyone there, all because they aren't tied down to a school schedule. :happy:

Anyways...so that's why we choose to and why we continue. It may change someday as life's circumstances may demand, but for now, we plan to continue on as long as we are able to. I want my kids to love learning...how many of us 'box schooled' kids can say that they enjoyed school...I didn't.
 
#6 ·
we're facing that choice , right now. Our local Middle school is more like juvenille hall than a school. No backpacks allowed no purse daily lockersearches. 8 large textbooks to carry. If your female carry your "private things" out in the open. My daughter's getting excellent grades but can't read at the 4th grade level in the 8 grade. Straight As nothing failed and can't read. Her spelling is even worse.

On the side note the tiny county school for elementary my K grader goes to she's able to read and write at the correct age. I admit to failure on checking our eldest daughter as she's always came home with perfect marks. How it came to light was we were ty[ing out a email to friends. Whould whrte and quite a few words later and you see what's going on.

I failed her, not happening again. We're trying to fiqure out should we home school, or do a private online homeschool. Poor thing is already hating her Daddy, he's having her copy Old English Lit 1 book poems to correct her hand writing. One poem a night. {10 pages}

white
 
#7 ·
DS attends a public charter school and we sold our land and moved to get him into it.
Where we were living the schools were violent and slack and there was no way I was putting my kid in there. Everyone I knew..well, all but two.. homeschooled their kids. Or rather said they did but those kids couldn't read or write or anything.. unschoolers... and the kids were holy terrors. Tainted me on homeschooling, the knowing I would have to deal with the crazy kids and parents.
So I did some looking and found this public charter school..The high school is THIRD!!! in the nation and every kid that graduated last year got a full scholarship to the school of their choice.
Last year was the first year for K-5 and we packed up and moved down and enrolled him. By the end of Kindergarten he could read a story. He could read and answer a test on it the next day. He was expected to use correct puncuation and capitalization etc...
It is AWESOME!!!!!!!
 
#8 ·
We are homeschoolers.
Well, Jen said it all pretty well!

We are in our 2nd yr of homeschooling & it has been a wonderful, crazy experience.

We chose homeschooling for many reasons, including (but not limited to)
(1)the desire to integrate our Christian faith into all aspects of our life. We weren't comfortable having our children spend most of their time in a place where God was not mentioned or welcomed.
(2) Maintaining our parental control....with a quick example....When my dd was in public kindergarten they had a Movie Day. The 5 yr olds were shown a PG movie, which the parents weren't informed of. But, in public school, teachers are legally "in place of the parents" so they didn't need to inform us.
(3) I also enjoy being able to adjust our curriculum to meet the needs of each child -

My husband works from a home office, so we are very blessed to eat meals together, do homestead projects together, etc.

We are also blessed to have quite a few homeschooling neighbors (we're in the country, so they're not right next door, but we have 4 homeschooling families within 2-3 miles)

I AM TOTAL PRO SCHOOL CHOICE!
I love the idea that each family can choose what's best for them! :clap:
 
#9 ·
We are homeschoolers, and are relatively strong on the "pro-homeschooling" side, but also are fully aware that this choice isn't for everyone.

The first thing people need to understand is that homeschooling your kids, especially in the beginning, involves work and effort. A lot of people don't get this -- like the kid is just going to magically ingest knowledge or something. Taking on full responsibility for your child's education means just that -- you have a responsibility to see to it that they get the absolute best education possible.

For us, that meant being Classical home educators, for others, it might mean something different in the VERY WIDE range of educational options, but the CHOICE needs to be there for parents. They are, after all, OUR children, not the government's.

We chose to home educate because we have two children at opposite ends of the spectrum academically. Our one son is very advanced, very intelligent, and was being lost in the system. He was "easy" and quiet in the classroom, so the teachers were free to ignore him while they dealt with the five or six "problem" students. I sat in on classes, was involved in the PTA, and volunteered in the classroom regularly, and I didn't like what I saw. When this was brought up at a parent/teacher interview, and we were told to butt out, that they (as professionals) knew what was best for our child, and we should "leave it to the experts", we knew that we needed to make a different choice.

Our youngest son has Sensory Integration Disorder and had some learning challenges that would not have meshed well with a public classroom. Keeping him home and controlling the environment in which he had social interaction with others, and slowly introducing more challenging situations kept him from going into meltdown on a daily basis. He could not have learned anything in that environment, and would have been labeled, filed in a special ed program, and convinced he was "different" and didn't have to try. As it stands, he has never been told that he is "different" and therefore has no excuse to say "I can't".... so he simply DOES. With much patience and hard work, we have found the way in which he learns best and have used it -- and we now have a 12yo who is at or above standardized level for his age group in nearly every subject. This is the child who the doctors told us would never progress past the fourth grade level academically, and would probably be dependent on us for much of his future. I suppose they were right -- he was dependent on us for his future, and we've ensured that he has one that doesn't include our supporting him and treating him as though he cannot, when he can, simply because that decision was easier.

Home education has freed us in many ways, and while we still make the decision each year based on our CURRENT situation, we haven't changed our minds yet.

Having said all of that, I must caution you that home education is NOT for everyone. You have to have a very long, very frank conversation with your spouse. Do not underestimate the role of the other parent in this -- it's important that they are on board, and willing to support you (or you them). This is hard work, requiring daily effort, and self-discipline. Be honest with yourself -- if there is anything about your personality that has a history of habitually letting things slide, home education may not be the best choice. There are some AMAZING schools out there. Just because your local school may not be the best choice, there are other options.

Online or "virtual" schools are becoming very popular. I have not investigated these fully because, at the moment, we are very happy with the way we're doing things -- but I probably would if there were reason to. They make a nice compromise between sending your child to public school and home educating. Private schools can be pricey, but some are well worth the cost. Talk to other parents of students at the school in question to get a true picture of what it's like -- the school itself may not always relate the things that individual families see. If it's a good school, they will have no objection to your doing this.

Good luck -- it's a very important decision, and I applaud you for putting the effort in to make it, rather than simply going with the default. Every parent owes it to their children to honestly think about the decision of how to educate them, and to investigate the different ways it's possible for their family to educate. Even if one choice is out from the beginning for personal reasons, investigating your child's educational options is, to me, basic parenting.
 
#10 ·
I homeschooled my 2 boys all their lives. They are now 22 and 24. They are normal human beings, which is very hard to find these days.:happy:
I would not have had it any other way. I do believe that mentally and emotionally they are better off than what they would've been if they had went to school. As far as just the "smarts" they are probably average. I did not love every minute of it. Sometimes it was just HARD. But I am very happy that I did it. Now that they are grown up and married I miss them alot.
Maybe I should do it again. NOT:happy: Just joking, I probably would.
 
#11 ·
Public school, and my girls are doing really good in school and like there teachers, my oldest is graduating this year she's a 4.0 student, Drum major of the marching band, and an all around great kid :)
My youngest is in 2nd grade, and loves her teacher, and does really good in Math and English.
 
#12 ·
You need to figure out what you feel called to do. I have worked with many families that home educated because all their friends or family or church home schooled, but it was something that didn't work well for them. It is something that takes a lot of effort, dedication and discipline. In some ways the same can be said for public/private school, you are stuck in someone elses schedule and learning objectives, and sometimes your student may not fit well in their molds.

We have home educated since 1993, and our oldest has finished college and is on his own and seems to be doing well. Our 2nd is a junior in college and has made the deans list every semester, as well as being involved in many activities. I still have two at home so have several years to go, and home educating is something I love to do.

Dawn
 
#14 ·
Our son went to a private Christian school, mostly because the public schools around are down-right frightening. It was more of a religious choice for us than any other reason, and we struggled mightily to make the tuition, which was about $8K a year by the time he graduated. He got a great education, and terrific morals and beliefs to boot. An unexpected by-product was how much closer to the Lord we were brought- maybe that was His purpose all along. We were very involved with the school all along, which I believe makes a huge difference in the net results.
 
#15 ·
My older son just started kindergarten at the local public school, in a highly regarded local school district. My DH and I both work full-time, so homeschooling was not an option for us. Also, I have thought about it from time to time, and I frankly admit that my personality and level of patience does not mesh with homeschooling. (I have been a SAHM for up to a year at a time - each time during my sons' first years - and I did enjoy it, but it was always for me a somewhat long-term but temporary phase.) My DH has no interest in homeschooling, having come from a family of public school teachers.

I have had many friends who homeschool, and here are some pitfalls that I have seen - nope, not trying to discourage you at all, just wanting you to know some things outsiders see to watch for. These are in no particular order of importance, by the way. First is socialization. Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that kids do not go to school just to be socialized. And I also agree that you don't have to go to school to be socialized. But the parents need to make an effort to get the kids some sort of social outlet. I know several families whose kids only saw other people at church, and then they ran around like wild urchins the whole time. They really were good kids, but they were so excited to see other people that they couldn't calm down. The parents were embarrassed and trying to get them settled down, and social occasions were stressful on all of them.

Secondly, your own educational level and familiarity with school subjects. No, I'm certainly not saying that you have to have a degree in every subject to adequately teach your child, or that if you never went to college, you have nothing offer. I did have serious concerns about a high school dropout (a close friend, I might add) intending to teach her high school daughter calculus when she'd never gotten farther than algebra herself. There are certain subjects you just can't adequately teach by trying to stay a few pages ahead in the book. (In the interests of full disclosure, I took three semesters of college calculus but wouldn't try to teach it now, nearly fifteen years later.) Some people get around this by forming/joining some sort of homeschooling coop, using online schooling, or sending their kids to local schools after a certain grade level or even just for certain classes. There are ways around it - just keep it in mind when you're thinking about what will work for your family.

Third, family support. I don't mean from your extended family, though that would be nice. I mean between you and your spouse. I've seen several families in which both spouses place a high priority on homeschooling, and the husbands (being sexist here, but that's the situation I have experienced) have shown that support by being understanding when the house isn't perfect and meals may be a little late at times. They have seen homeschooling as a full-time job for their wives, not something to be fit in around errands. On the other hand, I know a family in which the husband would routinely call from work to give his wife a three-page list of chores he wanted her and the kids to do before he got home from work. And then he didn't understand why they were unable to both complete the chores and the schooling for the day! Those children were recently put into public school (private was out due to finances) because of numerous issues, one being that they did not show much respect to their mother with regard to their schooling. I have to wonder if that was unconsciously picked up from their father, as he repeatedly placed household chores above his children's school time.

Anyway, like I said, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from homeschooling. Public and private schools definitely have their own problems. Just trying to give food for thought on some of the problems I've seen with other families, so that you can make a better informed decision for your own family.

P.S. - Wow - this got way longer than I intended.
 
#16 ·
We homeschool also. We sent our oldest to pre-school when she was 4 turning 5 because I wanted her to have the "going to school" experience that she was so excited about. I found a christian school that I was really excited about that was affiliated with a church that shared our beliefs. So, we sent her to kindergarten and she had an awesome teacher and another wonderful experience. Over the summer before 1st grade the church that the school was affiliated with went through a split. We showed up for 1st grade and the school was down to about a dozen students. She had another wonderful teacher, but there were issues that came up and things were discussed in class (current events type things that I felt were completely inappropriate for 1st grade) that I felt should have been left to the parents discretion. My second child was in pre-school that year and I had a new baby at home. I was president of the parent-teacher organization and involved in her school. Toward the end of that year we made the decision to homeschool. My dh had wanted to homeschool from the start, but I had been afraid that I couldn't teach her to read!

We are beginning our 5th year of homeschool and I have taught the second one to read and am working on my little guy. My oldest is an independent learner who does get frustrated when she doesn't get things (like math) right away, but she is an excellent researcher and has varied interests. My son is showing similar tendencies. My middle child has some learning challenges that the therapist who tested her called "left brain cowlicks". She has some hearing difficulties in one ear when there is background noise. Not hearing subtle sound differences can make spelling difficult and translate to the occasional pronunciation problems. I noticed these things because I work with her. They may or may not have been noticed in a school setting depending on how big the room was, how many students, the teacher's awareness, etc. She's a good reader, so the subtle problems may have gone on unnoticed. I'm able to work one-on-one with her and taylor her learning to her more hands-on, color-coded learning style. A boxed curriculum in a boxed room with all of its built in distractions would be way beyond her ability to adapt.
We love homeschooling, but as others have pointed out, it's not for everyone and it is HARD at times. I believe in Christian schools. I went to one and our church has an excellent one. If we didn't live so far from our church, we would have sent the kids there and never really considered homeschooling.
 
#18 ·
We are lucky enough to have a good public school available for our kids. My DS is in 2nd grade and there are 2 classes of 16 students. My Dr sends his kids to private school to get that class size. He does average to above average on all his standardized tests, but his teacher says he does a lot better in class when there is no test pressure. The superintendant knows every child (K - 12) by there names and most of the parents too. He get a very well rounded education and anything that he lacks, we try to teach him our own. I could not provide the education and socialization that he gets in school if I homeschooled him. Therefore, he goes to public school.
 
#19 ·
We homeschool. Have for 7 out of 8 years. (This will be the 9th.) It has been good for us. My kids are thriving in this environment. They are academically on pace or ahead of their public school counterparts, depending on the child and the subject. No one is lagging behind anywhere. (There are 5 kids). They have AMPLE opportunities to socialize through co-ops, local friends, and clubs/hobbies that they are interested in. Homeschooling has helped to make us a close family. We all finish each other's sentences - know what each other is thinking - see when someone is not doing well mentally/emotionally. They do argue, but they don't want to be without each other either. It is really good. When they all grow up, and leave "school" their best friends will be their family, and they won't have to give that up just because- well it's high school and everybody moves on. (There are public school families who have that too, I'm sure...)

From the perspective of the Mom, I don't really do anything else. I don't mind. I chose to do this, and schooling five grades takes most of my time. I have gotten to the point that I have had to "hire" most of the school work out that my older kids are doing through online tutorials and local co-ops. It is really sad to say that their education has outstripped my own, and they are not in high school yet *(though they are doing high school level classes), but it is true! But it is as it should be. They are taking more responsibility for their own educations and schedules and etc... and I am focusing more of my attention on the little ones, who are not yet ready to do that.

Yep. That's about it.

Cindyc.
 
#20 ·
We have homeschooled our kids since they were school age. Our oldest is in 5th, the next 3rd and the youngest school age is preschool. We felt led by God to homeschool. We take it one year at a time.
 
#21 ·
We're homeschoolers and actually made that decision before we ever adopted our kids. I was not raised in the best family life and knew that many times kids do the same things their parents did when they become parents. I didn't want to do to others what had been done to me, so as an adult I started watching kids and parents. When someone's child impressed me I would ask the parents about their parenting, what they do and why.

Being a military family I have met a lot of military brats (those in the military know what I'm talking about), but when we were in New Hampshire I met this one family that fascinated me. The kids, who were teens and preteens, were very polite. They were supportive of their parents including taking care of the house when the mom was sick and cooking meals.

This was my first experience with homeschoolers. The more I watched this family and saw the kids excelling in every task they took on, and saw their self-motivation, the more I realized there was something to this.

I began praying and researching homeschooling and discussing it with DH. We decided that if God ever blessed us with a child we would try homeschooling.

Well, that day finally came when we adopted a precious 8 1/2 month little boy. As he began to grow we realized that he had some learning disabilities. Our DS is borderline autistic, ADHD, and has a pragmatic language delay. He didn't start talking till he was 5 yrs old.

Through homeschooling him I have been able to give him the one on one that he needs. I am able to allow him to take breaks when he gets too overwhelmed by something. He's a little behind his peers, but only by a year, and in some areas he has surpassed them.

Then a few years ago we got custody of a 14 yr old girl who's mom had died of a drug overdose. She was having problems in school, fighting etc. When we got her I gave her the option of homeschooling. We decided we would try it for a year.

When I tested her she was 3 yrs behind her grade level in many areas. By the end of the first year she was testing out at grade level, albeit on the lower end. By the second year she was performing above grade level. She graduated 6 months early and enlisted in the USAF. She scored very high on her ASVABs and has already recieved awards and honors. She is now serving in Kuwait.

I grew up in public school and didn't do too bad with my life, so I don't think the public school is our enemies, but do feel that if a person is able to, homeschooling can afford a closer relationship with our kids and can give the kids the one on one in the areas they may struggle.
 
#22 ·
I wanted to add a couple of things in response to what one poster wrote as pitfalls. In regards to socialization, most, not all, but most homeschool families get plenty of socialization. In public school, how much socializing do you really get? With us, we have always had the kids involved in activities. My DS took gymnastics and swimming before he turned 4 yrs old. At the age of 4 we put him in taikwondo, which he takes to this day. When our daughter joined us she also went into taikwondo. We have had church functions (I'm a children's minister, so we're always around other kids), we belong to a homeschool group that does field trips and has socials.

Another concern that was brought up is the parent not being educated in every subject to the extent that they are able to teach it. The answer to that is also homeschool groups or co-ops. Math is not one of my strong suits, so when my daughter got into areas that I was not comfortable with I went to our group and found someone to tutor her. In exchange for that, my DH is a whiz on computers, so he traded out teaching computer classes.

There are ways to get around the areas that could be foreseen as a problem.
 
#23 ·
My three have gone/are going to public schools. I chose it, over homeschooling and private schools because I found a school with an exceptional program for gifted kids that all three of mine have qualified for. Their education at school has been supplemented by me and my husband in any areas that I felt were not covered well at public school or not covered at all. Their education is MY job, and I've used the public school to get where we needed to be. Two have graduated top of their class and have gotten amazing offers of scholarships from multiple schools.

My oldest graduated at 15, got excellent scholarships at a private liberal arts school and started medical school at 19. At 22, she's a 3rd year medical student. This would indicate that our public school does take into consideration that all kids are different and will help you find what your child needs, as long as you are an active part of that process.

My middle child is a sophomore at a public college, majoring in Biochemistry. His freshman year he had a 4.0. He's a YMCA swim team coach and does volunteer service for two other organizations.

My youngest is presently a 10th grader in the same program as his siblings. He will complete the full available slate of math honors classes this year (having doubled in math each year) and will take math at a local liberal arts college next year and his senior year, most likely. He's also doubling in science each year, and may take his science at college too. As he's male, I'm happier with this option than the earlier graduation for him. He qualifies to go to the Governors residential high school for children who excel in Math and Science and we're weighing that option now. It's a free public school with some amazing opportunities,

In addition to school, mine have all been in the marching band for 5 years each, have done ballet (pre-professional 4 level) classes for the girl, and the boys have played soccer. They have all swam USA swim leaque teams. My boys have done Boy Scouts, with the one having Eagled and the the youngest working on that now.

They've lived on a working farm and done chores and learned to be responsible independent adults. They've held summer jobs since they were 15. They have varied outside interests of kayaking, rockclimbing, and flyfishing and an excellent social network. The two oldest have traveled internationally, independently and participate in volunteer mission work as well.

The way to get around the problems with public school is for you to be a present and accounted for parent. Volunteer and be active, encouraging independence in the child by junior high. We've had few issues and even fewer problems. One of the things that I had not anticipated was the enrichment that diversity has provided for my children. They were friends with children from every race and every walk of life and it's added immeasurably to their lives. As college freshmen, they were well versed in getting along with and enjoying a variety of people. They've been friends with children of several religions and many races and have learned a lot. Their teacher base has been diverse as well, and has more than adequately prepared them for the variety of teachers at college. Their experiences in school clubs, scouts, band and sports have given them opportunities to develop leadership skills with peers outside of their sibling group and out side of their age/peer group.

Academically, their program has been unsurpassed and their teachers have been specially trained and certified for teaching gifted kids.

We have personally filled in where culture, music, outdoors activities and of course, religion were concerned.

Good luck with your choice.

dawn
 
#24 ·
I wanted to add a couple of things in response to what one poster wrote as pitfalls. In regards to socialization, most, not all, but most homeschool families get plenty of socialization. In public school, how much socializing do you really get? With us, we have always had the kids involved in activities.
That's great - exactly my point. The homeschooling families I've known most closely have been isolated and really only see other people at one church function per week - not enough.

Another concern that was brought up is the parent not being educated in every subject to the extent that they are able to teach it. The answer to that is also homeschool groups or co-ops.
That's one of the possibilities I had mentioned. Depending on the area you live in, you may or may not have other homeschoolers nearby to trade teaching.

I hope that most people took the possible pitfalls I mentioned in the way I intended them - not as a "don't do it," but as a "think about how to avoid it." My decision not to homeschool, as I said, was based at this time on my work schedule, along with personality and level of patience. That said, these are factors I've considered in the past and would take into account if our current schooling option needed to be re-evaluated.

Yes, there's a huge list of potential pitfalls at public schools (don't think I haven't thought along those lines, too!), and having grown up in a private Christian school, I would be able to compile a separate list for those. Again, I wasn't trying to denigrate homeschooling, and I sincerely hope I didn't offend anyone with my comments. I tried to avoid that, and I hope I succeeded.
 
#25 ·
You know your children better than anyone else. You also can learn the specifics about your local public/private schools better than anyone here on the forum. And you know your family dynamics and situation. All of those need to be taken into consideration, and there's no one "right" answer. Our kids have done a mixture of schooling: public, private and home; depending on where we were living at the time; where we were at "in life", and what their needs were.
 
#26 ·
We started out with DoDD then Public schools. They all failed our oldest from his education to protecting him from bullies and went so far as protected the bullies from us trying to protect our son from the abuse.

We pullled him out and started homeschooling him and in turn our other children have since been homeschooled as well and never set foot in an institutionalized setting.

That's the short story.
Reese