My hubby and I are seriously thinking about pullin gour daughter from PS. We went to a parents teacher conference and it was just a bunch of BS. We discussed that We would give it till Christmas break...well I thought They would get their report cards before they went on break...well they dont... they get them on January 4th. SOOO..my dilemma is...they say if you pull them its best to do it during a long break? well now I dont know what to do.. Teacher emailed and said that they will have mid terms so i guess i can go off that as of grade wise.....what do you all think? sorry I am long winded.
I don't think it matters if you pull them out after a long break or if you do it today. If you are not happy with the school and you and hubby both agree then don't worry about when. I waited until the end of my daughter's 4th grade year and now I wish now I would have done it after the frist month of that school year. It was pure hell and I dont' know why I waited.
My hubby is kinda nervous that were going to fail at teaching our daughters......so he is looking for it to get better but I can guarantee its not so I have been preparing. He was going to have her just go the rest of the year but I told him no...if it doesnt improve by christmas break..im pulling her than and he didnt bat an eye. They do some of the oddest things ever....they make them do 100 problems in 1 minute...if they dont get it done they gt docked. The TIME thier reading comp tests.... the teacher at the conference basically told me. "if we dont work together than shes going to just slip thru the cracks." WHAT!!!::evil: Im ready to pull her now...she doesnt want to go to school tomorrow... its just flippin aggravating and sad.
Honestly if things aren't working the sooner you pull her out the better off she will be. She/they will most likely need a time of deschooling, whether you pull her out now or wait until break or wait till the end of the year and start again next fall. It will be some huge adjustment, and you WILL find that there will be things that just don't click for you, or for your kids, and then you will stop, recollect and decide a new direction to go! Don't be afraid to stop mid stride and do a 180 or a 360. Just remember you have to break the bad habits that are a product of the institution without breaking their spirits.. their spirits have already been damaged by the school system. You can do this! We are all here for support, and you will find some of the best support there is available here on HS spot!
I have to recommend a book to you.. it is the only "how to" book I have read about homeschooling and it helped me relax with it soooo much! The Homeschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith. Everything else I have read has been online. Don't worry right now about if you are doing things right and wrong.. just find out your state laws and make sure you comply with them.
If hubby won't budge on waiting at least until Christmas break, then use her midterm grades. But depending on her grade level, actual grades don't matter to homeschoolers. They don't really matter until High school and you're looking to put together a transcript for college. Homeschooling parents track hours and work accomplished. In some states, assessment tests are given. I've yet to hear of anyone other than a high schooler who needed grades. Either way, you are right to prepare yourself. Pretend your starting over from scratch. The stuff she's "learning" in PS right now is most likely not being learned at all. After you've gotten through the deschooling process, start at the beginning. Fly through what she already does know and patiently work through what she doesn't. And know that we all here for you!
I pulled my daughter out on a Wednesday about a week before Thankgiving. Didn't seem to bother her one bit. Hubby wanted to wait until the break but it didn't work out that way. I just had to wait two weeks for my stuff to come in after pulling. We didn't get into a routine until after the first of the year. We did some workbooks and computer work and slowly started up the curriculum that I bought.
my2kids - good luck with whatever you and your hubby decide. Feel free to come here and ask as many questions as you can think of! That is what we are all here for to help and support each other.
Oh I wanted to also add - if your hubby would agree to it would you not send her tomorrow? You said she didn't want to go. My daughter in 4th grade did the same thing at about this time of year and with good reason. I WISH I would not have sent her back. I wish I would have pulled her out and given her a deschooling time and then began homeschooling after the Christmas holidays. But you always make different decisions in hindsight.
We pulled our daughter around this time last year due to not learning in school. Our view was everyday we waited the further she fell behind (she was only in 2nd and already a year behind + in some subjects). Now we hs two and as a whole family, we love it.
Honestly,if it were me.. and hubby would go along with it... I would take her out now. Normally I would say wait until the break. But if she's miserable and the school is so obviously not meeting her needs, then why wait. You'll just have more ground to make up,the longer she stays in. Lisa
I waited to pull my ds out of 2nd grade. I WISH I would've pulled him sooner! The longer they're in, the more damage is done! It doesn't have to be at a break to pull them! If you do decide to take her out, you might as well do it! Now, after pulling her, you and/or your ds may feel like you've got to start pushing the school subjects so she doesn't "get behind". Behind who or what? The school that was doing your dd such a disservice? Honestly, as someone else said, it's better to deschool for awhile, to get used to each other again, to do some fun things together, and to get the negativity out of your system. After a week or two, (or more if you need it!)start slow with one or two subjects that she really likes. Just do those things for awhile. After the Christmas break you can get more serious about school stuff. Just remember NOT to be "school at home"! You can be much more relaxed at home, especially at this age. They learn so much better and more quickly when they're homeschooled, because they get one-on-one attention, and she no longer has 30 other kids to wait for! YOu don't have to schedule bathroom breaks, and drink and sharpen pencils breaks. That is done as needed at home! What takes hours at school, can only take minutes at home---and it'll be done better! I'm probably getting WAY ahead of the game here! Sorry about that! I wish you well in whatever you decide! We'll be here for you if you go the homeschooling route and need any help!
Deena you are a very wise woman!! One thing you could do even while deschooling is lapbooking! It is a fun no pressure type thing!
We pulled our daughter from ps K the week before Christmas break this past year. I should have done it sooner, but homeschooling never crossed my mind till dd's psych had brought it up. From that point I started doing my research, and when I was ready we pulled her. My only regret is that we didn't do it sooner. So there's my two cents. If you have that gut feeling that things aren't going to get better, they probably aren't.
I agree with these ladies about pulling her now, BUT... you have to consider your DH. I think you know that, but I wanted to make sure you didn't think we all just wanted you to boss him around...lol.
