I have three kids 11,9 and 3. My older two are currently in 5th and 4th grades in the local PS. I feel called or lead to home school our children and my hubby is fully on board. My plan was to finish out this school year and then begin HS the next academic year. That said, I feel drawn to pull my kids out now and begin to HS them. I don't know if this is just my excitement or if it is God's prompting. I am so conflicted. Intellectually my brain says to wait out the remainder of this year so as to minimize the disruptions. But my heart is so conflicted. I would really value any advice that you all could give me.
I say go for it!!! Homeschooling for Christians is definitely a calling from the Lord. There's no way around it.. Usually those reasons we choose to homeschool are such that do evoke a "NOW" response. I can't see any reason to wait! Good luck and congratulations!
God doesn't observe our man-made calendars. That being said, I have pulled kids out mid-year.....twice. If you are led to do it, don't fight it. You'll be blessed for your obedience.
I think you should go ahead and pull them out. I knew I was going to pull DS11 out of school about two weeks into the school year but I waited. My original plan was to pull him out of school over Christmas break, then I moved it up to Thanksgiving break, and finally ended up pulling him out Nov 1st. My only regret is that I didn't listen to myself and pull him out sooner.
I personally believe that, once you've made the decision to pull them out, it can be MORE disruptive to keep them in. Often with kids that you pull out, you need to go through a time of what you hear refered to as "de-schooling". That can take up to a year. Pulling them now would give you the rest of the year to do that.
I agree with everyone else. Give yourself a week or so to get your rough plan together and notify the school board (if you have to), then bring them babies home.
Pull them out and use this time to get to know how they learn. Deschooling, as mentioned, is a great way to get your children out of the public school mindset and it is good for the parent whose day evolves around the public school schedule. It is also a great time for you read with your children, work on projects together, and different subjects, in order to get a feel of how they learn best. Next school year you will be more prepared because you will know your children in a way that you wouldn't have known them if they remained in public school and then jumped into homeschooling after this year ends.
This was going to be my answer...then I saw yours. WOW! This was our exact timetable too! 2 weeks into school we knew, then Christmas was the plan, then Thanksgiving, then Nov. 1 (or maybe Oct 31?) Can't remember exactly becasue it was 8 years ago...I do know it was the day of their "Fall party."
Okay I am a person who would him and haw too ask yourself the pros and cons of taking them now... will you be ready for them? Do you have something to keep them occupied with learning situations, if you are going to give them a 'de-schooling time' decide how long it will take to adjust from one to another and plan light duty school work in between. Why do you want to home school? What are you most excited about, share that with your kids and get them excited about it as well! Let them help pick what to learn and such cause that will help in the transition I believe... of course I home schooled mine since K, but from what I have learned it always works better if we ask them to be a part of the lesson planning.
I have done both. When we made the decision with our oldest she was pulled right away. It just so happened to be a Friday. I felt so great about that. With the other 2, we made the decision towards the end of the year. We just let them continue with the remainder of the year. We really wouldn't have done anything anyway, well that was my plan. The first week of our summer break the kids were begging me for schoolwork. We started and have been doing it ever since but I was glad I waited with them.
With us and ds, we finished the fourth grade, then he had the summer off knowing full well that he was not going back to school for the fifth, then when public started back up, he started with his work at home. It worked for us. However, I know others for whom it was better that they quit ps right where they were, whereever that was, and came home. Whatever's best for your family!
obedience is always better than sacrifice, I vote to pull them out. It would be a fantastic way to get your feet wet.
Well, first, let me say, I'd pray about it and ask hubby, it's not somehting anyone else can tell you....then... Now, let me be different from everybody else in the thread. LOL We knew close to the end of my son's kindergarten year that we were going to homeschool him the next year. So, we asked my son what he wanted to do, finish out the year or come home then. (he had I think around 2 months left???) He choose to finish out the year. So that is what we did. For one, I think kids should have a say in their situation. I think they deserve to be shown respect and consideration. And two, I didn't want to pull him out mid year if he wanted to stay and start homeschooling out on the wrong foot. Your kids are def old enough to ask how they feel and take it into consideration, IMHO. Just for consideration
I agree that the decision isn't totally yours. Ask the kids and the hubby what they think. Get your ducks in a row. THEN pull them out. If it were closer to the end of the year, and if they were having fun in school, I'd wait until all the fun stuff was over (field trips, etc.). In January, all they have to look forward to is mid-term exams and junk. They may be more willing to leave now than later. Don't start questioning yourself in a few weeks when they're upset about missing out on the cool stuff, though. Getting your ducks in a row means you need to find a way to compensate for what they'll be missing... find groups of HS friends, find activities (many are registering or beginning right now), find field trips. If you pull them out too soon without thinking ahead, it may backfire on you.
over all what we seem to be saying is be sure you are ready for him you and hubby both so there is no fighting. When I started my best friend to me to pray about it and make sure it was God's plan for us because if both you and hubby are not in agreement it can cause problems in the marriage. Its also something to think on with your dc you have to be sure that he knows whats going to happen, that he will know what it is for -- his best interest--- and what advantages he will have. When we stared each of our kids they were begging to home school after the first one. The first one I had been teaching his sisters preschool class in the same building as his pre k classs, he kept sneaking out and coming to my class cause he wanted to be in MY CLASS so it worked for him to go to K at home school cause I would be his teacher ! lol simple things mean a lot!
