::gulp::Well, we've gone and done it...

[ciroccoj]

Sent in formal notice that Justin will be staying home from school starting next Monday.


Letter to Justin's teacher and principal
Dear Mme. Agathe:

This letter is to inform you that Justin's last day of school will be February 23, 2007. He will be finishing grade 1 at home.

Our reasons for taking Justin away from school are fairly complex, but mostly centre around his wish to be at home. He has enjoyed school at [SchoolName] very much, so we were very surprised last year when he began to express a desire to be at home schooled like his brother Daniel. After a lot of thought and discussion and after giving this a lot of time to see if Justin really wanted to do this and it wasn't a passing whim, we decided as a family to give it a try.

Our decision was not taken lightly. We have been very happy with Justin's time at [SchoolName]. He has had wonderful teachers in the last three years, and we know we've got pretty high standards to live up to.

As I have done with Daniel's home schooling for the last two years, I have accessed the appropriate grade curriculum from the Ministry and will be making sure that Justin completes all the knowledge and skill goals expected of him in grade 1. We hope that his home schooling experience is positive, but in the event that he decides to go back to school, we want him to be academically ready to resume regular school in September. We will also try to keep him in touch with the friends that he has made at school, whether he returns to school in September or not.

Thank you so much for making Justin's school experience a positive one.

Yours truly,

[Me and Chris]

***


Letter to Justin's friends
Hello!

Justin will be leaving school at the end of this week in order to finish grade 1 at home. His older brother has been home schooled for two years, and Justin likes [SchoolName] but has wanted to give home schooling a try for quite some time. He will be at home for the rest of grade 1 and we will see at the end of the school year whether he wants to return to [SchoolName] in September or not.

Justin is looking forward to being at home, but is worried he will miss his friends. We would like him to keep in touch with the friends he has made at school, whether he returns to [SchoolName] or not, so this letter is to invite you to keep in touch.

Here is how to reach Justin:

Justin
Phone #: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
Parents: Chris and Jim
Mom's e-mail address: ciroccoj2002@yahoo.com

Justin would love to see if you can get together to play some time. Mom's at home during the day, and available to pick up/drop off any friends that wish to come to our house.

We hope to hear from you!

Comments

[officerjudy.livejournal.com]

This isn't a CF snark, but a genuine question: At what point do you stop homeschooling? When the child no longer wishes to do it? What if he or she is really shy and *never* wants to go to regular school?

This is inspired by me having been bullied so badly. If I'd had the option to homeschool (my mom would never have gone for it), I would have been all for it. But if I had, I probably never would have gone back to regular school, and that would have been a bad thing. (Homeschooling + social isolation + bumfuck middle of nowhere = disaster.)

And what leaper182 said, in spades. : )

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

At what point do you stop homeschooling?
Heh - simple question, no simple answer. We're taking it year by year right now. And the decision takes into account all sorts of things; what the kid wants, what we want, how we're doing as a family, how the academic side is doing, the social stuff, the emotional stuff, etc etc etc.

Right now I'm happy to be at home with Daniel, and I think we'll be OK with Justin at home too. If it's too disruptive, or he's lonely at home, or isn't learning anything, or I'm tearing my hair out, whatever, then we'll reconsider and may decide he goes back to school in September. Daniel will also have to decide whether he wants to stay out a third year, or go back.

Chris brought up high school home schooling a few weeks ago, saying that he really didn't think he could continue doing science into the high school years, and I kinda boggled, because OMG I hadn't even considered thinking about imagining that far ahead ;)

What if he or she is really shy and *never* wants to go to regular school?
Will not be a problem for my kids, I can assure you.

If it was, though, it would be a serious issue. It's a fine line between nurturing your kids' individuality, and coddling them to the point where they can't function in regular society. I think if shyness was the only thing keeping them at home, I would want to work on that; do shyness workshops, be around other kids a lot more, therapy, whatever. And if it was appropriate for other reasons to send them to school, then yeah, I would send them to school even if they didn't want to go.

This is inspired by me having been bullied so badly. If I'd had the option to homeschool (my mom would never have gone for it), I would have been all for it. But if I had, I probably never would have gone back to regular school, and that would have been a bad thing. (Homeschooling + social isolation + bumfuck middle of nowhere = disaster.)
Well, yeah, there's stuff like that to consider as well. But there's also the flip side to that: what would have been disastrous about it? Would your ego have suffered more from being essentially hidden from the rest of society than from being bullied?

I think it really depends on the kid, the family, the school, the city, etc. Some home schooled kids don't have much contact with other kids their age, and they miss out on a lot, but they do have regular contact with adults of all kinds. And sometimes that can be healthier than being dumped into a Lord of the Flies-type of school. OTOH some other kids can get valuable self-confidence from being forced into a sink-or-swim social situation - provided they learn to swim ;)

And what leaper182 said, in spades. : )
::blush:: thanks.