| Subject: Re: Help! Are public schools ok |
Author:
ellen
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Date Posted: 12:33:39 05/06/05 Fri
In reply to:
Angie
's message, "Help! Are public schools ok" on 11:22:25 05/01/03 Thu
Yes, public schools are okay if the community/parents are involved, the tax support is there, and you like what you see (visit). We have been with the public schools for all of our years (current 10th grader and current 8th).
We do a dual enrollment which means we 'homeschool.' My one daughter goes to school in the morning and does the rest of her subjects at home. The other is at public school all day.
We have an extremely cooperative district to the extent that they staff a department to interact with the 200 plus families in our district that homeschool. The students are given a packet which includes how to file and where our state Dept of Ed affidavit, when and where to submit for textbooks, and forms for parking permits and extracurricular activities.
Are public schools okay?
Disadvantages: 1) Homework!!! My high school daughter in accelerated classes averaged 4-6 hours of sleep a night leaving her sick and tired and unable to complete any extracurricular activities. The stress for the accelerated students is tremendous for most (there are always a few who breeze through every and anything, lucky things!) 2) Teaching style, if always lecture, is not the best, but better schools use a variety of teaching/learning methods. 3) This might sound silly but using the bathroom in the few minutes you have between classes or the half hour for lunch which most of is spent in a line makes these kinds of reliefs difficult. Also, sometimes the older kids in junior high eat breakfast at 7 in order to get on the bus and then won't have lunch until 1:30 pm. Most of the teachers allow snacks but it is a nuisance and the kids usually do without. 4) The security threats may be low per capita but the chldren do feel stress when they see incidents on the national news. Secure feelings are not prevalent in our school even though we only get mild pranks and have not experienced more tragic things. 5) A limited age group, surrounded by peers for a great majority of the day does not allow child to interact with other age groups. My daughter matured so much this year that she spent half the day at home, as she witnessed what it takes to run a household and interact with the outside world.
Advantages: 1) Large pool of social groups to pick and choose from. Yes, this is a good thing. 2) Exposure to a wide variety of morals and values. An involved parent from the start can supply guidance. 3)Balanced curriculum (covers all the bases, even the ones a student may not like). 4)Leaves parents free for 6.5 hours a day to pursue employment but in my experience it is always better to have at least one parent at home running the house and providing the stress relief, etc. 5) Immunities to colds are well developed by high school. 6) Less expensive even if you do count in the money asked for for field trips, etc.
Every district is different, even if only separated by a few miles. School visits can be arranged and if you are not welcome than that might be a bad sign. Also, contact the PTO/PTA heads who usually have the scoop on current issues and students. Try to get both satisfied and disatisfied opinions.
What it really comes down to -- what is going to work for you. Nothing is cast in concrete. You can always start in slow with one class or accompany a field trip (although the kids are so wired it may not be a good indicator). If you don't like it, chalk it up to experience and pull out before it is too late to recover.
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