What do you think of home-schooling one child and sending the other to public school?
January 25th, 2010 | by |If one child is significantly ahead of his grade level and does better in a home-school environment and is being home-schooled, do you think it would be strange to send the younger child to public school (which is also a great system)?
What's unschooling?
Tags: school environment, unschooling
By ? Tiger Lily on Jan 25, 2010
Works just fine. A lot of homeschooling families do it! I gave my kids the choice to do it, specifically my youngest who wasn’t miserable at school, but both chose to homeschool/unschool, so it’s never been something we’ve done. If one of them changes their mind, or my youngest wants to try regular school when she’s of that age, then I guess that’s what we’ll do.
I even know of an unschooling family with 4 kids, and one who just up and chose to go to public school himself (why anyone would choose that cesspool is beyond me, but whatever, he knows what’s best for himself), and it’s apparently working out wonderfully.
*ETA: Unschooling – in simplest terms, there’s many different kinds and many different views on it, each family’s is different – is not using a set curriculum, or only using it if and when the child chooses. Unschooling is based on the philosophy that children learn best by experiencing and doing things that interest them, and that forcing a certain curriculum or forcing them into a certain way of learning stunts a child’s ability to learn at all.
There is unschooling as a purely educational philosophy, and there is also "radical unschooling" (not as scary as it sounds, LOL) also known as "whole life unschooling" in which unschooling encompasses a parenting philosophy, and then there’s "eclectic" unschoolers (like my family) who don’t fit into either homeschooling OR 100% radical unschooling, they’re usually a bit of both.
I’ll give you some links on it.
By chickenfarmer on Jan 25, 2010
I actually know several families that use this arrangement depending what they feel would benefit each child the most. If you have the willpower, go for it!
By *smile* on Jan 25, 2010
Absolutely not weird!
I would think the parent is catering to each child’s needs as they come. That’s fantastic in my opinion.
One size does not fit all.
By ladedamom on Jan 25, 2010
I totally agree with previous answers that said it is meeting each child where they are and according to their needs. It may take alot of extra work to do, but if it is benefitting the children where they are then it’s fabulous.
By It's All Good. . . . on Jan 25, 2010
Totally fine! I was in public school this year, but my two younger sisters were homeschooled. It worked out really well! It was nice for my mom to focus her attention on the younger kids, and not have to worry about homeschooled high school for me. Good luck!
By Doll on Jan 25, 2010
me and my sister both go to public school, but my little brother is home schooled. i think it is fine, mostly if the other is doing good in school. my brother couldn’t stay up with his classmates and wasn’t getting extra help that he needed, so my mom pulled him out. it has done wonders.
By beachchick08 on Jan 25, 2010
What ever works best for each child. Every child is different. One may do best in a public school, one in a private, and another in home-schooling. As long as the child’s best interests are the center of the decision, that’s all that matters. If the other child wants to be home-schooled, he should have the same option as his sibling.
By sevenofus on Jan 25, 2010
I know several home schooling families. Most of them have used a combination of educational resources depending on the needs of their children. Some years it works best to do homeschooling while another year one of the kids might be in a private school or a public school. It is also common for there to be some homeschooling combined with private or public schooling at the same time. Right now, I know that my cousin and her husband, who have 6 children, have their youngest home-schooled exclusively while the next oldest one is going to school full time at a public high school as a freshman. Each of the older 4 that have graduated high school also took classes at the local community college while being home schooled. Some years 1-2 were home while the others went to a private school. I do not think it strange at all for a family to choose different education options for their children. Each child is different and has different needs.