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My son will be going to kindergarten next month. We live in a neighborhood where the school's ranking is really bad. It is ranked 1/10. None of the statistics look good and it is an underperforming school. I've sought advice from other parents before and some said to give it a try and it doesnt necessarily mean the teachers are bad.
We are also considering home schooling. We wanted to get an idea of both learning styles so we enrolled him in a 2 week jump start program at the school. Today he finished his 1st week and I spoke with his teacher about his performance. She said he is a sweet child but he is very active. He is all over the place and she has to redirect him often. He also likes to be in other peoples personal space without asking for their permission. She says that he is very curious and likes to explore.
On the way home from school, I asked him if he made new friends or talked to anyone and he said no. I asked him why and he said hes afraid the teacher would yell at him. I asked what that is about and he said something about her making him go outside because he was talking. I dont know how much truth there is too that because I had a hard time understanding him. He is growing up in bilingual home and sometimes it can be difficult for me to understand him completely.
Given his behavior, should I choose the home school route? He absolutely loves school though and is always looking forward to going. He says he wants to go and get "A's." I dont know if I want to take the enthusiasm away from him. However I'm afraid that his behavior will get him in constant trouble. Any feedback will be appreciated. TIA.
It’s a decision that only you can make but since he loves school I would likely give it a try and if it doesn’t seem to be working, reconsider homeschooling.
Homeschooling is a great choice, but it takes research, dedication, and consistency. Regardless of the public school situation, are YOU willing or able to do what it would take to educate him well?
Pulling a child out without a solid plan is a BAD way to go. I’m pro homeschool and am in my eighth year of doing it, but it is not something to take lightly or engage in because the alternative is worse.
Instead of thinking about how bad the school is, do your homework and figure out if home is even an option for your family, realistically. It may be that a charter school or parochial is a good alternative. Home education MAY be, but that’s far from a given.
They are politely trying to tell you he has no impulse control. You will need to change the way you are disciplining him if you choose to home-school him.
I am one hundred percent in favor of homeschooling whenever possible, especially for little boys. The public school system is designed to encourage obedience and deference to authority, not to foster a lifelong love of learning. It is not well suited to any child with an adventurous or independent spirit, and boys in particular learn better when they can run and play, get dirty, and make messes.
If it were my son, I would try to redirect his desire to "get As" to some other competitive activity, and encourage learning things to satisfy his curiosity and explore what interests him. As someone who treated school as a contest to get the most As myself, I can tell you that I got very little lasting education out of it because my focus was on memorizing the right answers, not learning to think and explore.
My son will be going to kindergarten next month. We live in a neighborhood where the school's ranking is really bad. It is ranked 1/10. None of the statistics look good and it is an underperforming school. I've sought advice from other parents before and some said to give it a try and it doesnt necessarily mean the teachers are bad.
We are also considering home schooling. We wanted to get an idea of both learning styles so we enrolled him in a 2 week jump start program at the school. Today he finished his 1st week and I spoke with his teacher about his performance. She said he is a sweet child but he is very active. He is all over the place and she has to redirect him often. He also likes to be in other peoples personal space without asking for their permission. She says that he is very curious and likes to explore.
On the way home from school, I asked him if he made new friends or talked to anyone and he said no. I asked him why and he said hes afraid the teacher would yell at him. I asked what that is about and he said something about her making him go outside because he was talking. I dont know how much truth there is too that because I had a hard time understanding him. He is growing up in bilingual home and sometimes it can be difficult for me to understand him completely.
Given his behavior, should I choose the home school route? He absolutely loves school though and is always looking forward to going. He says he wants to go and get "A's." I dont know if I want to take the enthusiasm away from him. However I'm afraid that his behavior will get him in constant trouble. Any feedback will be appreciated. TIA.
Much of school is socializing as well as academic. If you take him out of school then where is the socializing going to come in? As far as the making friends, it's been a week. That takes time. Surely you didn't make friends instantly at work right?
I would look into what he means exactly by the teacher making him go outside an yelling though. Also, if you're having trouble understanding him, does that mean speech therapy is something to look into?
This opinion will be unpopular with some, but I feel that the vast majority of parents are unqualified to home school their children. This is especially true as the children get older and subjects more specialized. Apart from the education aspect, homeschooling also fails to sufficiently provide for social development or for learning about how to relate to people with points of view that differ from your own.
You can and should supplement your child's education at home but as I said most parents are not qualified teachers. I'm sure homeschooling worked better long ago, but the education a child needs to be successful in today's world is far different than it was decades ago.
To the, OP, check out your state homeschooling laws. See if there are any enrichment programs or co-ops that you could get involved in. Some places are more homeschool friendly then others and this might factor into your decision. You also might want to start figuring out an educational plan, look at curriculum etc. to get a better idea of what you want to do.
The socialization thing is really the least pressing problem. Even for introverts, homeschooling doesn’t mean a cessation of all peer contact and activities. Church, neighborhood friends, extracurricular activities, those all still happen unless the family is intentionally isolating themselves. After many years in the community and being married to someone who was homeschooled back when it was way less mainstream, I can honestly say that is NOT the biggest issue at hand.
Parental preparation and academic rigor are way, way bigger issues. There are too many people trying to have a supplemental co op do the teaching (which isn’t adequate) or not using appropriate materials and spending the time to get it done right. Grade school is easy but it still takes time and care - those foundations of literacy and numeracy set the stage for the rest of their lives. And higher grades have their own requirements, depending on the state, as well as more commitment of money and time for those more complex courses.
Again, totally doable, but not something to just hop into because you’re mad at the quality of the school.
Homeschooling should be a positive choice - one you make with intention, because you want to engage in it and work through education alongside your child as their teacher and support person - not as a choice of last resort. The former yields happier Moms and well as more successful children. The latter tend to get out back into the schools a few years down the road, and often with big gaps or time lost across multiple subjects because the family wasn’t really prepared or rigorous.
I used to be more encouraging on this subject, but this is a not-infrequent pattern. OP, if you can explain more about your homeschool plans and ideas I’d be happy to help you specifically troubleshoot and give tips, but if you don’t even know where to start, keep your son where he is until you’ve sorted out the pertinent details.
The socialization thing is really the least pressing problem. Even for introverts, homeschooling doesn’t mean a cessation of all peer contact and activities. Church, neighborhood friends, extracurricular activities, those all still happen unless the family is intentionally isolating themselves.
This is true, but the point about socialization that many parents don't understand is that the child can behave VERY differently when the parents are not around, and that is why socialization in a school setting, away from parents, matters.
Socializing in arranged peer homeschool and even church activities still is not an ideal opportunity for the child to learn how to manage himself. If he is constantly in mom's view, he will still behave as he does with mom and deviate whenever she's not around.
OP's son obviously behaves differently when she's not around, or else mom has different ideas about what is acceptable behavior than his kindergarten teachers do.
I absolutely agree with the points about academic rigor and parent preparation. But if the same parents who raised a child to be 5 years old and unable to leave his classmates alone are the ones who will be home-schooling him, then home-schooling is not a good idea.
For the record, public school does not crush a boy's natural curiosity and love of learning. A good school system can foster that, and my three sons benefited tremendously from their public education. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like the OP's schools are that kind of environment.
OP, I would look into what alternatives parents in your area are choosing besides home-schooling.
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A good school system can foster that, and my three sons benefited tremendously from their public education. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like the OP's schools are that kind of environment.
