We're home schooling after a great year in half-day (public) K and a dismal start to 1st grade (also public school). We, too felt we didn't really have a choice in the matter, taking DS6 out 6 weeks into the school year.
I am doing some research into private schools in our area for next year, but given a quality of education vs. cost comparison, I'd place my bets on home schooling again next year.
My one worry is making sure he has enough time with friends. This year his best friend (who lives behind us) is in afternoon K, so the boys get to play together virtually every day and sometimes twice a day, running back and forth between houses virtually unmonitored. When the friend goes to full-day 1st grade, that particular social outlet will all but close for us. That will make things harder.
Naturally we are part of numerous groups and such--home school group, GT Saturday enrichment classes, football, YMCA classes, art and PE class, playdates (esp. with other home schoolers), etc. But for just plain unstructured play, I want to be sure he has easy access that doesn't necessarily require a lot of effort on my introverted/lazy part! Playdates wear me out. Just because he needs to be social doesn't mean I do!
There are 2 schools for GT kids in our area, but at $10,000 per year, I'm not sure we should/can go that route. It's a lot, and I'm not sure how much better his education would be than what he's getting now. He really likes home schooling! And he is taking a lot of responsibility for his own learning, which is just amazing to see in a 6.5yo, I think! That's something school doesn't usually teach.
Though we might go the private school route, I'm pretty sure we won't go back to public school with him. With DS3.5, maybe. Not sure what his needs will be yet. (I sometimes wonder if he's 2E, not gifted, or just a different kind of gifted than I'm used to...Not sure.) I suspect he'll have trouble with public school, too, since he's pretty clearly the artsy kind of Visual-Spatial learner.
Babbling now...But the gist is, we're still trying to figure out what will work best for us. About the only thing we're sure of is that public school WON'T work for DS6! Pretty muuch every other option is still on the table for him.
