Don't be so quick to toss out the homeschooling idea. You could actually spend less time and effort on homeschooling than you do on trying to fix public schooling. It all depends on where you live. Homeschooling is not recreating school at home, and may be far less work and far more fun than you think. I homeschool my 6yo dd and have a 2 1/2 yo ds. This morning, while ds played, dd and I spent about 30 minutes working on subtraction with regrouping. Then we all went to the zoo. (Right now we are studying Kenya.) We went on safari at the zoo and photographed animals that could be found in Kenya. She read the signs and informational maps to determine which insects and bugs were found in that part of Africa. We played in the African village at the zoo and noticed the furnishings in the huts and what the people did and did not have. We looked at some African crafts in the gift store. We also pet a goat and played in a play area there. Later, at home, when ds was napping we worked on a puzzle book about Kenya and read two picture books related to Kenya. Both kids had a blast today and her brother only had to occupy himself while we worked on her math.
Obviously, we don't go on field trips every day. However, I generally rack up less than 5 hours per week in one-on-one instructional time, and it would be much less if I wasn't providing learning opportunities well beyond what is covered in 1st grade. I spend less time homeschooling my dd than I did dealing with supervising her homework and dealing with meltdowns and tantrums caused by having her in public school kindergarten. My daughter now has much more time to read, play and explore her own interests than she ever had in school and she is doing much better academically, emotionally, and socially.
Homeschooling requirements vary by state but can be quite minimal. I would advise looking at the different types of homeschooling �from unschooling to child-led learning to classical education and see what might work for your family.
Ditching the system might be less work and a lot more fun than fighting it. I can provide you with more info if you are interested.
Christi
