Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Crazy Idea- public school and homeschool hybrid?

When I hear about university model schools I think it would be such a great option. My DS could attend school 3 days a week, and then we'd have time for all the enrichment the other two days, instead of after-schooling. Unfortunately, we don't seem to have an option like that near us. My son is 6 and after going to school all day and doing homework, I usually just send him outside to play. I wish I had the time to really pursue his interests and meet his instructional needs better.

Has anyone ever proposed to a public school that they pull their child out one day a week? I know some high schools allow students to leave early ever day to take a course at the community college. I was wondering if I could keep my son home one day and do both a religious program and then a JHU CTY class online. I'm sure the answer is probably no, as it's probably a truancy issue. If I kept him home on Wednesdays and his class attends Music on Wednesdays, he'd miss that too. Any other ideas or ways to make room for enrichment without extra homework?

Actually, depending on homeschool statutes in your state or province, and how the LEA implements them, some school districts will allow homeschool students to attend selected classes. They are listed as homeschool students, so they don't receive public school transcripts, or have to take state tests. They do have to be out of the school for some minimum amount of the time, though, so parents don't use this as a loophole just to avoid state testing. The same arrangement applies to participating in extracurriculars and sports.

You may wish to call your public school district superintendent's office, and inquire about policies for homeschool students attending certain courses and extracurriculars. You would have to comply with homeschool statutes with regard to documentation.

There might be places that allow you to do that.
I put my younger son 6 months ago in Mathnasium (he's in our local, excellent public school) since our public school has changed their math textbook and curriculum three times in 6 years. The teacher admitted that she doesn't understand Common Core math, and I didn't think my son was getting a lot of teaching in math.
For whatever it's worth, he goes 3, one-hour periods a week there and does math sheets. The tutors are all college students or above and are probably better at teaching math than the regular teacher.
So he's getting roughly 150 hours of extra math teaching and practice yearly, which is probably more math than he does the whole school year!

I will be putting my son in two classes next year at the high school and we will be homeschooling everything else. Our state (WA) allows homeschoolers to access as much or as little in the public schools as we choose, but when he was elementary age, I felt that putting him into a classroom for just art and PE (or whatever) and then removing him the rest of the time would be bad from a social standpoint, and since my main reason for having him in a classroom would be for the social piece, I never did that.

This is effectively what cyberschooling allowed us to do with DD for 8yr (from 3rd through 12th grade).

I've detailed elsewhere what the problems were with that approach, but the bottom line is that it probably depends a lot on the student's personality. DD only really *needed* a few hours a week to complete "school" and then she was free to do other things that were more appropriate for her cognitive development.


This was our way to seeing to the credentialing side of things while balancing her need for more meaningful intellectual development-- it worked because her acceleration (3+y) meant that we needed the credentialing bit in order to unlock high school level opportunities like internships, summer programs, etc.

I'm not sure that I would do it again, honestly-- it was a lot of trouble, and aspects of the model were SO inappropriate-- and downright damaging, even, for a student with perfectionism issues. It also required a lot of parents (though to be fair, all of our options would have, since the only real alternative was full-time homeschooling).

HTH.

Thank you all for sharing. I know many homeschooling families in our district, and none of them do a partial, but it's always worth asking! Kai- I can see how it could work better at the middle or high school level. Our district actually has some options that might work for grades 4+ (highly gifted center currently serves the top 2-3% with an accelerated curriculum), but it's figuring out what to do for 2nd and 3rd that's my current challenge.

Not crazy at all - it is exactly what we are looking into for next year, as it may solve the problem of allowing our 2 DYS to keep their P.S. friends, but still make academic progress/stay engaged in learning (as this does not seem to be a priority for our schools if your student is not academically behind). Keep your eye on the state laws and deadlines, though, as this seems key to making this option work.

My dream scenario would be to homeschool 5 days a week during the morning, and then send my kids to school for lunch, recess, and specials. That way, they could have neighborhood school friends, but actually learn core subjects at their own pace.

dd attends an out of school program one full day a week, no drama at all as it is govt approved. I'd love to full time HS her but work is required at this time in our lives ......

BNot all schools make it easy. DS9 missed practically every field trip (even when other classes in his year went other days) and so much of the more enjoyable stuff it was a problem. Then the school extension classes were also scheduled the same day. It wasn't deliberate it was just "you think we arsn't good enough so it is your own fault". While theoretically principal's can permit absence at their discretion it is generally for kids with physical/mental/behavoiral health issues.