I am SO ready to be out from under our soon to be FORMER prinicpal's thumb. I'm not ready to make a hard choice but I need to find a way to help my child ESCAPE! lol!

Come to find out, I CAN STILL register MYSELF as a homeschool, etc...so I could do some minimal record keeping and unschool the child to our heart's content, at least until winter break...

OR I can go to the public "homeschool". She would have about a half day of classroom time plus lunch once a week...the downside of that is they already told me they don't do subject acceleration and we would have to do the cirriculum they want...of course, I wouldn't have to plan anything and she could just go as fast as she wants anyway, we would just turn it in as directed...

The "class day" for 3rd is Tuesday, and I think the teacher said we could come visit, I'll check on that...but we don't have all our test results back yet and if subject or whole grade acceleration is reccomended, I might still have to take her out if the principal won't agree...

Love to hear your 2cents...

If you have the option to be out from under the district's thumb, I would go for it. Then you can implement whatever recommendations you get immediately without having to fight, and you can tweak things as needed without having to go back and have meeting after meeting trying to convince a school to go along with you. We started homeschooling partly because, as demanding as it was, it was easier on my son and on me than fighting constantly with his school would have been.

I am worried about the support and cirriculum though...she has struggled at times with math too and that is the one thing I'm not sure if I should let her slack on...

Plus, she is still willing to try regular school of some sort...she wants to play an instrument next year (if they still have that)...

ALthough I certainly have plenty of friends, here and on other boards and FB, that homeschool for a variety of reasons...I'm sure I'm smart enough to figure it out

What is the purpose of the weekly 1/2 day in the classroom? What do they do?

I agree with aculady, you are finally out! Given you're experiences, I would stay out. Keep your freedom! lol

There are lots of curriculum choices and to be honest, as far as math goes, I don't think most public schools offer the best choices these days anyways. You could do Singapore math at home easily and IMO it is generally a better curriculum. Check out www.singaporemath.com
They have homeschooler/parent guides to help you.

If you are really worried about planning what you should be teaching, you can always pick up Ed Hirsch's books to use as a guideline, and use ALEKS, Khan Academy, IXL, one of the other excellent math resources that are available to homeschoolers to use as they see fit.

We're here for you if you need support, whatever you decide to do. No one else knows what your family needs as well as you do.

thanks for the tips AND support!

The same teacher does 4th grade classroom on Thursdays so I will see if we can meet her and see what they do, even though DD is only in 3rd right now...DD wants to, so...I know she is worried that if she doesn't go to a regular school of some kind, she won't get to play an instrument (4th grade). The classtime might even be optional but it's mostly for them to turn in assignments and go over things with the teacher, ask questions, etc. They also have peer tutoring on another day and parents are welcome. And of course, the opportunity to connect with other kids. They have clubs and such too...but they already told me they don't do subject acceleration and I forgot to ask if the teacher can provide GATE enrichment where desired or...

The downside of all the District supported schools is they use this enVision math and I don't like it. I don't think "it works" for DD. I also have a neighbor who is a 3rd grade teacher in our district...maybe she could help by making sure we are meeting the benchmarks?

Check out this list of homeschool groups in CA! http://www.home-school.com/groups/CA.html. There are a TON of resources out there. Many areas have coops you can join so your kid can learn things you don't really know, like a foreign language, an instrument, art, and so on. There are also companies that sell curriculums and the books and worksheets to go with them. This is not something you have to do 100% on your own!

The only problem with homeschooling is that it makes your kid not fit the public school schedule so well, but if they don't already fit.... Congrats on the new bend in the road to a higher education.

You mean like if they are late sleepers? DD was already at a late start school, but they get up at 7am regardless...her sister still goes out to K at a private school, so we have to leave the house at a certain time and I'm not a "sleeper iner"...

Or do you mean like racing through math and spending hours on reading when the regular school is more rigid?

Our dissatisfaction with the previous school is so great that I am tempted to run around it, yelling at them how they cannot MAKE ME do ANYTHING! lol! So,at this point, I have adopted an attitude where the school MUST be willing to accomodate my DD, at least SOME. There should be SOME compromise, otherwise we will homeschool until we find the "right" other school...

Even if she was wanting to take Physics (which I did not take), DH was an electrician on nuclear subs in the Navy. He excelled in all the places I didn't, which is pretty funny actually, so I think we can manage at least elementary school...

Oh, funny, because I DID pick up "What Your Third Grader Needs to Know"...and I used to HAVE that Cultural Literacy book as a teenager!

drumroll please...we chose...
Independent Study, or the homeschool "school", at least for the time being. The math has troubled her less since we've been working at home, especially the past couple of days...we don't HAVE to go in for the classroom time, but it's only 3 hours a week (after which she can have lunch at the school with friends) and they do science experiments that I might not have the resources for at home. They also have a peer tutoring lab and the school goes all the way to high school. Music, art, spanish and other clubs, etc that you participate in at the school. Plus computer lab and library and I don't have to pay for the materials...also, the same teacher does 3rd and 4th, so she knows what's coming next, if DD stays in 3rd. If it turns out she should go to 4th, all we have to do is switch books and classroom days. Today we visited the 4th grade and there were only 6 students! Also, since it goes to high school, the peer tutoring lab might be a great place to find a mentor...

Oh and they have lunch available...today it was sunbutter and jelly sandwich, baby carrots, apple slices and milk. Butter proclaimed it far superior to the "tray" lunch from her former school. She is excited about trying a new school and I'm so happy!

sounds like a good way to start the life of academic freedom I really hope it works out for her!

master-I let her have the final say...I took her by today so she could meet the teacher and see how she feels about it. I think the biggest plus though is that we will know right away if it's working and now I'm less worried about moving her if it isn't working...she needs some kind of break from the daily environment and if we don't want to go that day or have other things going on, we don't have to go, how great is THAT?!?

I'm so thrilled for you two. Go Team!

Sounds like you have already made a decision on school. Just wanted to add that if your dd wants to learn to play an instrument, there is always an option of finding private instruction outside of school.