I’m going to say right off the bat that I know it can be done. I know women who have children in three different schools, merely because they have a high schooler, a middle schooler and an elementary schooler. My own mother had, at one point, one in college, one in high school, one in junior high, and two in elementary, one of whom was  a kindergartner on half days. This was in addition to band, drama, music lessons, and I think one of us was in soccer or something. So my complaints against having one homeschooled and one in a charter school really won’t hold much water with those who are dealing with it doubled or tripled.

I also know that some mothers have good reasons for having some kids in school and some home schooled. Activities and services that public schools provide are invaluable resources for some children, and others simply need to be home.

That being said, this is my opinion of splitting my family between home and public school: I won’t ever do it again.

If I feel strongly enough about keeping my kids home to protect them, give them a better education, spend more time with them, teach them God’s word, it applies as much to my oldest child as my youngest child, to my boys as much as my girls.

If I am already spending a great deal of time to prepare lessons for one of my children, it is not much more to prepare lessons for two or three or four of them.

If I feel comfortable with the socialization one child is getting from ‘only’ co-op class, music lessons, church and a sport, then I shouldn’t worry about it being enough for my other children.

In short, I’m bringing my kindergartner home at the end of this school year. I would love to do it sooner, but I feel like we made a commitment to the school, and to our neighbours that we carpool with.

I feel like I’m stretched pretty thin already, and the commitment to drive to school every day pushes me just beyond my abilities. I have had to give up a few things that I truly enjoy for the short term, like sewing, and reading whole books in less than a month.

I’m frustrated that although his teachers are fantastic and truly care about him, I don’t see him learning anything that I couldn’t teach him at home. I have to fill out sheets every week saying that we did his homework and read to him, and when I forget to, there is no sign that the teachers even glanced at the sheet. I would like to only be accountable to myself and my husband again.

In the same line, I will probably not do preschool again. I have my 3 year old in mommy led preschool and it is also pushing me over the line.

Finally, I miss the flexibility of being able to pick up and go somewhere for two or three days on the spur of the moment. “Let’s go to the King Tut exhibit.” “Let’s go to the zoo.” Let’s go to Mt. Rushmore.”

So that’s the end of this experiment. I’ll have to have a really good reason to split my kids again.

Comments Off on Having kids in different schools