Do your kids ask to go to public school?

This came up in the facebook group today:

Sara asks: Do your kids like homeschool or do
they ever ask if they can go to public? do you give your Kids a choice
or make it for them? I homeschool my 3 boys and my oldest who is now 12
going on 13 seems to think the grass is always greener on the other
side. Does anyone else have this topic come up with their olde...r
children?

Sara, my kids do ask about it sometimes. We have had our kids in public school at times and homeschooled at other times. Generally speaking we try to go year-by-year and kid-by-kid to choose the school situation that we believe will be best for them. I do listen to what they are wanting, usually asking questions about what it is that they are really wishing for. Sometimes it is more time with friends, a certain kind of activity they want to do, sometimes the littler ones have ideas that it would be fun to go to recess or ride the bus, etc. Sometimes I can meet their wish/need while homeschooling. Sometimes I give them more information about what they are saying they want, to see if they really do want it once they have a fuller idea of how it would work. Sometimes I learn about things that are legitimate issues not going too well at home and then I can work on addressing that problem. If they are still going to be homeschooled, I just talk to them about why we believe that it is the best choice for them, and sometimes we have to agree to disagree for awhile.

I think that it is good to respect our children's feelings about their life and school situation. It is not always wise to let them choose for themselves, but sometimes it certainly can be.

Having gone through upheaval in life that took us to public school turned into a great thing for us because we learned that no one situation is right for every child. I know not everybody has a great public school situation in their area, so you have to use your best judgment (based on reality, not imagination or heresay), but public school can also be a valid, good choice for some kids.

Unfortunately, there isn't one perfect formula on raising kids successfully, regardless of what so many books and magazines and web sites tell you. There are lots of great people coming out of public school, many damaged people coming out of homeschooling situation, and lots of everything in between from everywhere. Do your best to be wise and thoughtful and make choices in love, and know that no educational choice has to be forever. You can try school and see how it goes for a year, and if it doesn't meet the needs, do something different the next year. (same goes for parents thinking of homeschooling but aren't sure about whether or not they will like it or be able to handle it)

I hope this helps,
Erica

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