https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:28:09 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-2#post-2923538 Fri, 23 Apr 2021 15:00:54 +0000 caitcat 2923538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bakingdoodle: We have asked her, but I'm not sure she has a clear enough picture of what school looks like to understand what the options entail. She went to a half day preschool from age 3-5, but that's pretty different. She says she likes the way we're doing school now, but she also wants to ride a bus. (Top priority, right?!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-2#post-2923536 Fri, 23 Apr 2021 12:41:29 +0000 bakingdoodle 2923536@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So, until April, my kids were in hybrid mode. On the days they were at home (2 days asynchronous, one day synchronous (1 meeting for the K kid and a couple of meetings for the 2nd grader)... they just watched a lot of tv. So personally, I like that they went back to school full time, where there is more a routine. Both kids thrived at home, no issue there. Have you asked your daughter what she thinks?? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-2#post-2923535 Fri, 23 Apr 2021 11:50:00 +0000 caitcat 2923535@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JennyPenny: That's a helpful thing to think through. She's ahead academically, and I do think she'd be bored if there's a lot of catch up...on the flip side, if that would free up mental energy to focus on routine-building and adjusting to being in school, it might balance out in the end. Definitely something to think about! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-2#post-2923533 Fri, 23 Apr 2021 09:25:55 +0000 bhbee 2923533@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JennyPenny: I am definitely worried about this! I am hoping it evens out with him needing to adjust to school and a longer day next year. Most kids in our district went in person so it wasn’t on my radar but then our district just announced a big plan to catch kids up so it must still be an issue - I guess there were just a lot of disruptions no matter what. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-2#post-2923532 Fri, 23 Apr 2021 09:13:34 +0000 JennyPenny 2923532@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son and I are part of the group that is not thriving with virtual school this year so he will be going back in person next year if that's an option. However, if homeschool/virtual had been successful for us, I think I would consider continuing next year. My big concern is that next year is going to be a whole lot of catch-up and readjusting. If you continue homeschooling you'll have the option of continuing at a pace that works for your daughter, whereas I think next year schools will primarily be focused on remediation for the students who got left behind in the pandemic. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-2#post-2923530 Fri, 23 Apr 2021 08:40:38 +0000 caitcat 2923530@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: This is a really helpful perspective, thank you! "Re-entry" is how we've described so much of life lately... :) I'll talk to some of my teacher friends more about the early elementary curriculum year by year. And the friendship thing is something I'm weighing a lot. My daughter isn't a social butterfly by any means, and I'm thinking through how that plays out with our choices. </p> <p>It's nice to hear that someone else hasn't minded the virtual option/having kids home for the year - I'm almost afraid to say it out loud among some of my friends. It's not been a popular sentiment! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-2#post-2923526 Fri, 23 Apr 2021 07:13:02 +0000 bhbee 2923526@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I can totally understand where you are coming from! We did all virtual this year (by choice) and while most people grumbled the whole time it was actually great for our family (and the other day I finally met another family who felt the same!). We loved the togetherness and I half homeschooled to supplement the limited virtual offerings, and my kindergarten son learned so much. I think he is missing things about learning to sit and listen all day, and social stuff was limited this year, but I think the 1-1 attention and better program we did in phonics/reading/writing will serve him so well as a foundation. I think homeschooling can be great academically and sounds like you have some good social co-op opportunities. In fact at this point I cannot imagine sending my youngest to public K, even though my oldest did it!</p> <p>On the flip side, I do think there’s something to be said for leaning to follow the school routine and rules if you don’t want to homeschool long term. Maybe you can find out if there are years that are more rigorous ... our second grade curriculum is so much review, while third is known for being harder. So that type of thing might affect your re-entry point. I also think friendships get less open and flexible - kindergarteners take in a new kid with hardly a glance but by third they’re more reliant on past friendships. </p> <p>Two other big questions would be sports and gifted or other special needs. We don’t care that much about sports but many teams are formed around school here and it’s such a big social outlet, moreso for boys maybe. So that could be harder to enter as time goes on. And then getting plugged into special services like gifted, dyslexia - don’t know if any of those apply but they can have a bit of a long cycle time to get started and tested and all that. </p> <p>So no easy answers but just some things to consider. I personally am planning to send my son for 1st, but I think I could send him in 2nd as well and feel ok about re-entry. And who knows, maybe once you try non-pandemic homeschool you will want to stay! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-2#post-2923525 Fri, 23 Apr 2021 05:49:49 +0000 caitcat 2923525@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm having mixed feelings about what to do for school for my now-kindergartener next year and curious if anyone is in a similar situation. We homeschooled this year, and it's gone surprisingly well. My daughter is thriving with it academically, and it's worked well for our family. (She's a very sensitive, intense kid - this could have gone many ways!) </p> <p>I think our public schools are getting kids back in person five days a week in the fall, though now they're somewhere between 2-4 days a week now, and some kids are still all virtual. I'd assumed when we decided to homeschool this year, that we'd enthusiastically re-enroll her in public school when we could next year. And now I'm not so sure. She's thriving with homeschooling, and I feel like we've really hit our stride for how she's learning. I've found some homeschool co-op opportunities with some drop-off enrichment classes for that will (hopefully) be more possible as covid conditions improve, and I feel like might be a really good fit for her next year. I'm also hopeful that regardless of what her school situation looks like, we can get back to art/dance/sports kind of classes at some point soon. My daughter is a slow merger in general, and whatever we do for school in the fall, I'm trying to think through ways now to take steps to prepare her for getting out and about more.</p> <p>When I think ahead, I don't picture homeschooling in the long run...but it's working really well right now, so I'm feeling torn about where to go from here. If we're going to jump back into public school at some point, I do wonder if going ahead and getting in the routine when everyone is getting back in the swing of things in the fall is better. I don't want to miss a window of opportunity to get plugged into a school community or help her get settled in routines at school, if it's something we do picture in the long run. On the other hand, homeschooling is working well...and very few things have come easily for us with our daughter, so it's hard to think about changing it up.</p> <p>I thought the school decision last year was tough, but I'm having an even harder time thinking it through for next year...and that's surprised me. Anyone going through something similar? Any ideas about other things to think through in this? </p>