How difficult is it usually to get them back in public school? I thought about schooling my 11yr old at home and maybe putting him back in 9th grade.
How do they graduate if you keep them home?
Thanks
Mary
Re: Homeschool question
Generally, credits don’t start counting until ninth grade, so if you sent him back then, he should be back “in the flow” of things.
You would want to figure out how to best get him in the right part of the stream, though. Figure out how they “track” their high schoolers, and which track you want him in, and start preparing him academically. There are some “vocational” tracks that do a nice job of training future drug dealers, and others which are very good at providing students with real job skills; some “general academic” tracs are sentences served; if your butt is in the chair you will pass. Others are better.
Having a goal like that can be good for both of you — can motivate you an awful lot when things get tough.
THere’s an excellent though extremely comprehensive website about homeschooling that covers the legalities (and just about everything else imaginable) at http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/. You can find your answers for graduation issues there.
Public school by law *must* take the kid back if you want to send them. Now, you don’t to drive everyone nuts doing a yoyo in and out, schools can make life unpleasant if you disrupt the system constantly, but yes you can send the child back. If the child has been out of the system for a while they try to work out a placement, most often based on age; this can be good or bad depending on the child’s actual achievement.
Graduating has more options than you might think.
(a) in areas with state/provincial testing, you can arrange for the student to take the tests at the local school or at a college.
(b) Once the student has been out of school for a certain period of time and is over a minimum age (I think 16 but not sure), he/she can do the GRE tests. These tests have been made stricter and are more respected by colleges than they were a decade ago.
(c) You can sign the student up for correspondence classes for the last year or two of high school. Some states/provinces offer these at low charge; many church organizations have their own programs (be careful you do agree with the religious tenets being taught); and some private schools offer courses, at various prices and varying quality.
(d) Some people run “virtual schools” where the students are registered at the school but do their studying at home. This is also buyer beware; you’ll get out of an entirely home-based program as much as you put into it.
(e) Some homeschoolers make up their own diploma. Depending on the attitudes and orientation of the college or workplace the student is going to after high school, this may be enough. Many colleges, especially community colleges, now use extensive placement testing anyway, and if the student places into regular classes you’re home free.