HomeSchool JUST for Kindergarten, then back to public school for 1st grade?

Question

We want to Homeschool my daughter just for Kindergarten, then next year she will be going back to Public School system for 1st grade through 12th grade. Is this a bad idea in terms of socially for her? I work a 2nd shift (3-midnight) and only see my daughter on the weekend, but having her home during the day i can work with her and SEE her. It has been tough on her not seeing me and we have to deal with it every morning. I feel that i can teach her what she needs to know for kindergarten and be ready for 1st grade.

So should we do it? or will this put her at a disadvantage to the other 1st graders when she goes back to school?

Daughter is already emotionaly attached to me. She goes to nurse daily saying stomach hurts and we have been to all docs and nothing is wrong. On the weekends she is totally fine all weekend, then monday its back to the stomach hurts and tears.

I felt that i can teach what she needs to know for 1st grade and give her more knowledge about what she wants to learn about and enjoys, a deeper understanding. We are set up to volunteer once a week at a horse stable, she loves horses.

Reason for only kindergarten is because me and wife will be home during the day to spend and work with her, we also have 1 year old. But i dont want my wife to be the only one teaching our daughter because i will eventually be going to a 1st shift job. My wife is intelligent in every way, but i feel that 2 of us there is what makes the difference, i WANT to be involved with my daughters life and i want to see the progress, it might be to much for my wife with 2 kids and home schooling, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

Thanks for all the input. Our daughter is officially out of the Public School system. We are looking forward to a wonderfully awesome year :)

Cheers

Answer 1

Your daughter will be just fine. One of my friends homeschooled her daughter just for kindergarten, and she was ahead academically and perfectly fine socially the next year. Do what is best for you and what you feel in your heart. It sounds like your daughter was really trying to get the message across to you what was important to her (by the sign of the stomach aches.)

I have just sent my first daughter to public school. She is in 10th grade and is excelling academically and socially. Homeschool is not for everyone, but it has been fine for us. We have yet to see how our children turn out in society though (wink.)

Answer 2

Wow, I think that homeschooling your daughter for K can be an option, but what if you face the same situation when she gets into 1st grade? Homeschooling won't put her at a disadvantage with the other kids (she might be even ahead of them because she received one on one learning). I have homeschooled my kids for years and there are different seasons of homeschooling. There were a couple years when I had a toddler around while teaching the older children. It's not fun at times, and can be stressful, but it is rewarding.
I would strongly try and find some homeschooling communities in your area and talk with them. Maybe your wife will connect with some other moms and see that it's doable with having a small one around. Also, you might be surprised at seeing the smaller one pick up on things that you are instilling in your Kindergartner, like sitting still, etc... I would also encourage you to form the rule of raising her hand if she wants to speak and not to interrupt. We started this in our home when the boys were small and it has really helped in them being respectful when adults speak and so much that my youngest, when he was a toddler, started to do this also at a young age.
You might try and go on some forums that are only 'homeschool' related.
homeschool.com has a lot of information and could be a great place to find a support group in your area that could answer questions one-on-one with you and your wife.
Good luck and I hope this helped a bit. It's great that you are seeking this avenue. It is not common for the father to seek out homeschooling and I commend you for it and your devotion to your daughter/family.

Answer 3

I'm trying not to be insulted at the implication (intentional or not) that there's something wrong with homeschooling, 'but if you do it for "just kindergarten", it *might* be okay'. I don't understand at all what sort of social disadvantage you think it will put her at. She won't know how to talk to others? Won't know how to play with others? That would only happen if you didn't give her the opportunity to do those things.

My kids are 10 and 7 and have always been homeschooled. Although we had originally been looking at up to and including gr. 9, we are now rethinking and may go all the way through. They have no problems socially. Nor do 99% of the homeschooled kids they know. They take community lessons, my dd has been to summer camp and both dd and ds are hoping to attend next year, they meet various kids all the time, they have friends, have birthday parties, attend birthday parties, etc.

If your daughter 'suffers socially', it'll only be the result of how she's homeschooled. If you do plan on putting her in school (although, I will warn you that I've met more than one homeschooling mother who had planned to homeschool for "just kindergarten" and ended up doing it for years :) ) for grade 1, do make sure she has some sort of structured activity she can attend with other kids. Kindergarten isn't so much about the academic learning in many places (it's very easy for parents to cover all that stuff at home) but about learning how to work with routines, with other people around, getting used to being in seats at tables/desks, etc. It would be good for her to have some experience this coming year that would enable her to transition into school reasonably well.

Answer 4

I'll warn you now--WATCH OUT!!

We had friends who homeschooled. Their children were always so fun to be around. They were active, well adjusted, compassionate children who respected their parents.

When we had children, I stayed home with them from the start. Once the "schooling years" came along, we decided to try homeschooling.

Like I said, WATCH OUT!! You will be absolutely hooked! If you get any enjoyment whatsoever from watching your children goo and gaa and then take their first steps, it will only multiply many times over if you homeschool. YOU WILL NOT WANT TO STOP homeschooling! And guess what? You will learn as much as they do!

We continued homeschooling for 8 years and three children. We are now on the receiving end of the positive comments about well behaved, decent chldren. I attribute some of that to homeschooling. (Our parenting style would be the same whether we homeschooled or not.)

Homeschooling is not the answer to everything and is not for everyone, but if you have the desire and your child's best interest at heart, you should do it for ANY amount of time that you can. In a sense, you've already been teaching at home.

Our entire lifestyle changed once we had children. My husband works in manufacturing, not a real high-paying field. We found many ways to change our lifestyle to fit our income. Our children never go without the necessities. People are very kind to us also, helping us by passing along clothing, etc.

Where are our children now? They are currently in public school. They did not suffer any social problems and no one thought they were freaks. Most of the children already knew them from church, sports, etc. As long as you take your child into the world, they will be social. We now have honor students and future leaders.

Just one more at home left to teach! :) :)

Answer 5

I homeschooled my 2 oldest through middleschool and then they reentered the public system for high school. My 3rd child was then 4 and the kindergarten curriculim was so inexpensive we bought it a year early and let our son work his way through it thinking if it was too hard we'd give it to him again the next year when he was actually old enough for kindergarten. He did very well and could read very well at four.

He reentered the public school in 2nd grade, tested out very well and has been very successful in the public schools since.

Good luck. I'm sure your daughter will do fine!

Answer 6

It won't hurt her in any way. You are more than capable of teaching her what she needs to know by the end of Kindergarten. It might be good to talk to someone at the school she will eventually go to and find out just what they do expect. Kindergartens vary widely, some teach only colors, number, letters, shapes, etc. while others expect kids to be starting to read by the time they are finished. Either way, you can do it yourself, but just find out the expectations so you know how to best proceed.

I am not sure why you only want to homeschool for one year, its such a great way to educate a child, but that is your choice and I can assure you that you will not harm your daughter as long as you are involved and interacting with her in meaningful ways each day.

This is a great site to use occasionally for pre-reading / beginning reading skills.
http://www.starfall.com

Here is a company that carries a lot of early childhood stuff.
http://www.rainbowresource.com

Here is a company with an easy to use, advanced Kindergarten curriculum. (They carry two different Kindergarten curriculums, the one I recommend is Horizons, the LifePacs are not very good at the K level)
http://www.aop.com/horizons/index.php


This just added, considering the situation you are in, I think its wonderful that you are willing to do what it takes to spend more time with your child. If you need any help, feel free to e-mail me. You never know, a lot of people decide to try homeschooling "for a little while" and later can't see why they would ever want to stop. Regardless, I'd be happy to help for as much or as little time that you do it.


OH--------------------------------------------
I just noticed that one of my links was off, I was typing "rainbow resource" while my kids were watching a reading rainbow video in the background, well, I typed reading rainbow. I fixed the link now.

Answer 7

It beats me why emotional attachment to parents is considered a bad thing. If you want to homeschool her so you can actually have a relationship with her, then great! That's one reason why many people homeschool and kids who have strong, positive relationships with their parents grow up into confident people. Her tears tell you that she needs you.
As for making sure she's up to the same academic standard as the other grade ones, there won't be much to it. What do kinder kids learn anyway? I'm sure you can teach her basic reading, basic maths and get her started with writing. Get involved with your local homeschooling group for that year. She needs to socialise, but that doesn't mean you can't be around while she's doing it. She's a little kid, with the needs of a little kid, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Answer 8

When I was younger, I was the same way. I cried before school because I wanted to stay home, and if I had to go I would go to the nurse and tell her I was sick. This was for most of kindergarten-2nd grade. Then I got a little better and went easier. But then in fifth grade, the same stuff started happening. We found out that I have social anxiety. I was homeschooled from 5th-6th grade. Then I went to a private school for 7th-8th grade. And now I am homeschooled again. I am a sophomore now. I am hoping to go back to school next year, but I have to find a small school. I am now on medication also. My opinion is that if you let her be homeschooled now, she is going to know that if she doesn't want to go to school she doesn't have too. She will know that there is an alternative. I would talk to her about it, and try as hard as you can to keep her in school. What helped me get thru most of my school years was my parents taking me out for lunch. I don't know if they have that at your daughters school. But it really halped break up the day. I got to go home and eat and then I went back to school for 2 and a half hours. I would talk to the school about taking her out for lunch. That should help the situation. At least try this before taking her out of kindergarten completely and homeschooling. If you have any questions or anything, email me.

Answer 9

yes as a parent, not only do u decide what is most important for ur child, but u feel safe what u want around them. then u have an advantage since u said u feel u can teach her all the stuff and i think u do. i myself teach kindergarten at a private school and i dont even have an associates degree from college. as long as u know what ur doing and do ur very best they will get educated.

Answer 10

I just want to say I am surprised at the number of answers you received saying that the problem you are going to be facing is that your daughter will become emotionally attached to you! The way people react to parents that decide to homeschool always floors me. Bottom line?...you know your needs better than anyone else, and you definitely know your baby girl better than anyone else. Having children, to me, is about loving them and being with them as much as you can, and yes...letting them get attached to you. Your daughter has plenty of time for socialization, so don't even worry about that issue. Life is too short so spend as much time with your kids as you can!!