Anyone who knows me and my family knows that our oldest was homeschooled for most of her school career. She went to school until third grade and her mom homeschooled until sixth grade. She went to public school for a few months in sixth grade and then went back to homeschool. Recently during a transition, she came to live with me and her dad and all of her parents agreed public school would help her.
I've seen so many articles on the transition from public school to homeschool but NONE on how kids are affected going back to public school! The debate between how to educate your child is a big one and not for this post. I believe both sorts of education are a great source but in our case, we transitioned back to public school. Brianna is twelve now and last year in sixth grade was a terrible year. The school district wasn't that great and myself and her mom decided to pull her out at the end of the year. The school didn't give her much attention during her transition and pretty much set her up to fail. So now this year were having a great experience with our school district and here are some tips on how to transition your child back into public school!
1. It's probably going to suck. Not only is Brianna twelve and a tween and hates everything that breathes, but she also hates learning. Surprise right? The transition from homeschool is tough with this. During homeschool, it was her own schedule, whatever she wanted to do and learning was catered to her. Transitioning into public school with numerous kids in the class and learning as a class rather than a single child is difficult. Realizing there is a schedule and classwork assignments that need to be done is hard when you haven't had that before. Be patient with your child and keep in contact with her teachers.
2. Keep open communication between parents and the school. The one thing I can say is Brianna will tell people she has two moms and two dads. We're always in constant communication with each other and the school CC's all of us on emails. We went to back to school night together last night and I can say that helps the school a lot. In traditional situations just make sure you keep in contact with the teachers. They really are there to help and help the child succeed in public school. Brianna's teachers have been great letting us know her weaknesses and asking for information on how to better help her in the transition. Not only was she transitioning into public school but also a new home she wasn't used to. Just keep that in mind during your journey.
3. Everything is online, so be on top of it. Brianna's entire schedule, grade book, attendance, and homework is online. I can say this would have sucked when I was a kid! But I can track her progress and see how she's doing in each individual class. It sounds like a helicopter parent but transitioning is hard and information is information. That means we sit down every night and do homework, I make sure her class assignments are done. She was grounded the entire second week of school because she was too busy on electronics and not doing her school work. She quickly found out we weren't joking and got her act together. Just continuously check on their grades and make sure if they have any questions during the transition to answer them.
4. Keep them on a schedule. As much education on children as I have, I've always been a stickler for a schedule with my kiddos. Since Ashley was a baby she's been on an eating and sleeping schedule. To this day she's on a schedule even with her naps. With homeschool, you can pretty much create your own schedule and sleep until whenever, do whatever. Transitioning back into public school means you have to be on the bus at a certain time, be in class at a certain time. Brianna adjusted rather well here and her bedtime is 9pm but usually, we find her asleep by 8pm! Keeping them on a schedule ensures they're getting enough sleep and they know they have boundaries. Brianna is allowed computer time when she gets home until I get home. Then it's dinner, homework, reading, shower, and bed. She doesn't ever fuss with us because she knows she thrives on a schedule. It'll be tough but stick to it!
5. Stick it out, parents! I can't tell you how frustrating it was when Brianna first transitioned. Starting school was super hard for her, especially have assignments due on time. She had to adjust to getting on and off the bus and walking home in the afternoon. Even getting lunch at school was different for her! It's going to be hard going from homeschool to public school but it's worth it. Brianna's actively working on her social schools and we've forced her to be a part of group activities. She's pretty introverted so it was super hard for her to do it but she did it! She's made friends, she's getting better at school. Stick it out, it's going to be hard but it's worth it.
For whatever reason you found yourself transitioning from homeschool to public school, I hope this helps. We had this transition happen suddenly so we were just thrown in the pool without swimmies! I'm a huge advocate for public school but also understand homeschool. There are very few articles to help with this transition so hopefully, this one does!
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