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BM and homeschooling

steppinout's picture

I am new to this site and I just have a question for all of you about sks and school. Bm has informed DH, well actually, skids have informed him that their mother will be homeschooling them for the coming year. This concerns me for many reasons such as youngest ss who is 7 has not finished kindergarten, his mother withdrew him and he was homeschooled by her father, but in my opinion their was not any actual "schooling" going on, as he cannot do what would be required to move on from kindergarten. They have not started schooling yet, even though school has started in the county they live in and most surrounding counties. Also, she is 2 or 3 months pregnant so I am wondering how she will be able to pull this off when she will be giving birth and taking care of a newborn in the middle of the school year. Before I found this forum, this situation would have frustrated be terribly. However, I am not for the most part disengaged. It actually felt great when DH started to tell me about these problems, and my only thought was "they aint my kids" ha! So my question for you all, is there anything at all DH can do about this situation? He did express some desire to act on this and I'm not really interested in doing anything other than relating any information I might be able to gather from the experienced members of this board. Thanks in advance.

Disneyfan's picture

Kindergarten isn't required. Kids don't have to go to school until they are 6 - first grade.

Find out what program she plans to use. ABeka books is a popular one that many private schools and homeschoolers use.

Anywho78's picture

All you can do is ensure that she's following an actual home schooling program. There are a lot of guidelines which are meant to be followed.

I was home schooled...my sibs & I turned out just fine & no, my mother should not have had us taught at home (there were 6 of us & she was far too overwhelmed)!

Saying that however, I do know many parents who "home school" & don't do jack squat with the kids...the charade tends to end once the required testing time comes around.

I'm sure your DH can ask her for the program information so that he can be kept abreast of their progress?

steppinout's picture

When DH asked skids if they had started school yet, they said no. That is all the info he got. Just to add a little more background info, youngest ss was placed into occupational therapy. He has ADHD, anyone who spends any amount of time with him can tell. BM does not believe in treating and she pulled him out of school because she was offended when he was put in occupational therapy. He started a homeschooling program that a neighbor ran without 12 other children. He only attended this for 1 month before he was asked to leave and never return. When he was still in public school BM would occasionally forward emails from his teachers when she felt like she could blame DH for whatever the problem was at that time. When he asked her to be included in all emails from the school regarding boys, she told him no way, told him not to contact the school for any reason. It was very strange to say. Needless to say if her were to inquire about the homeschooling, she would not give any info, just tell him it was none of his business.

helena_brass's picture

Did he get it in the Divorce Agreemtent/Custody Agreement that they both have to agree on Educational changes? FDH has that written in there. BM just mentioned to FSD that she planned to home school her in a few years (to avoid the local Middle Schools). FDH will not agree to this, as BM is barely literate.

I'm not against home-schooling if it's done well, but when the person administering the home-schooling is of questionable intelligence, there is definitely an argument against it.

uncommon's picture

Do they have joint legal custody? If so, this isn't her decision alone as I understand it.

herewegoagain's picture

Hmmm...unschooling...homeschooling...different laws in every state/country. Fact is there are thousands of kids enrolled in schools who don't learn a thing. The US educational system is one of the worst. 99% of parents would never keep their kids home just because they want "free time"...Give her a chance. Learn about unschooling & homeschooling first.

Be sure to read this if you are still concerned.

http://www.squidoo.com/educationalimportance