I just withdrew my 3rd grader and 1st grader from a Catholic School! HELP!

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My family and I have been victims of Hurricane Katrina and since that time, my family has moved 4 times, including starting a new life in Texas, then having to move back home to Louisiana. My 3rd grader has had difficulty adjusting and has been consistenly been receiving low grades C's and D's in Math and English. My first grade boy is completely the opposite...he is a straight A student. My daughter is also more of an artsy person who loves dance, art, history...always carries an A in spelling and B's and some C's in reading, so I know she can learn and can perfect a subject. IN Catholic school, their elective is Religion and although I'm Catholic, it leaves no room for a child to explore other subjects...in fact they only have PE once a week!

I just withdrew the children because the principal harrassed my daughter! I'm filing a complaint with the Archidiocise of New Orleans and if anyone would like to know personally what happened, I'd rather email personally.

Anyway, I contacted the state and I'm now homeschooling them, which I could really use some ideas, suggestions, etc...

My husband and I are starting a new business and will be moving soon to Baton Rouge, LA and will put the children more than likely to public school next year. Does anyone know the transition from Homeschool to public and/or private school?

Thanks for anyone out there's assistance!

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Parent Replies to "I just withdrew my 3rd grader and 1st grader from a Catholic School! HELP!"

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You and your children have been through some very harrowing and traumatic experiences. You have my best wishes that you can get back to a safe place for all of you.

Changing from school to school, each time that happens, even from grade school to middle school, causes the average child to lose a semester of learning. It is why, when the transition year is 6th grade, from elementary to middle school, the 6th grade assessment scores are lower than any of the other grades. If the transition is in 7th grade or 5th grade, those are the grades when achievement declines. It does the same when changing from middle to high school. Children in stable environments easily regain that lost semester. Children of divorce, poverty, trauma, for whom life is already difficult, do not get that semester back so easily, if at all. Your children have had much trauma, including the treatment at their former school.

So, decide that whatever you do, wherever you go, stability for your children is your number one priority. I am sure it has been so, but life has caused you to have some nasty bumps. Now, when you have the opportunity to stabilize your children's lives, make every effort to pick the place you will live in for as long as possible, investigate the schools and choose well, because it is so critical to their achievement and to their life adjustments.
I am a 39 year veteran of education and worked in a variety of at-risk situations with children who had gone through or were going through bad times. The ones whose parents were on top of that, who were the constant in their lives, were much more successful than parents who were unable to be that for their kids.

If you are not confident that you can provide the time and energy necessary to home school your children, that you can't do the research into what they need, my suggestion is to seriously re-consider your decision to homeschool them. Even though it will mean uprooting them again in 6 months, it is better that they spend the intervening 6 months receiving quality instruction. If you decide to send them to a public school, know that the time they are in school is just the icing on the cake. As the parent, you have great authority and influence with your child. Use it. Ask the school and teachers for ideas for working with your children. Treat this as importantly as you would the most important job you will ever have in your life. Because it is.

Good luck!

Hello there!
I am really sorry you had to go through all of that with your child. I did transition my two sons who are 11 and 9 from public school to homeschooling. I can try to help a bit. When did you pull them out?
Also, did you contact your superintendent to let them know you were doing so?
The most important thing right now is to know your laws in your state and you can find out from the HSLDA website and click on your state. Once you know your rights you can move forward. It is best to do this first because in some states it can affect the curriculum you try or purchase. :) I am also catholic and had my older son who is now 21 in Catholic school and also my then 9 yo who is now 18 in Catholic school so I know all the "funny" things that go on....
I can also give you advice on curriculum. just let me know.
homestudio

I homeschooled my daughter in K and 1st grades and then put her in a charter. The transition was difficult for her for the sheer fact that the group setting was a shocker and she was not getting the individual attention she needed. But I suspect that since your children have been in a classroom setting before, that they'll do just fine. The only thing I'd be aware of is that going from private and homeschooling to public may be a sort of culture shock in that they may become aware of a lot more of life more suddenly. I've always said that private schools don't protect kids 100% from outside, undesireable influences, but they do to a degree. So just stay on top of what your kids are doing, who they're with, and where they are.
Going back to individual attention, so many public schools are over-crowded, so try and get in to a school that doesn't have too many kids in a class.

I have never transitioned the boy's from homeschool to public/private school but what you could do to make sure everything is on target is to do a search online about what your state requires they learn in each grade. Here is a book I found at Amazon.com www.amazon.com/What-Third-Grader-Needs-Revised/dp/0385336268
You can do a search for your other child too for that grade. This way the would be learning what would be the requirement to go into the next year. Now don't feel overwhelmed because even though it might be a lot in there on what your child/children should know in that grade keep in mind that not even teachers get to do all that want to and don't usually finish everything. I am sure when you enter them again to public/private school they may have them take an exam or look at what you have (if you keep records) to see where your children are at and I bet they will do just fine. Is there anything specific you wanted to know? I would love to help in anyway I can.

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