My daughters had speech delay issues. They went to public school from kindergarten through the 4th grade. Thats when their therapist said they no longer needed special services. At this point due to a combination of poor curriculum placing too much focus on the end of year testing, and my daughters speech issues delaying their reading and them being allowed accommodations...they passed 4th grade with straight A's.
However I was unimpressed with their overall level of education. I was working a job that included onsite housing so I decided to pull them out of school and help them get to where I felt they should be.
The first two years, I used what is referred to as an unschooling methodology. This required A LOT of effort on my part, and over those 2 years I spent quite a bit paying for specialized instruction instruction. It was truly a fulltime job. After two years, which would have been 5th and 6th grade, I felt they not only were on track but thought we could reasonably skip them a year. So I contacted a virtual academy, and asked them to do a placement test. My girls both were deemed ready and eligible to START HIGHSCHOOL. We chose to NOT skip 2 grades, and enrolled them as 8th graders...intending to use that year to ease their transition into high school the following year.
I was transfered to another state on a temporary assignment. The girls toured the local high school and asked me if they could stick with the online academy for another year. I didnt see any harm so they continued. They had scheduled classes, teachers, interaction with other students in chat, and more boxes of supplies than you can imagine.
Being this was our second year and my girls were overperforming they allowed the girls to register for 9 classes instead of 7. The girls then took initiative and convinced the school to allow them to test out of 2 classes getting credit by exam...then they managed to get the school to give them PE credit for their gymnastics, and martial arts training.
The job wrapped before the end of the year...the girls didnt miss a class, even attending classes on their laptops as we drove across the country. When the year ended the girls sat me down and laid out a plan that would allow them to graduate a year earlier then we had originally planned if they stuck with the virtual academy....and enrolled in a few dual credit courses with the local college.
They entered their senior year needing 2 english classes, a handful of electives...and because of a district requirement in this new state...they had to take government and ethics despite having enough social studies courses to meet the requirements.
As we neared graduation..scholarships and acceptance letters started coming in....they narrowed their choices...we went to do the deciding tours..and they decided they didnt feel ready for university at 16. While theyve had extracurriculars and mixed sex activities their whole life...and they had a number of mixed age activities.
But walking on a college campus, they realized that they felt like kids still, and werent really ready to have a go at womanhood yet...their phrasing.
So they went back to high school this year....they are taking a few electives...doing a lot of extra curriculars. The University agreed to defer admissions, and their scholarships had no issue either.
around christmas they decided they had made a mistake and should have just graduated....but dont really regret the time. Theyre having a lot of fun this year. Their entire schedule is art, theater, and computer classes. They are scheduled for long lunches and late starts. LOL pretty smooth
My family has a history of mental health issues that onset at puberty....Both of the girls had some pretty rough spots during those years. Given the awful home training most kids in this country have...I cant say I regret having them miss out on middle school if for no other reason but they were able to get a handle on their mental health without having to deal with difficult peers.