Homeschooling No More, Recap: The Return to Public School for 2023-2024

I have neglected blogging for much of the last school year, swamped as we have been with new routines.

In August 2023, the girls again returned to public schools, but this time, we enrolled them in charter schools. Also, I returned to teaching at a university full-time. The girls needed to succeed, as did I, despite the challenges of these new arrangements.

Anne entered fourth grade at a charter school that specializes in helping students reach grade-level standards by middle school and then prepares them for college or trade school during high school. The school serves a largely non-white population, with many students speaking Spanish as their primary language. The students wear uniforms (color-coded polo shirts with slacks, belts, and black shoes) to equalize the young people, regardless of their backgrounds.

Leigh’s charter school specializes in the Gifted and Talented (GT) programs. The school excels academically, with most graduates earning a full year of college credits during high school and many completing an associate’s degree. It’s an academically demanding school but with far more liberal behavior and dress codes than Anne’s school. It has no football team, an oddity for Texas.

Too Much Tech

Both girls spent much of their time using technology in the classroom and at home. The schools have adopted far too many online learning platforms. I often question the value of being on campus if the students simply sit at computer screens for hours each day. How is “school” better if it’s a continuation of online learning from the pandemic experience?

All that screen time is intended to help students achieve goals on the state tests, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. We will know in late May or early June if the girls met the state objectives.

However, I remain concerned that technology leaves other skills underdeveloped. Anne’s handwriting is worse now than it was two years ago, for example, and she has developed the habit of skimming books instead of reading slowly for depth. They girls are learning test-taking strategies, but at what cost?

Anne’s school doesn’t have art or music in the fourth grade, sadly. The teachers integrate some art alongside other subjects, but students should have time dedicated to more than core subjects. I understand the school is hyper-focused on meeting state language arts and math standards, though.

During the school year, we noticed some incremental changes. There were more hands-on projects in their classes as teachers relied (slightly) less on the technology.

Social Skills

Anne and Leigh are Girl Scouts, they play sports, and Leigh also attends School of Rock. They have social interactions and engage in physical activity outside school.

We wondered if the school setting would help them develop more social skills. Both girls receive some social skills support during the week. Anne likes working with the social worker at her school, while Leigh describes the time as “boring.”

It seems the answer is yes, attending school did help them socially. Leigh benefitted a lot more than Anne, however. We know it will take Anne a few more years to mature and develop friendships with peers.

Leigh has been invited to sleepovers, and we’ve hosted a few of her friends. She eats lunch with two sets of friends, alternating between the groups.

Summer Homeschool

Homeschooling worked for us. It helped the girls reach their potential. For Anne, we were able to reach grade-level and build her confidence as a reader. For Leigh, we were able to match her abilities and let her thrive.

It’s strange to realize that this was the first “normal” school year the girls have experienced since moving to Texas. The 2019-2020 year ended with the pandemic. We continued homeschooling the girls through the 2022-2023 school year. Two years of homeschooling for Anne. A year and a half of homeschooling for Leigh, who attended public school for half of 2022-2023 before we gave up on our local public elementary school.

Now, the only “homeschool” will be summer supplemental work. We want to keep the girls on track for the next school year. They both quickly lose learning during breaks, so they cannot take a long pause from lessons. We expect them to spend an hour or two on schoolwork each weekday, and then spend time being active outside.

During the summer, we won’t use as much technology as their schools do. Instead, we will do like we did while homeschooling: a lot of work on paper, with some work on computers.

I’m going to be teaching online this summer. That should allow me to help the girls stay on task each morning.

The girls will return to their respective charter schools in the fall. I’ll return to the university campus. The girls sometimes mention they miss homeschooling, but that’s mostly because they didn’t have to wake up early. Susan and I also miss getting to sleep for another hour or two.