Decision Time: Making the Switch from E-School to Public School

I knew that I wanted to homeschool my children from the moment my oldest son was born. We lived in Arizona at the time and I knew the school system would not provide the kind of education I could for my child. Upon moving to Ohio, I continued with my plans and began setting up the homeschool for my son. Life of course has a way of throwing a wrench in the best set of plans, and in my case that wrench was the premature birth of my youngest son. His subsequent stay in the NICU and the visits from a home nurse sent me searching for a way to continue my want to homeschool while also caring for my infant son.

In my search, I found out about the E-School opportunities available in Ohio, and began researching the schools. I found one I liked, and after further research; my husband and I decided to enroll our oldest son. We never once believed we were homeschoolers, nor did we ever classify ourselves as such; instead, we referred to ourselves as "E-Schoolers" and left it at that. We did not argue with homeschoolers about the distinction because we always knew there was a distinct difference between the two learning styles.

The E-School environment did not fit my son, and we recently found ourselves making the switch from a home based environment to a traditional school environment. The switch was a definite challenge, and as a parent, was a difficult decision to make. Yet, when I see my son now, I know the decision was the right one for us. There were so many questions, so much worry about switching him from one environment to another, especially when the two are drastically different environments. I'm hoping this article will help those parents who are thinking about making a switch.

The most important factor to consider when making the switch from one school environment to another is how it will affect your child or children. Talk to them, find out what they want and if they want to switch, then find out why they want to switch, Ask pointed questions about how they will handle leaving friends behind, or how they will handle a classroom environment versus the home-educated environment. If your child is old enough then have him or her involved with the decision making process. Listen to their input and what they would like, at the same time remain in control by explaining the importance of education and how important a good school is.

The next step involves searching out the right school, and this is where the decision making process becomes a frantic and almost harrowing experience. There are many questions to ask, and many points to ponder when deciding what type of school you want your child to attend.

1) Public versus Private School

a. Do you want a private school, which often involves smaller class sizes, but a high tuition rate?

b. Would a public school serve your child well, which can bring larger class sizes but no tuition.

2) Charter/Community Schools

a. Charter schools are gaining in popularity and there are many available. Some are part of the local school district, while others cater to certain academic principles. There are art and music based charter schools, or science and math based charter schools. There are also many other styles of charter schools.

b. Charter schools are typically non-profit and tuition free. However, most are managed by a for profit company. Some of the largest companies are K12, Imagine Schools, and The KIPP Foundation.

c. Charter schools typically offer smaller class sizes, which allow the teachers to focus more on the students in a one on one situation.

It is important to research your local district schools, private and charter schools. A great site that helps with determining school performance, parent opinion, and other school related statistics is Great Schools.net. You can search your local school district by zip code, and also further search by public, private, or charter school. GreatSchools.net also offers tips and advice on choosing schools, a parent community, and education related articles.

The next step is the school visit. My husband and I researched different schools and began narrowing down our list until we had a handful of choices. Narrowing down the list helped us choose schools that fit our standards of education, and schools that we felt were the best fit for our son. We narrowed down the list based on several important factors like the following:

- Class Size

- Academic performance

- Individualized attention

- Course structure, elective courses, and music or art offerings.

- Educational services like speech therapy, reading help, tutoring and so forth.

Making a list of what you expect in a school helps to ease the frustration and can help make the transition a bit smoother. We began calling schools, setting up appointments to visit, and finally decided on the school that was perfect for our son. The school we chose is a local Community School, and one that offered everything we were looking for and more. It is a relatively new school, and as such, much of the testing data was not available from Great Schools; however, we were able to find the data through the State Department of Education web site.

Our first visit to the school included my husband and me, while our second visit involved our son. Both times, we took a guided tour, discussed policies, and asked many questions. Our questions included the list above, and other questions we felt were important. We asked about school uniforms, field trip offerings, parental involvement, and opportunities for parental involvement. We also discussed the safety standards in place to protect the children, and many questions about the curriculum. My son asked his own set of questions, which involved recess and lunch, the important things to a 9 year old.

It is important that you prepare yourself for a lot of paperwork. I think we had close to twenty different forms that we had to fill out, and other paperwork we needed to bring with us. Important things to take note of are the need for immunization records or an immunization waiver, physical and dental records and prior school records if you have them. Each school is different in what forms it requires in addition to the forms required by the State, so be prepared and make sure you ask questions if you are unsure about a form.

One frustrating experience was trying to find school supplies so late in the year. I ended up at several different stores buying school supplies, and found some of the best deals and selection at Staples and Wal-Mart. Even still, trying to ensure I had everything my son needed was a bit frustrating as there were specific requirements, and while I had a majority of the items due to the E-School environment, I was still without the key item: a school uniform. As an E-Schooling family, we spent a lot of time in our pajamas. Why get dressed if we were not going anywhere?

The surprising part of the transition was how quickly my son took the new environment. He loved being in class, and adjusted quickly to the faster pace environment. He made friends with ease and had no fear when it came to being "the new kid". He had a few problems finding his way around the school but soon learned the corridors and was quick to ask if he needed help finding something. In all, I would have to say that his part of the transition went the smoothest, and for that, I am grateful.

In conclusion, I have to say that if you feel the educational environment your child is in does not fit, do not hesitate to make the switch to a new learning style or environment. There is no "one-size-fits-all" when it comes to educating our children and it is important that the educational environment not only fits your child, but also provides them with the best experience possible. You will find some aspects of switching are tedious, others are downright frustrating, but you can make the switch easier with a bit of research and planning.