Our Journey to Homeschooling - Part 2

The next school year started out good.  AT was assigned a teacher who (IMO) is the best teacher at that school.  JA was assigned a teacher who had been awarded Oustanding Teacher of the Year just the previous year.  I monitored both boys' progress and their interactions with their teachers.  AT's teacher really went the extra mile to keep him challenged.  JA struggled some with a few of the kids in his class and wasn't getting the academic challenge he needed.  I started looking into other options for the next school year.  Unfortunately, most of the options I looked at weren't going to work for us.  At the beginning of the next school year (JA's 3rd grade and AT's 2nd grade year), I was willing to give the school one last chance. 

Before school started, I went to meet with JA's teacher.  She told me about a new program the 3rd grade teachers were going to implement for math that year.  They were going to evaluate the students during the first 6 weeks and then put them into groups for math based on their capabilities.  I was THRILLED!  Finally, JA might get the challenge he needed. 

I also met with AT's teacher before the school year.  I explained that AT was already doing the math/reading for 2nd grade and had successfully spelled most of his brothers spelling words the previous year without studying.  We even tested AT to see if he could attend class with the 3rd graders for some of these subjects.  Unfortunately, he missed the "cutoff" by just two points for doing this.  I later discovered that the principal thought I wanted him to be bumped to 3rd grade and refused to allow him to do this.  AT's teacher was willing to work with us to provide more challenging spelling words, math work and reading work while he stayed in the 2nd grade classroom. 

The time came for the 3rd graders to be split up for math.  After the first day, one parent complained to the principal and she cancelled the program. :-(   Needless to say, I was furious.  I spent the next few weeks compiling a TON of information about how ability grouping is good for ALL children and isn't "just for advanced kids".  I presented all of this data to the principal to encourage her to reinstate this program.

After a week or so, she informed me that she would allow the program to move forward, but that it would only be one day a week rather than every day as before.  I then asked that AT be allowed to attend the appropriate 3rd grade group that day so he could be challenged in his math and she refused, stating that "it's only for 3rd graders."  This was the straw that broke the camels back.  I waited until the grading period was over and pulled the boys out.  (This was January).

In the meantime, I had researched more on our state's virtual school programs.  It appeared that one, Connections Academy, would meet our needs, so I enrolled them in CA upon removing them from the local brick and mortar school.   I'll post about that experience next.