HMMMM a mixture... that is interesting and something I never even thought of.

My little brother goes to a private school. He went to public during elementary school and then his mother decided that she did not want him in a public highschool so she actually FIRST sent him to military school for grade 9. He learned A LOt there. Most importantly he learned a lot of discipline and structure but the teachers were fantastic. and there was always a teacher available for after school study help and participation in school sports was promoted heavily... even if you were not good at the sport you were still on the team if you wanted to be.... they thought that teaching kids how to work and play as a team and other things they can learn from a sports team was much more important than winning... I agree. it was a good school for his first year.

After his first year she transferred him to a private school (this school costs over $30,000 a year :Eek he has REALLY thrived at this school. His marks are excellent... the teachers are great... and he has done some things through the school that he probably would have never experienced otherwise. They went on a trip to Kenya last year and climbed mount kenya... they were supposed to go to Napal this year to climb Everest but the guide in Napal had to give up climbing for a while becuase of a very bad lung infection. Just a lot of really neat experiences that he wouldn't have gotten otherwise. he is now preparing to head off to university for either sports medicine or sports management.... he isn't sure which one he wants to major in yet.

I am not totally confident that he would have achieved all this through public school.... he needed that more personal attention to keep him focused.

My neice goes to public school. she is in 5th grade. she goes to a French immersion school. she is VERY bright but she doesn't really like school too much anymore. BUT if there is anyone that would benefit from homeschooling I really think it would be her. Her mother is WONDERFUL and if she didn't have to work I have no doubt that she would successfully make use of the homeschooling system. My neice is so bright and most of the stuff she knows she learned at home. their favourite past time is watching the bird feeders in their backyard and finding the birds in their bird book and reading up on them. all of those kids are very smart and I REALLY attribute it to their great family life and the wonderful teachings of their parents.

I went to public school myself and back then (lol like it was so long ago) it was OK. I also lived in a vry small town at the time. but now it seems to be getting worse and worse (depending where you live I suppose) there are just too many kids and not enough teachers... there is no personal attention what so ever. Kids seem to spend more time trying to avoid fights than they do learning. Public school seems to be on a slippery downhill slope. But there are plenty of public schools that are excellently run as well.

I really like the idea of multiple schoolings throughout their school "career" that is an interesting idea and I never would have thought of that, really.

I really understand what others are saying about homeschooling though. it can REALLY be done incorrectly. I think if it is done properly it can be very beneficial... but you're right it is A LOT of work.

I have heard that there are often homeschoolers societies in some towns... where groups of parents that do homeschooling get togther with other homeschoolers and they do field trips and the kids get to socialize etc etc. and there are always community sports... which I am sure our child/children would be into if they are anything like us LOL... especially hockey hahahaha. I think sports outside of school are also a good way to mix and mingle with other children from different backgrounds that they might not meet at school. I have heard those can be VERY helpful. WOW I am glad I have a few years to think about this before a decision HAS to be made LOL.