Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?

Ericka Kammerer wrote in message ...
We had planned to talk at school conferences about keeping dd home one day
per week, or bi-weekly, to enhance her education. But from what I've read
about truancy laws tonight, this doesn't seem to be allowable. Has anyone
done this or know if it is doable?


I suspect this would not go over well. I would think
it would be *highly* disruptive to the teacher and the rest
of the class. I would either homeschool full time, leave things
as they are, or look for enrichment through the school
(GT programs, etc.). You'd be asking a *lot* of the teacher.
He or she would have to figure out how to make sure your
child suffered no ill effects from missing up to 20 percent
of the class! That would mean no quizzes/tests or other
assessments on that day, no special activities, etc. I
would think that would be pretty unreasonable to request.


Have others faced this truancy problem? How do you approach it? If this is
a law (5 days/semester,) does the principal have much leeway in enforcing
it? If not, then who do we talk with? The DA? Is it possible to
homeschool part-time (the days dd misses) and avoid a truancy enforcement?
Could we test out of second grade and attendance be optional?


I hear what you're trying to accomplish, but I
would be very surprised if you could get where you're
trying to go. I think you're going to find that homeschooling
is an all or nothing thing. If you think that's really the
way you need to go, then I think you could solve the problem
by homeschooling full time and taking care to get well
involved in your local homeschooling community so that
she builds new networks of friends. If not, I'd try to
make a commitment to finding the challenge she needs with
this (or another) school.

In regards to the part-time homeschooling issue. I see a lot of
responses like this, basically saying it's all or nothing, so just
forget about part-time homeschooling. That's not true, though it is
dependent on how supportive your school is. I'm not acquainted with
anyone who's done it as one or two days of week of homeschooling, but
I know more than one person who has, at around that age, sent their
child to school for half the day and homeschooled the other half.
Generally, they've been pleased with the arrangement. If you are
interested in part-time homeschooling, I strongly recommend you bring
up with your child's teacher and see what she is willing to do to
accomodate you. If you can reach an agreement with her, it's likely
the two of you can convince the administration to go along.

Beth Clarkson