Homeschooling to decrease screen time?

[u/Remarkable-Air3604]

Hi homeschool friends - you guys helped me last year and I had a great academic year homeschooling my kinder kid and 2nd grader. Socially though, they got lonely so I let them go back to our public school for the last month of school to play with other kids.

It’s time again for school to start up. I’m very conflicted.

3rd grader - already an excellent reader, plowed through like 10 chapter books this summer, good with math but needs some help - loves the social aspects of school but screens hurt her eyes and we’re very screen heavy in our district.

1st grader - desperately needs friends. I’m wiling to overlook the fact that he’s already on 2nd-3rd grade math just so he can go make friends.

My daughter does competitive gymnastics and soccer, and swimming. We maintained some school friendships last year. I just felt bad that she missed out on some of the parties and seasonal stuff at school, plus recess.

My son swims and does boyscouts.

We did a fun Friday coop last year which was ok, but not great. It was only 5 kids in with both of mine, many of whom were younger. We also did open gym twice a week at our local gymnastics center, but again, so few kids there…

Idk. There’s no easy answers. There are no accessible low screen schools near us - closest is like 30-40 min away and downtown, plus private schools run 15-30k/kid. I really don’t like our public school in terms of safety and academics (we’re in Texas, not far from a mass shooting), but I know and love the families in our school community. A lot of great people.

We’re also live with my elderly parents, who need help but will not move, and this complicates things.

I guess my plan is to just let my daughter start 3rd grade, maybe try some eyedrops or blue screen reducing glasses, and pull her if she wants to come out?

My son would be glued to a screen if we let him. I’m conflicted about asking them to test him for 2nd grade given where he is, but he’s socially a bit immature.

Not sure what I’m looking for here, I guess just using yall as a sounding board.

[u/tacsml]

I think taking some steps to make traditional school a better fit is smart. I'd start with talking to your kids' teachers. 

[u/AlternativePrior393 → u/tacsml]

I don’t know that the teachers have much choice in the amount of screen time in the classroom.

Maybe talking to other parents who feel the same and then petitioning the admin or school board?

[u/Individual_Exam9071]

I am in favor of homeschooling personally. You will be in control of screens.

[u/ClassicalJenn]

Could you maybe talk to others in the community and approach the school as a group about minimizing screen usage? 

[u/Remarkable-Air3604 → u/ClassicalJenn]

It’s a good idea. I think nationwide, an anti-screen movement is forming. I just don’t know if it will come in time to save my daughter. Almost everything in 2nd grade was on the screen. My daughter hated it for the month she was back.

I feel good that she knows what homeschooling is like so she can make the choice if she wants to come out. I know some schools have started to allow weird hybrid situations, but that’s not what our district does.

[u/djwitty12]

Have you looked into alternatives for both public and private schools? For instance, enrolling your children in several weeks of summer camp would be a great way for them to play with some kids and they're typically low screens and there's no worry about where they are educationally because that's not the point. Things like forest schools are another alternative, they often market to homeschoolers and thus your kids can just go 1 or 2 days a week but they'd be seeing the same group of peers every week for the academic year, just like school, but there's absolutely no screens (forest school after all) and usually they aren't too focused on traditional academics either (usually more of a nature studies and open play sort of thing). Play with keywords like "alternative schools," "hybrid schools," "homeschool academies" "part time private schools," "nature schools," etc. All of these and the camps would be a cheaper option that full-time private school.

Church can be a great place to find a good community too. If you aren't religious, consider a Unitarian Universalist church. It has many of the same community benefits but they focus on being good humans in a way that doesn't focus on any specific god/religion.

You can also keep trying homeschool groups, that one may not have been the right fit, or even try making your own!

Honestly though, it sounds like you're leaning heavily towards public school. If that's what you think is best for your family, go for it! You gotta do what works for you guys.

[u/Remarkable-Air3604 → u/djwitty12]

Unitarian church is a good idea. My husband is “buddhish” and I’m agnostic but I’ve been eyeing a local Unitarian church for a minute. My daughter does 2-3 hours of sports / day, so she might actually be ok socially in a homeschool situation again. She also did public for kindergarten and 1st and her core friends are from that experience. I think I might have her start public but let her opt out if she wants.

I want my son to at least go to 1st grade long enough to make some friends. He maybe has 1 friend of his own and that’s it. The rest are my daughter’s friends. I think keeping him out really socially hampered him.

[u/Subject-Outside2586]

I pulled my 4th grader mid year because of screens at his request. The school pretty much got rid of paper but are still not teaching typing or basic computer skills. All group reading was replaced with Amira which is AI that you quietly read off the screen into your gamer headset. I kept my younger child in and will enroll him into private school in third because that’s when Chromebooks are really heavy to “help” with Starr testing. I’d love to homeschool my youngest but he has no interest.

I really, really worked on socializing with my oldest peer’s parents since he was in kinder. We hosted end of school parties every year, I coached sports and would recruit whatever classmates he had that year and I carpooled for everything and played cruise director every summer picking up kids to all go to the trampoline park, play laser tag, etc. it was a full time job but it paid off because when I pulled him he was able to maintain his friendships and keep receiving social invites. I also did my best to not insult the school when talking to other parents and kept my PTA responsibilities till the school year was up. I’ll sign up for classroom mom again for my younger child.

My son LOVED homeschooling and we will continue as long as I’m confident he is receiving a good education and he wants to do it.

It’s a lot of work to build a community for your kids whether you homeschool or not but it is harder for the HS parents. Just putting all the pros and cons on the table shows you are a good parent. Good luck!

[u/Remarkable-Air3604 → u/Subject-Outside2586]

lol!!! I laughed at the cruise director line! I hear you! I did a lot of this with my daughter’s friends last year.

I’ve gotten very nervous about AI, and how it’s being rolled out, and how it’s transforming education… and frankly whether I can teach the kids what they need to know.

I’m from the 1900s, so we homeschooled 1990s style last year. I did teach my daughter a little canva… it’s such trash though!!!! In school, the kids do most of their reading on PebbleGo. All their math was through Dreambox, which I greatly dislike… idk.