Two years ago we decided to try to enroll in "specials" at our local public school.
Recent laws were passed stated that homeschoolers have the right to attend extracurricular classes a their local public schools. To my understanding, the school still gets to make the final decision to allow this or not but Vilonia schools have been super sweet about this.
I let my oldest, Maggie choose two "specials" when she was going into the second grade. She chose art and music. The school found a home room class to pair her with so she went to those classes with them on their assigned days. The office staff were so friendly and welcoming. The first week I walked her past the office to check in and then to the art or music class to make sure she knew where she was going. After that, she just checked in at the office and walked herself to class. The home room would walk back to their classroom after each special out the front of the school. This allowed Maggie to line up at the end of the line and come straight out to us where we were waiting in the car.
She did this for two years at the elementary school, taking music and library the next year. This year, my middle child, Izzie is going into the second grade so she was allowed to attend specials {our rule, not the school's}. Maggie moved up to the intermediate school. The new school does it a little differently, having her walk to the home room class and then walk in line with them to the special that day. Both girls chose music and P.E. this year.
We learned of another homeschooler who takes a math class at the intermediate school and then stays for that class' specials every day of the week. I don't know much about this but am encouraged at the chance to use this resource if needed. We also know several families that have been allowed in choir, band, and sports!
We love this opportunity because it offers social interaction with kids their own age, a class where they're learning fun things that I likely wouldn't spend as much time on, and gives them a taste of public school just for fun. An added bonus is that it gives us a contact at schools to better love and serve our community through. God is good; just when I begin to worry about my kids "socialization", He shows me my children's strengths, social sides, and that we actually ARE "in" our community through the fact that our kids already knew a minimum of four kids in their classes.
Do you homeschool? Have you ever considered this FREE option for extracurriculars?
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