Transitioning to public school

Just a note to remind parents that when you enroll your child with Florida Unschoolers you are enrolling her in a private school.  And it is about as non-traditional a private school as you can get. You submit enrollment paperwork and you are then free to homeschool or home educate or unschool your child as you like.

Please keep this in mind if you decide to or need to withdraw your child from Florida Unschoolers and enroll her in a more traditional private school or a public school.

If you plan to make this sort of transition, prepare. Find out what the new school will want to see to help with placement -- usually a report card or transcript (high school) and sometimes they will do placement testing.

If you are being forced to enroll your child in another school by life circumstances, try to prepare. Try to print out a report card and gather information that will help the new school give your child the placement that is best for her.

You are free to homeschool or unschool as a Florida Unschooler without keeping a portfolio or testing or following a standardized curriculum. But if you are transitioning to a more traditional setting, your non-traditional approach may mean your child does not get the placement you think she should have. And that is entirely up to the receiving school.

I am happy to confirm enrollment and that attendance was current. When you enroll your child in a more traditional school, explain to them that she has been enrolled in a private school that is an umbrella school for home educators. That you, the parent, have all of the information that is available to make an appropriate placement.

Usually the receiving school will make the placement based on age and make adjustments after that. Sometimes, especially if you don’t have the information the receiving school wants to make the placement you want, your child will not be placed where you prefer. Work with the new school to help them know what is going on with your child; especially provide as much information as possible if you are seeking a placement other than a standard age-based one.