I have had 2 children so far in the Seminary program. We live in Washington state. Some years and some of the teachers have been more effective than others. I agree whole heartedly with the discipline of arising early as a benefit to early morning seminary. My children loved to go and would get themselves up, with the exception of a few months at the end of the year when the teacher was less than inspiring.
Most seminary teachers realize what a daunting task it is to teach youth, it is a volunteer calling, not the traditional "Bishop was inspired" calling. My husband will be teaching this next year and we are looking forward to the opportunity.

It is a good thing to have my children able to make friends with the peer group in a spiritual environment. They can help with missionary work, (we have had several non-member attend seminary in our ward), and be a support to those who need good examples. One of the detriments to homeschool is the possibility that our children are not exercised in the skill of tactfully avoiding temptation and evil because they don't have the opportunity. In a seminary atmosphere, where there are many with the same standards, it is still a sheltered training ground for the real world.

Think of it as a discussion group opportunity, not a tutorial or lecture. My son consistently says he is the only one who comments and answers the teacher, so, fine, my son gets all the practice.

Also, it is best to be involved with the kids outside seminary. Invite them to your home, make you own home the "party place" once a month. make sure there is plenty of FOOD!

Cathryn

My two oldest children have been doing Seminary in the early morning for the past two years. Release-time Seminary is not available here.

It has been good for us. Their gospel learning has increased considerably, but the biggest benefits have been in time discipline, both for the children and for me. They have to get up and be somewhere at a set time every morning, which they don't get at home (I'm nursing my seventh child and haven't consistently started school at the same time every day for at least two years). They committed to spending ten minutes each day reading the scriptures, a great discipline and learning experience, which *I* don't have to enforce. They spent part of each day outside our household (good for their age--not necessarily good for younger children); they spent that time with other children and adults who share the same core classics, so they know they're not totally weird and they're strengthened in a way they would not be by taking courses in other subjects with teachers who don't share the same beliefs. They also had to recognize and deal with some disruptive elements (one of the four students attending our small Seminary class was borderline inactive and his ideas of good entertainment were questionable). They learned to appreciate others while disagreeing with some of their choices, and we as a family had many discussions about what's appropriate and what's not (some of what I am comfortable with is not gospel, it's my preferences, and my children need to recognize that, so they can choose their own preferences within a range of good choices).

Now, your situation is different. The Lord will have to give you specific direction, but these are some of the benefits I have noticed. If you find that your children are inclined to follow the crowd instead of continuing to follow the gospel, you may need to change their environment, which might mean a different class. But don't automatically discount it if it doesn't at first seem to be the kind of temple-preparing awesome class you would like for your children. The Lord certainly knows better than I what your children need now.