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Why We Started Homeschooling
By Amy B.
We are new to homeschooling (only three days old) and just thought I would tell why we started. I have three boys 10, 6, 4 (4th grade, 1/2 day Kindergarten and Christian preschool 3 1/2 days a week).
My oldest son was SOOOO frustrated in school. He is very gifted in math (eighth grade level) and reading (twelfth grade level) but is challenged in writing and spelling. He is dysgraphic and ADD. He was dying in public school. He has never loved school, and we have tried all avenues including IEP's, special ed, and the gifted program. I was getting calls from the school that he was depressed and needed to be on an anti-depressant! (That wasn't the case at home!) The problem was that in general, the public school system is not equipped to look at each child individually but what works for the class as a whole. I certainly understand that! But...it was really frustrating for my son. He started praying that God would change my heart and I would homeschool. I have to tell you that if anyone told me even three months ago, that I would remotely consider it, I would have thought they were crazy! I firmly believe that God must CALL you to homeschool. I was looking for an audible voice! That didn't happen, but he made it pretty clear anyway! When I started to check into it, I found that kids that are homeschooled do very well, academically, socially, and emotionally! I have been very impressed with the character of the children I know that are homeschooled. The reasons I am excited about homeschooling are:
- No more homework (that was a three hour nightmare with an ADD child).
- My child works at his own pace (he did extra reading and math today, cause he wanted to!)
- We have freedom to study whatever we want, I have the opportunity to see and correct inappropriate behaviors.
- We get to study the Bible together.
- My child is MUCH happier, I am learning, too!
- There is no concern over what the "teacher" expects.
I guess I have the same reservations about having a witness in the public schools. But...not at the sacrifice of my child's spiritual well-being. My child was not ready to be a witness, and when he was, he was ridiculed. The peer pressure even in fourth grade was not positive. For instance, my son sat at the cafeteria with other fourth grade boys. They were being gross and doing spit balls, food fights, etc. He got up and sat at a table by himself. The school counselor noticed and called me-wanting to meet with him about his "isolation behavior." I was livid!!! Here I have been trying to teach my child for ten years to "flee from evil" and she has the nerve to want to counsel him. She was concerned about his lack of "tolerance." Now this was not about someone else's beliefs, but about inappropriate behavior. I told her I was very proud of my son, cause we didn't "tolerate" inappropriate behavior at home, and I had always taught him to remove himself from bad situations. If she really wanted to make good use of our tax dollars, she could "counsel" the boys with the inappropriate behavior!
Anyway, didn't mean to drone on..just this is a fresh decision for us. We don't by any means think that God has called everyone to make this decision, but if it weren't for the support of Godly women that I found on sites like this to answer my questions and concerns, I am not sure I would have been obedient. Hope this helps someone!
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