Why I Chose Homeschooling

I started to write the whole saga of what led me to decide to homeschool. It was very very long. This was not an impulse decision. I have been thinking on and off about it long before school was even an option. Every time I got a book about homeschooling from the library I would ponder it some more.

I finally reached my breaking point this year. Hanachan is still stagnating in second grade when she tests well into fourth grade levels on everything. It's taken them a year but her school has finally developed criteria for grade acceleration because of my insistence on it for her. They will most likely not be accelerating her, but I'm not sure because I still haven't gotten a definitive answer. Aki is bored bored bored and actually started backsliding in his reading at one point. ET is old enough and has all the skills he needs but is not emotionally ready to start full-day Kindergarten. Red-shirting him is not an option, he'd be reading chapter books by the time he started school.

Going to the school to talk about Hanachan felt like a part time job as it was, I can't imagine doing the same thing for all of my kids. I know our principal is very busy. Our school is quite large and I feel selfish taking so much of his time. Plus, because the school is so large they have pretty rigid requirements on what is taught at each grade level.

It all boils down to this: schools can only teach to a narrow spectrum of students. If your child does not fall within the parameters of "normal" for their grade, they will be bored and/or frustrated. Schools and teachers have a very difficult job and our government and parents don't make it any easier.

I know that my kids can have an education tailored to their educational needs and styles at home. I have no guarantees of that from school.