Why we started homeschooling

I was tagged by someone who wants to know why we started homeshooling.  Here is our story:

When our oldest dd started PS it really didn’t bother me too much since I still had another child at home.  Then I decided that when dd#2 started school that I would go myself.  I think that’s what kept my mind off them being in PS.  After our youngest finished Kindergarten we were informed by her teacher that she was not ready for 1st grade and that she should either stay in K or go into T1.  I might add that we had had a lot of trouble during the school year.  The teacher kept telling us that Ashley was a mean child.  That made me so mad.  I just didn’t understand.  Ashley is such a loving child and always has been.  At the time she was even getting along pretty well with her sister.  Anyway, we decided to just go ahead and put her into 1st grade.  We were blessed with a wonderful teacher who helped Ashley all that she could and said that she was a very sweet child and couldn’t understand the teachers remarks from the previous year.  Ashley did however have a big weakness in Math.  We were once again pressed with the question of should we put her in 2nd or keep her in 1st.  They were leaving it up to us since her grades alone couldn’t keep her back as she managed a “C” in Math.  We decided to take the summer and make our decision.  During this time a friend called and I mentioned to her that we hadn’t seen her son in school for quite some time and she said that she was homeschooling him.  I said, huh?  To be honest I had never heard much about it before.  So I began to probe her for information and start my research.  I knew that this was the route we were going to take with Ashley.  Sam was going into 3rd grade and we  still had plans on sending to school though.  That was until the new school year came ever so close.  I just couldn’t do it.  I remember going to the school on the first day and telling the teachers that they would not be attending that year due to the fact that we were going to be homeschooling.  They just smiled.  Later that day I received a call from the school and was informed that if both girls were not in school on Monday morning that I would be in big trouble.  I was terrified.  So I made a call to our umbrella school and they contacted the school and took care of everything.  Now Ashley will be starting 8th grade and Samantha will be in 9th.  Ashley still has some trouble with Math, but nothing like she did.  Sometimes I feel very inadequate about teaching them, but then they will do or say something that makes me stop and say, “Hey, they really are learning”.  I even caught them one time in the schoolroom one day trying to teach the neighbor boy Math.  I was so proud of them.   

God chose to bless us with two beautiful children and I couldn’t imagine letting anyone else steal the joy of watching them grow and learn each and everyday.