Why I decided to homeschool my children.

"Why on earth would anyone choose to homeschool?"  

"How can you stand being with your children 24/7?"  

"I just don't have enough patience to do that."

"I don't feel qualified to teach my children."

"What about ME time?"

This list is endless and believe me, I've secretly thought them all.  Homeschooling was not on my list of things to do when it came to raising our children.  As a matter of fact, it was very much on the list of things I would NOT do.  But then life barged in and made a mess of all of my well laid plans.  

Back in 2012, our family had just moved across the world from Germany to Seaside, CA.  In Germany, our eldest daughter, Gwen, attended the school on our military installation and she was doing quite well.  She was in her second grade year and we dutifully put her in the public school closest to us at our new home.  A few red flags were raised in my mind after seeing my daughter's new curriculum, but I thought it was manageable.  Math was way too simple for her (basic addition and subtraction) and the spelling words were far below grade standards (cat, fox, way, no).  The kids were typical kids and the teachers were mostly okay.  My feathers did get a bit ruffled when her teacher claimed that evolution was a proven fact, but again, I could handle that at home.  Things were not stellar, but they weren't so bad, considering I knew we'd be moving in two years and I could supplement her education at home.

But then there was an entrance interview for my youngest daughter, Rowan.  My sweet, precious, lively, talkative little four-year-old was going to have her readiness for kindergarten evaluated.  In my mind, I thought nothing could possibly go wrong.  

The day came and a nice lady met us in our home and asked my girl some typical questions.  Rowan answered beautifully.  She made it most of the way through the alphabet, skipping something in the "l, m, n, o, p" region, but she made it all the way to z.  She counted to 22.  She named all of the pictures the woman showed her and she spelled her name properly.  Through it all, Rowan repeatedly showed the nice lady her Barbie doll and did a few dances while giving her answers.  I was very pleased with my kid and probably looked like a cat with cream on her whiskers.  

After all of this, the woman and I wrapped things up and walked to the door.  She stepped out onto my doorstep and turned around to say something close to this: "You're going to need to speak with the school psychologist and your daughter's practitioner to ensure that she has any medications she needs to stay in class throughout the day.  She may have attention issues."  

I was stunned.  My eyes were wide, my breath stopped, I couldn't see properly, I felt a flush rising from my neck, and my mouth was paralyzed.  Suddenly, life jerked back into motion and something deep within me took over all body functions.  My mouth worked to smile, my eyes blinked, I took a deep breath and said, "Thank you for making it clear that my daughter will never attend your school.  Have a nice day."  I shut the door quietly.  

I didn't know what to do.  Tears were silently pouring from my eyes.  My amazingly social, friendly four-year-old had been found "lacking" during a TEN MINUTE interview.  What had we done wrong?  I think I went through all the stages of grief in the next five minutes.  At the end of my grieving period I had resolved to pull Gwen from the school and teach both children myself.  Their school stunk anyway and I was no dunce.  I could do this.

And so it happened.  Gwen finished her 2nd grade year and we started an unexpected journey into homeschooling.  It's been quite a ride and I've made countless mistakes along the way, but I wouldn't go back for all the money in the world.  This is the path we've chosen and we're going to stay the course.