MAKING THE CHOICE

Another beautiful letter... (from homeschoolfreestuff)


Why We Homeschool...

We realized early on that our 4th daughter, now 11, had special educational & health needs. She didn't qualify for headstart.... because we were married, spoke English, etc.!

I dove right into it, though. I home schooled her for preschool. I discovered her weaknesses and strengths. Also, her limitations and short attention span. I taught the same thing several different ways. Teaching became an all day event. Shopping and every day events were learning experiences. "what color is this....", "can you count the ...". She even learned a little sign language.

I enrolled her in traditional school for Kindergarten, and relayed my concerns and informed them as of her learning problems were. I was given a pat on the hand and told, "she is just fine". Last year after a miserable time for her in 5th grade, I told my husband I had certainly had enough. The reasoning behind the way they treated our daughter was, "We are getting her ready for high school". I just wanted to get her through 5th grade with her esteem intact!!

As we prepared for homeschooling this year I started to get really nervous. I thought "Can I really do this well enough so that she can learn?" While I was giving her a few tests to determine her level; I discovered more than I thought I ever would. During the math portion of the test I had to re-teach her common math. Some times a couple of different ways. She felt terrible at first, but after doing 10 tests she started to feel differently. I told her last night that she did 87% on the test; all that was require to place was 50%.

We CAN do this!! We love her. We have more than time invested in her. We couldn't be paid to do what we need to do for her. I will be there in her life no matter what she does. It matters to us. She knows that it matters to us, and I think that makes all the difference in the world to a child.

She had a terrible time with some really mean children. She has remarked to me on more than one occasion that the "homeschool kids are REALLY, REALLY nice! They like me!" How glad I am for her to finally be where she is and not feel less than she is... a funny, bright, friendly girl with a lot of potential.

~Barbara Craig~