And a side note on homeschooling: I think that if God has called you to homeschool your children, then by all means…you should. But if you are just homeschooling because “everyone else is doing it”, then it is for the wrong reason. I love my kids and want the best for them. But God has NOT called me to homeschool. I feel that God has called me to teach in the public school, working with special needs children. He has called me to be a light house for the children in my neighborhood. If I was homeschooling, I would not be there for the kids in our local school.

OK–sorry, just had to say that.

I think that we need to lift each other up in our choices. I’ve heard some big bashing on both sides but not here.

I’ve heard folks say some horrible stuff to each other. Homeschooling isn’t cheep my cousin homeschooled her kids when they were struggling or when she ran across a teacher that wasn’t very good.

If my children were in a school district that didn’t have what my kids have I’d be looking rather hard at it.

I’ve also watched special needs kids get treated rather poorly when main streamed. I remember telling a mom who had just found out that her son was autistic to fight and fight hard because the school won’t handle this very well. She moved him to the school my daughter now attends because they weren’t equipt to help him. I knew from working with autistic children that they weren’t going to be able to help him. Some teachers aren’t equipt to handle kids that learn in different ways. I understand it because when you have so many to teach then you can’t cater to one. Cool thing (Mom moment) my son taught some of the teachers how to teach kids about some things in math. They loved him and allowed the kids to learn like that.

I hope you did not get the feeling that I am suggesting that everyone should homeschool. I can come across a little strong with my opinions once in a while and need to brought into check. Homeschooling is not a good choice for some families.

I post these things on homeschooling to offer encouragement for those parents who are considering alternatives to public education.

We will join with other local families to form a group, but it will be based on common beliefs. There are plenty of families in our area who are on the same page spiritually, morally, and ethically.

You would be surprised what you can do in homeschool. I heard at a recent homeschool conference that Harvard is recruiting homeschoolers due to their high ACT scores.

Side note: 1 in 5 of the top finishers in the National Spelling Bee are homeshooled.

http://www.spellingbee.com/finishers.asp

My son recently was given an award from Duke University because of his ACT score. He’s thirteen and scored very high. He’s been a part of the broadcast studio for several years and is a member of DFY. Among other things that this school system has to offer.

Those are things that I wouldn’t have provided in home schooling.

The biggest thing to me is support for each other. We should never condemn each other.