As most of you that follow this blog know I am a homeschooling parent for my 16 year old daughter Baby O. A friend sent this link to me on YouTube and thought I would repost it for you.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Showing posts with label Homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeschooling. Show all posts
Friday, January 20, 2012
Friday, December 16, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Hard Decisions
We are elated! We are terrified.......But the reality is that Baby O has since the day she started school functioned at least 3 to 4 years ahead of the other students even in preschool. Her teacher suggested that she be moved ahead at least one grade and the administration declined. This created more problems than anyone will ever understand. The other children thought she was bossy and controlling and she WAS. She read when the other children were just learning their alphabet. As a second grader she read at a seventh grade level. She won every spelling bee. Every essay contest. Every writing contest. The other children cried. The other parents complained. Baby O cried because people were mean to her and she didn't understand why. We cried because we could do a d**n thing about it. We complained to the school. The reality of that situation is that a small school isn't equipped with the man power or funding for anything special for kids like Baby O. We lingered for 12 years. Two years of preschool, one year of kindergarten and 9 years of school.
This was a hard thing for O Wise One. His roots are deep in the area. His Mom and Dad worked for the school. So did his Aunt. His family has been in this area for almost 200 years. His sense of community is powerful. For him to remove his daughter from the local school was a huge step and a sign of just how at the end of our rope we really are. We prayed and looked for alternatives. With monumental state and federal budget cuts small rural schools are struggling to stay afloat. They are losing teachers and programs at an alarming rate. For students like Baby O there were no alternatives even when the funding was there. There are no longer debate teams, no longer kids playing in a band or a music program past the second grade. So much for that clarinet setting in Baby O's closet. It had come to the point where she was spending 15 or 20 minutes in a class doing her work and the rest of her time free reading. She was reading 10 to 15 large books a week in class! But she was making straight A's and bringing up their test scores so they (the school) were happy. The school refused to move her ahead to more difficult classes or allow her to graduate early. They were both against the rules. She must stay in school for the allotted 4 years because that is how their federal funding is based. On the number of butts in the desks. We could sell our house and move to a different school district. But would it be any better? We could sue the school and alienate our friends and neighbors and an entire town.
Our chosen alternative is to remove Baby O from public school and we have now enrolled her in an online High school through our state university. She will now go to school sitting at our computer and receive award winning gifted and even college level classes at home. She will graduate with a " college preparatory" diploma from our state university with even a cap and gown ceremony. The cost will be incurred by us as her parents. We will continue to pay school taxes even though our local school was unable to meet the needs of our child There is no going back as her local school will not except these classes and if she chose to go back to public school they would make her retake all these classes. Wow what a society we have come to! They have lost a straight A student and she has lost the connection to kids she has been with since she was 3 years old. What have we allowed our education system to come to? With only three years left until college maybe it is time we take control again of her education. It will be a change. But she welcomes it for the opportunity it allows her for better classes. She is so excited. More excited than I have seen her in years. O Wise One and I wish we had done it sooner. We keep telling ourselves we can do this! God is with us : )
Anyone want to give input on home schooling we welcome any and all input at this time.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
