Hi! I'm Andrea, the homeschooling mom of 3. I have been homeschooling our children going on 8th year now. Most days, I really enjoy homeschooling. Of course, we all have our bad days. But I didn't always homeschool.
Our oldest daughter, now in 8th grade, attended 4 years of preschool and elementary, with the exception of K5 that I homeschooled her because we were moving. We had never planned on homeschooling our children. Both my husband and I attended public school and just thought that was the norm. But life had something different in stored for us.
Our daughter has always been shy but was doing really good at school, making straight A's and had lots of friends, until 2nd grade. My mom, which my daughter was really close too, passed away 2 weeks into the school year. She was already having a hard time adjusting to a new teacher and a new class, then add losing her granny to the mix. She just couldn't handle it. She suddenly developed social anxiety and didn't want to be around anyone, but family. She started calling home every day with a different excuse, "my head hurts", "my stomach hurts", and "I feel sick". She started bringing home papers with bad grades and she would cry every morning, saying she didn't want to go to school. My baby was in emotional pain and it broke my heart.
By law, she had to attend school. But how could I feel good about sending my crying 7 year old, who was visibly in emotional turmoil, to school? And even though the school was sympathetic to the situation, I knew their patience would soon run out. With that in mind, I set out to find an answer to the problem. I talked to her doctor and a number of counselors, trying to find the best way to help her through this. They all said the same thing, "time and therapy". But the school district only gives kids so much "time" they can miss school and there was no "At Home" option. We seemed to be in a hopeless situation. Our daughter needed "time" to grieve which the school district wasn't willing to give. Our daughter needed extra love and attention which was hard to give her if she was stuck in a classroom. After lots of thought and research, the only logical option then became very clear. We brought her home to homeschool so she could grieve in the comfort of her own home with people who loved her. And so our homeschooling journey had begun.
I'm happy to report, that even though she still has moments of anxiety, our daughter is doing very well and is VERY sociable. Each day gets easier and easier for her. She now has more friends than she ever did in public school. She goes to the movies, birthday parties, bowling, and does normal teenager things. Homeschooling has done wonders for her.
We, like most homeschooling families, have had to deal with our fair share of criticism from others. People who don't understand homeschooling think our children don't learn anything. They think our children suffer in some way. We've all heard it, "What about socialization?". But I think it's ironic that our child that spent so many years in the public school system, developed social anxiety, while attending public school. Our other children, who have never attended a day of public school, are far from having social anxiety. In fact, our son who has autism, (which one of the main characteristics of autism can be social impairment), does not meet a stranger. He loves meeting new people. And even though our decision was made because of a bad situation, I'm glad we made it. It is one of the best decisions we've ever made.
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