In The Beginning...

I wasn't going to homeschool. Period. It was a relief in many ways when the kids each started school. I couldn't teach them all they needed to know. And homeschoolers were all weird anyway.

But I did worry about them. What were the other kids teaching them? Did their teachers treat them lovingly as I would or did their personalities clash? Were the kids on the bus mean?

I just kept sending them though. I lived through it, so would they.

Stephen and Shane started school in Potlatch, Idaho. They had a great Kindergarten teacher that had been teaching for 20 years and did a wonderful job. Stephen also went to 1st and 2nd there. His 1st grade teacher was lacking (couldn't seem to control her classroom and she would tell me she did some things everyday when Stephen said that she only did them when there was a parent visiting), but his 2nd grade teacher did well enough.

Then we moved to Salem, Oregon. Stephen's 3rd grade teacher was again unable to control her classroom. Shane had a great teacher though :) And she had a 1st and 2nd grade combined class, so he had her for 2 years.

Stephen's 4th grade teacher was, again, adequate. Jessica started Kindergarten this year also. She was already reading, but they expected to teach her the sounds of the letters. She liked the social life though, so I let it go.

The next year I had Stephen-5th, Shane-3rd, and Jessica-1st. I requested the best 5th grade teacher for Stephen, Shane had a fine teacher, and Jessica's teacher told me she didn't know what to do with her since she was so far ahead. But she still liked her social life :) Halfway through the school year, we bought a house in another school district and moved. They were in a small school with only 3 teachers for 1st-5th. Jessica and Shane's teachers were wonderful. And Stephen's teacher was again lacking. She insisted that he was behind in all subjects when I knew he wasn't. She put him in a level too low, and he was bored most of the time.

That summer they closed the small school and put all the kids in a very large school. Stephen, at 6th grade, was put in the junior high. He was again not being challenged. His teacher sent home a note saying that he hadn't done any homework for 3 months! I don't understand why they didn't tell me for 3 months. So we grounded him until he completed all his homework for three months. It took him 90 minutes. Definitely not challenging.

Jacob started Kindergarten this year also. His teacher seemed OK. After Christmas the school sent home a reprimand for Jacob for his activity on the bus. Looking at what they said, I was sure he had done it. I asked my other kids, and the neighbors kids what was going on on that bus. Apparently the bus driver never acknowledged anyone unless they did something wrong. In the mind of a five year old little boy, if you only speak to him when he's in trouble, you must not like him.

According to the reprimand I had to meet with the principle before he could ride the bus again, so I made an appointment with her. In part of that meeting, I tried to explain to her that if the bus driver would say something nice to him (like "Good Morning") he would change his attitude and try to be good. She told me that the bus driver had a lot to think about, and didn't have to do anything to make my son more comfortable riding the bus, and that I didn't have to worry, they would take of it. Jacob would be held in for his only recess of the day for the next week.

I went home *so* angry! I told Stan I wasn't sending them back--none of them. If this kind of attitude--what was best for the adults (not the kids) was what was going to happen--was coming down from the principle, I didn't want any of the kids in the school. It wasn't the first time that I had seen the "attitude" at school, but it was the first time it was so blatant. The bus driver couldn't handle the 5yo, Stephen only had decent teachers every other year, Shane did fine in the classroom because he was quiet but had no friends and was often picked on, and Jessica was always so far ahead of her class that she learned on her own, not with her class. Stan said I couldn't pull them out for a month. It would give me time to calm down (and make sure I was really going to do this) and to prepare.

I pulled them out at Spring break, and never looked back (almost). I thought they would drive me crazy, but they didn't. They have grown closer together. I thought the crazy schedule of homeschooling would be harder than having them in public school, but it is easier. I *can* teach them what they need to know (or I can find someone who can). We can sleep in when we want, stay up late when we want, go on field trips when we want, go on vacations when we want, do what ever we want. School work only takes a short time out of the day. The kids are not being subjected to being picked on, being bored, swearing, off color jokes, and bad social skills at school. I am grateful for that rotten bus driver, and grateful I don't have to put up with another one.