My girls

My girls

Thursday, April 14, 2011

To homeschool or not to homeschool

Well first of all, I have decided to give this blog thing a try. I love to write and maybe this well help me get back into the habit.
As many of you know, I have wanted to homeschool since Allanah was just a baby. I have thought about it alot. But because of various reasons Eric and I chose the charter school route. Now for the most part we have been happy at Vanguard, its a good school. But I have several issues.
The biggest one is that Allanah is bullied just about daily. And nothing seems to change it. She has a lot of good friends, but EVERY year there are one or two kids who simply torture her. They make school miserable for her. I have tried EVERYTHING I can think of, talking to her teacher, talking to the kids, and talking to the parents. I have also spoken to both the principal and vice principal. Technically Vanguard has a zero tolerance policy, but yet nothing has been done. I mean these kids haven't even had to move their cars. (a strike system where they go from green to yellow to red, and then off the road. Once off the road a note goes home to the parents).
Part of the problem is Allanah is one of the the youngest children in the classroom. There is one other kid with a november birthday, but he seems to hold his own okay. Most of the kids in her class are seven, and a few are even 8. BOTH of the kids who bully her are 7.5 and 8 years old. Almost two years older than her.
But the bullying is just one issue. A major issue for Allanah is that her reflux is ALWAYS worse in the morning. She may be throwing up at 8 am, or feeling VERY sick and miserable and is fine by ten. If we homeschool she will be able to get up later and feel better. She has had a ton of tardies and absences because of this.
There are other things, and a big problem is Allanah's teacher. And I know she will have a different one next year, but its also some of the policies. She had a great kindergarten teacher whom I loved, so I know not all of them are like the one she has this year. But I am not fond of the principal either. I know we can switch her to West Elementary, but that will just bring about a lot more issues. We chose VanGuard because the parents are very involved and the general public schools just dont have that.
We have a lot of friends who homeschool, and its something I really believe in. Right now I am exploring curriculums and playing with the idea. I figure I still have some time.

1 comment:

  1. I think you should do it!!! Will you be hiring a tutor to help though because you have to work?? It makes me so sad she is being bullied. I remember those days. Tell her to keep her chin up!

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