So I read a lot about people pulling their kids out of public school due to Common Core, no religious ed, learning disabilities, bullying, etc. However, my daughter is in a Catholic elementary school (no Common Core…daily religion and Mass) that has been rated one of the top ten private schools in our state. My husband and his parents are all alums. It’s a K-12 school and a very close-knit community. My daughter, for all appearances, does well academically and has a really great teacher in 1st grade. The administration has been supportive as well. However, I started researching HS’ing when my daughter was a baby (I have a Masters in Education) and it has always intrigued me. She is a highly sensitive child and I just feel like her love of learning and life in general has decreased since starting Kindergarten. Her kinder teacher was NOT good and had a very harsh demeanor. She has actually asked to be homeschooled, which kind of surprises me as I’m not even really sure how she knows about it as we have zero friends that do it. Anyone else out there choose to homeschool their child after attending Catholic or another “good” private school where there weren’t any big issues??
We our preparing to pull my son out of a private Christian school. For us it was a descission based on not having enough family time (hubby is in medical field and does shify work) but backed by his special needs (adhd, spd, and articulation disorder). While the school was great at loving him and meeting his needs when possible, God has been calling me to do this as well. Honestly it wasn’t until the last couple of months where I connected the dots and realized I’m suppose to homeschool. I know when I go in to tell them it will be a tearful conversation but I know this is best for our family.
My daughter went to public school. It was a great school and she loved her teacher. She loved going and was doing great. The summer of her going into the second grade i printed a bunch of worksheets that we did daily. I just felt called to homeschool. I really cant explain why. She was not unhappy and really was thriving. My husband and i had many discussions about why and how because she was doing so well he didnt really understand why i would want to take her out. I searched and searched and eventually i did it. It was overwhelming and scary. I felt pressure so much pressure. This was our first year and it has gone great! I think you know what is best in your heart for you and your child. The only reason to homeschool doesnt have to be because of religion or bullying or a poor school district. If you feel pulled to do this then do your research and go for it. You will have doubts and you will have people who disagree but in the end it is about you and your child. If you guys are happy and learning that is all that matters. Best of luck
Thank you for your reply! I think I tend to be such a “black or white” person that I just keep looking for that one concrete reason to do it, when, like you, I honestly think it’s just something I’m being called to. I’m curious how your daughter responded at first since she seemed to be thriving in her traditional school?
Thank you for sharing your story. Will you finish the year at your current school or pull him out upon notifying them? May I ask how old your son is?
My son went to a Christian Preschool–I had always wanted to homeschool but my husband became disabled and I got scared I couldn’t do it and meet his needs. My son had a great teacher and I still ended up bringing him home for Kindergarten. We’ve now homeschooled through high school–he graduates this spring!
I think the two most telling things are that you see she’s losing that zeal for learning and life, and that she wants to be homeschooled. Something is up, whether it’s that she wants more time with you, the freedom to be creative (it’s hard to have energy to be creative after being in school for the day–even if it’s a half-day–all the activity can be draining)–or whether it’s that something is actually making her not want to go that she can’t quite voice.
Thank you for your reply! When I write out the pros and cons, it seems quite evident that I should at least give homeschooling a chance. I just seem to have this huge block when it comes to making it a reality! 
The hardest thing for us was starting a schedule. She had to get use to that schedule. She had to understand that she wasnt staying home just to play and hang out with mom. It took about two weeks to get a schedule that worked for us. I think it was much harder for her to adjust to being a sister for the first time. She was an only child for seven years. My son was born in june and we started school in August. Most of the issues we had stemmed from that. If you keep them in until the end of the year you can always try a summer school type thing. Do a little work each day to get the hang of each other. Then add to that when school starts back up. Even though she loved school when we talked about homeschooling she was on board. It was tough for a few weeks but once our routine got set it has been great.
My son is 4 and on his second round of preschool. We held him back from pre k. But the school he attends goes from preschool to 12th grade. We will actually be pulling him out next week. We have a couple of factors that I’m trusting will make the transition easier for us. We did start doing “work” about two weeks ago at home. So he’s had a taste of what learning is like with mommy. Anytime it gets stressful or he starts to get frustrate we stop and I communicate "Learning is suppose to be fun. Let’s come back and have more fun later. " At that point he either calms down by choice or we do take a break. Looking back on the time it’s taken for me to arrive at the conclusion that homeschooling was for us, I can see times he hasn’t wanted to leave my side. We even tried play therapy (for a number of reasons) and the woman spent 3 months just trying to figure out why he would escape from the room to get back to me. Now when I think about it, I shouldn’t of fought the separation like I have. So I’m excited to allow that development to happen naturally at its own pace. And I too am looking forward to him not being gone for 8 hours at a time!
A huge benefit to homeschooling is all the time you get to spend with your child and watching her grow up. People always lament how quickly kids grow, how they wish their kids would stay little, etc. I can honestly say that I don’t feel that because I am totally involved in their daily lives. I’m not missing anything.
I believe that as mothers, we need that.
@Julie, that’s an interesting insight. I was just thinking the other day that I’m ready for my oldest to graduate–excited for him and the future etc… There are times that I get nostalgic or miss certain fun times when they were little, but overall–we seem ready to keep going forward. Maybe it is that I’ve not missed anything!
MissSully, we have a lot in common. I had a daughter in kindergarten and a daughter in 2nd grade last year in a school that was ok. There was no bullying, no learning issues, nothing substantial to cause me to take my kids out of the school. However, my 2nd grader started begging me to homeschool. I immediately said no. I thought it was crazy, to be honest. Anyhow, I kept running into people who homeschooled and the topic kept popping up. It was odd. So, I decided to research it. Well, long story short, this is our first year homeschooling and although I almost quit and lost tons of sleep, I have come to a place where I am soooo happy that I am doing it. I kept feeling that I had to have a big reason to homeschool but in the end, I realized that I want to homeschool simply because I want to hold on to my babies as long as the Lord allows. I almost left a post on here a few weeks ago asking if that was a good enough reason. But, I ended up answering that for myself. Life is so short and I want to treasure this time. In summary, listen to your heart.