Replies to '11/24 Great School Debate'

I have 4 children from 26 to age 7.

I am the daughter of a Fl public school educator and public schooled myself. My older two boys were public schooled. My 23 yo dropped out because the system that was worried about him dropping out more than about how he learned in the environment he was in. he was hit by a car at the age of 9 and had Federal laws backing his education rights but I could not get the system to put those rights and THEIR psychologists recommendations into place for my son's benefit. He got what they focused on ...him dropping out of school.

My now 14 yo daughter was to start school in that same school system. Because of being military we didn't have much choice about where to live and where my daughter could go to school. so we home schooled her as opposed to putting her in a school where the principal was more concerned about her brother's choice to not take medication because it effected his sexuality than he was my son's education. They moved that principal away from his school ( I forced that issue) and he became principal where my daughter was to start Kindergarten. NOT on your life was she going to be near him at that age if I was not going to allow my 15 year old to be around him. Small rural school district...firing does not occur!!!!

I homeschooled her until 3rd grade…she was not learning phonics and it was effecting her reading..>School would not test her to see why let her struggle because she started in the 2nd half of th school year and they needed to observe her more couldn’t test yet. Which by the way she took the 3rd grade standardized test and exceeded the states average score for 3rd graders and she was only in the school1 week before the test was administered called the FCAT and parents HATE IT!!!!) I had her tested by All Children’s hospital…she has auditory processing deficiencies and can’t process phonics which is why she could not understand it no matter who taught it!!! But I’m just a mom I don’t know what I am talking about when it comes to educating my child because I am not a certified teacher. NOT >>>>>.

I homeschooled her again in 4th grade because the school would NOT further test her nor work with her speech therapy needs proven by a private evaluation. 5th grade I thought OK lets put her in this charter school that had a lot of art focus and see where we can get with getting her educated and identified for a scholarship that would pay for private schools that specialize in teaching children with my daughters issues so she could learn. That was a disaster..>Not only did they not test her like they were suppose to ( kept making promised and excuses) I lost my child’s bright cheery soul and positive outlook on life. There was no more sparkle in her eye. Teacher conferences were NEVER documented in her file an when the principal was an the last one and said she would never survive in middle school I just came unglued…..she was in a public charter school and would not survive in public school 6th grade!!!!! So much for the theory that public school makes the child in more than just education.

I pulled her out and brought her back home. That was 3 years ago. In  8th grade she takes online classes that public school kids take ALL The TIME to apply to their transcripts. Is in her 6th year of Baton (and her younger sister that oogeled her for years joined her this year) She is in Girls Scouts at the level most girls leave Scouting…Cadette and going into High School.Goals of earning her Gold award (Boy Scout equivalent of Eagle Scout) She is ACTIVE in church youth groups, travels in the summer months on mission trips (next year plans on going to Jamaica for a service project with the deaf) Takes an additional writing class and is great in drama. At 14 she will start college classes for sign language that her present sign language teachers ask me “why don’t you just let her test out of that class. She could……” My statement to that is…she could and I know she could but she needs the experience of college classes without having to stress the material with her learning challenges. Making her GPA be 4.0 while she learns how to be a college student without having to have job responsibilities added to it. Funny thing…her auditory processing issues are not an issue in college…the college bends over backwards providing note takers for her as well as tutors free because of it…>Why doesn’t that happen when she needed it when she was learning how to learn!!!?

Oh yeah social skills…..mmmmm I want my child to learn about rational thought process social skills not teenager social skills that lack common sense. She had 25 kids at her birthday party last weekend so I would say she is well socialized!!!!!! I can be confident that my child’s homeschool experience is well rounded. She can take college classes at 14 because she has proven her knowledge base can handle the college classes without remediation like MANY high graduates need before taking college classes that apply toward a degree. My daughter will be making $28 an hour at 18 or 19 because I homeschooled her. (and that is the pay rate now. Will climb before she finished her college degree while others are finishing HS). What high school graduate can say they make that much money a that age? You say she missed prom, we have homeschool proms with all the same frills. You say she misses sports- no she plays for the city league and is eligible for HS sports if she chose to participate in them. She can take band if she wants to.  YOu say she will miss graduation ...Fl has a HUGE statewide homeschool graduation for anyone that wants to participate.  Many counties have their own as well.