Hello Dr. Laura!
Two years ago, I pulled my daughter from her public school where she was treated like wallpaper and put her in a local charter school. The first year at the charter school was good and my daughter was challenged at her level. So good, that I took a job at the school as a para-professional. But the next year, she had a class full of chaos.
After much prodding by the teacher I worked for, I considered homeschooling for the first time. I did my research and pulled her out of school mid-year. I developed an English curriculum for her and had the same math curriculum as her school. We joined an art class, a PhyEd class, a theatre company, and held piano, voice and violin lessons. In addition, she learned Spanish, computer programming and typing.
I have a family full of public educators. They openly chastised me, thinking I was nuts. It is not easy when people snarl at what you are doing, but I worked hard to challenge my daughter. I was so successful, that when I gave her the California Basics Test many schools give, she scored four and a half grades higher than her grade level as compared to the national standard. Of course, I shared that with my naysaying family members.
Now, she has been accepted into a prestigious prep school and is going to be leading a computer programming club for Elementary students along with the head of the school. She is at the top of her class, and continues her love of learning.
Dr. Laura, my husband and I talk about our homeschooling experience regularly and consider going back to it often. Although we love her school, the experiences she received as a homeschool student were above and beyond what any school could give. We will never, ever, ever go back to public school. It doesn't have to do with the teachers, but everything to do with the curriculum and to the social engineering of mindlessness. Thank YOU for promoting FAMILY values and encouraging us all to be brave as we make unstandardized choices and charge on!!
Most sincerely,
Jocelyn
