Back in early 2011 Floyd and I began the journey of considering home school. It really wasn't something that we "chose" to do. In the early years of our marriage we had actually talked about it but that had been long since forgotten. Our middle son had been struggling in school since 1st grade. To be truthful, we thought something was up with him when he was just a toddler. Don't get me wrong, nothing is "wrong with him." We just knew that God had made him different.
I don't remember many problems in kindergarten. I did have to pick him up early many times because he had thrown up. He never threw up in homeroom but always when he went to certain "specials." I recognized the problem and after talking to his homeroom teacher she agreed. He was making himself vomit because he knew he'd have to leave school. Then he got to hang out with me the rest of the day (in my middle school classroom or at home). The homeroom teacher was onto him and called him on it but the specials teachers always fell for it. We finally got the other teachers to realize what he was doing and he moved on.
In first grade, he quickly started to fall behind in reading and handwriting. He went for extra tutoring before and after school, was put into a special program called Read Right, was observed by the autism team, and was being considered for dyslexia testing. He ended up completing the special reading program in summer school. That was the same year we reluctantly tried ADHD medication. That only lasted a few months because he didn't like it. I'm not preaching to anyone about medicating or not medicating, but we just don't believe that is the route that God has planned for us. So he hasn't taken medicine since. The autism team determined that he had "Asperger tendencies." He couldn't be tested for dyslexia until after he finished Read Right because the program does not allow dyslexic students (they go to a different program).
First thing in 2nd grade, they completed the dyslexia testing and he was put into a special program to help work through this specific problem. He worked hard and his dyslexia teacher was a great lady. Unfortunately, he just wasn't seeing results.
The struggles went on for the next few years. Looking back, I actually think he got worse in some areas.
The next year, my younger son began to have issues in school. We had never had a single complaint about him in kindergarten. I didn't actually hear about problems in 1st grade for a few months. However, in November, I got his progress report and it was awful. He had significantly declined since the first report card. The teacher's comments were negative and his grades were low. I was shocked because the teacher hadn't contacted me. After all, I worked in the same district. She knew how to reach me. I called her for a conference. When I went to meet with her, she began to describe "problems" that she said he had been having all year. Why was I just hearing about this in November (yes,we had spoken other times but she never mentioned problems) and why did I call for the conference instead of the other way around?
In the final months of the year, they wanted to put Ty in the same reading program that F had completed in first grade. They also wanted him to do summer school. I explained that he had already been signed up for 1 week of summer camp with our church and he wouldn't be missing it. I would bring him to summer school all of the other days, but I would not make him miss church camp. That would basically be like punishing him for having problems reading. Also, his brother and sister had been going since they were old enough and this was his first year to finally be old enough. The school said that if he wouldn't be at summer school every day, he couldn't come at all. Not only that, if he wasn't going to attend summer school, he couldn't even begin the reading program because there was no way he could finish before the end of the year. To make matters worse, I signed all the paperwork to have him tested for dyslexia, as they requested, but it was lost. By the time they figured it out, they said it was too late in the year to do the testing process. He would have to wait until the next year.
Second grade rolled around and he was finally tested. He also has dyslexia. Although they both have dyslexia, it manifests itself in completely different ways. His learning difficulties are also less severe than his brothers.
The next year, we decided to let them go to school in the district where we lived rather than traveling with me to the district where I worked. It was a long commute (40 miles each way) and the kids really wanted to be in their own neighborhood.
The boys were in 3rd and 4th grade that year. Ty continued in the dyslexia program but not much changed. F also continued to struggle. We agreed to have him tested for Special Education but things were not really looking any better. The new district also had him observed by their Autism team. He was now getting all sorts of special help in small groups and one-on-one but it just didn't seem to be helping. Their Autism team made the same decision as the prior district. His case was also brought before a special board that brings in specialist from the entire district (it's a very large district). This board looks at cases where all efforts are being exhausted but no results are showing. They try to find something that hasn't been tried. Needless to say, it wasn't getting any better.
As I drove home from work one day in January or February, I was praying for the Lord to direct me. I had gotten a call that day asking if we would agree for F to be put on a lower plan for the state testing. It's complicated to explain, but suffice it to say that this was not good. As a high school teacher, I knew the results of this decision. By moving him to this level in 3rd grade, they were basically sealing his fate. He could never catch up enough to actually graduate with a regular diploma. He would have to graduate on a minimum plan, which has some automatic repercussions. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm in no way saying that a minimum plan is bad for everyone. I'm not making a judgement about that. What did bother me was that he was in 3rd grade. We were making a decision that would permanently affect his future and he wasn't even 10 yet. That's just too early, in my opinion. Of course, they'll tell you that the plan is to continue working and eventually catch up. Unfortunately, I've not personally ever seen anyone catch up. Furthermore, the people I asked had also never seen anyone actually catch up. As a high school teacher, I saw the results of decisions made in elementary school. Not too mention that the main reason for switching him to a different testing plan wasn't for his benefit. It was motivated by how the scores and standards affect the school.
So, as I was saying, I was praying hard. I was crying as I drove. I just didn't know what to do for my son. How could I help him? I had sworn that, based on what I knew, if it ever got to that point, I'd take drastic measures to make a difference for him. I had never expected the drastic measures that were coming my way. As I drove, the Lord said something simple to me. He said, "home school." Of course, I wanted to argue but it was clear as day. He even put a lady's name in my head to call. I didn't think I even had her number. Sure enough, her husband's name was in my cell phone. I called the number and she answered. I said, "I really have no idea why I'm calling, but God told me too." Then I started crying even more. I gave her more details and she started encouraging me. She invited me over to talk with her about homeschooling. After many months of prayer and doubt, my husband and I agreed to step out in faith.
You see, I was the primary income. I had been since the major downturn of the economy in recent years. We knew we could lose our house or any other number of things could happen. But we had to trust our Lord and we had to do what was best for our kids. After all, when it comes to raising kids, time is not on our side. We can't put things off until a better time. They'll be grown and it will be too late before we know it.
So, I started researching and we told the kids what was going to happen. I resigned from my teaching job, effective at the end of the school year.
Rae was now a 5th grader and still one of the top students in the school (she's not a "good" student, she's just a gifted learner, so she can blow the top off any standardized test). At one point, she brought home a report card with a B(a first for her), it was an 87. The thing that made me laugh (on the inside, of course, not in front of her) was that she had that 87 with seven 0's in the grade book. Her other grades were all so high that it balanced out. She had 0's for not turning in her reading log; she read the books but just forgot to turn in the log. Ironically, she had started researching home school and online school when she was in 2nd grade because she didn't want to go to public school. I had told her that was crazy and to forget it. I guess she finally got what she wanted. :)
Another side note amid all of this is that I had begun a Master's degree 2 years before. Originally I was studying secondary curriculum development, focusing on mathematics. It was an obvious choice because my BS is in mathematics. However, I had also began teaching in inclusion classrooms. I was the subject area teacher and my partner was the special education teacher. Basically, inclusion means that 1/3 of the students are special education students and the rest are regular education students. As I looked through the university's course listings, none of the courses I wanted to take were under my degree plan. I ended up switching over to a Master's in Teaching & Learning Special Education.
While this is a positive thing, in many ways it made many flaws of our system more obvious to me. I began to see that no matter how hard we teachers try, the system just isn't set up for all students. I also become more aware of all the ins and outs of special education. (I'm not trying to start an argument about schools, I'm just speaking honestly of my experience.) I think now that perhaps the Lord used this process to make me more willing to pull my kids from the system. Another irony in the process...I received my Master's Degree in the mail the week after my last week of teaching in public school. Instead of getting that raise for having a Master's, I was giving up my entire salary to change my children's lives forever.
As we began to plan for our new adventure, I told the kids that some states require you to have a name for your home school and asked what they would name it; after all, it would be on their diplomas. We threw around a few ideas but my daughter came up with a great one. She said that what we were doing was a leap of faith because we didn't know how everything was going to workout, but we were being obedient to God's direction to home school and trusting that He would provide. So, we became Leap of Faith Christian Academy. Our mascot is the Leap Frog, of course. And that's even more fitting because the acronym for FROG has long been used to say "Fully Rely On God." Our school verse is 2 Corinthians 5:7, For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Just to throw in one other note, in case someone reads this and thinks that my degree or experience as a teacher is what makes homeschooling work for me-nothing could be further from the truth. I really don't think my degree has anything to do with it. I'm not teaching one subject in a school with all sorts of resources. I'm raising children to be life long learners; to overcome obstacles; to be obedient to the Lord; and to trust the Lord to meet their needs. He is strongest when we are weak. It is only through Him that I can home school my kids with any drop of success. If He gives you children and puts the thought of home school on your heart, even just a bit, He will provide for you. Just lean on Him and take that leap of faith!
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