Just within the last few month’s our life has changed as we knew it. I would wake up, wake up the girls, get them ready, and ship them off to school for the day. I’d have all day to myself, get laundry done, Bible Study and prayer time, gym time, clean house, my school work!! (AW THE LIFE=) 2:30 p.m would come I’d go and pick up the girls from school. We’d get home they would set down to do homework, that they didn’t understand, so we would spend the remainder of our night, either helping them or down right fighting with each other because we couldn’t understand why they didn’t understand. And Say out loud WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!?! YOU WERE AT SCHOOL ALL DAY?!?! DIDN’T THEY TEACH YOU THIS?!?! This went on for about seven years, Yes SEVEN YEARS!!!

Oh and let me not forget the dreaded teacher conferences. You know those meetings where you walk in look the teachers in the eye, shake their hands as they seat you at a table across from them. This is where I’d do everything I could not to cry. Because I knew the words that were quickly about to come forth from their mouths. “Your Child Is Not Meeting Our Academic Standards. ‘So you need to implement these few extra assignments’ so we can try to “catch them up.” We will see if this works! So we would go home implement what the teacher suggested, on top of all the homework stress we already had every night, and scream and yell even MORE at each other!!! Welcome to our home. =) Yes, did I say we did this for seven years?  Did you know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result? We were insane- quickly moving toward mental insanity.

Obviously, since our kids don’t learn at the pace or the same way as most children, there must be something mentally wrong with them! RIGHT? Last year we went and had them tested, one with which came back with a mediocre case of ADD, and the other anxiety. They found nothing that would “specifically” cause them to be behind or hinder them from learning. So where do we go from here?

I prayed and prayed and prayed…………. My husband prayed and prayed and prayed

I cried and cried and cried……. Cried some more!

As we were approaching the end of last school year we had enough, we just couldn’t do it any more. I was at home folding laundry and God put on my heart that I needed to home-school. I quickly brushed it off. God surely doesn’t know what He’s talking about. HA! I surely wasn’t going to do that! NO WAY! NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!! This same day we had another meeting, with the school physiologist, and teacher for one of our daughters. I am telling you this was probably our 25th meeting throughout the year, if not more. We were at the school almost every week trying to figure out what was going on. I had called my husband at work prior to this meeting and told him what God had put on my heart, his response ” He told me to do the same thing today babe as I was digging a trench.” REALLY GOD? You have to tell my husband too?  UGH!!!!

As my husband and I sat in one of our final meetings with the school psychologist, the words that were coming from him and how he was describing my daughter was something she was not, something she didn’t even physically resemble. We both held our composure as best as we could. We left. Went home. I cried again. Prayed again. BUT I AM NOT HOMESCHOOLING!!

Why didn’t I want to home-school you may ask? Here are 10 reasons.

1.) I am not smart enough. I don’t have a college degree.

2.) I don’t want to sacrifice my time, gym, house cleaning, bible time etc.

3.) I don’t want my kids to be socially awkward.

4.) I don’t have the patience. There is NO WAY we will make it out alive.

5.) We tried it once in the past for three months and failed.

6.) They won’t learn.

7.)  Didn’t know where to start.

8.) They will hate me.

9.) They will miss their friends.

10.) DID I MENTION I DID NOT WANT TO SACRIFICE MY LIFE!?!

Regardless of the school phycologists, I couldn’t have asked for a better school for my children to attend. They were in one of the best charter schools in Las Vegas. With the greatest principal any mother could have asked for. There was a lot weighing on the choice we had in front of us. If we pulled out our girls there would have been no way to get them back into that school, because of the waiting list. We had about three weeks to make a decision, was I going to be obedient and do what God had called me to do? Or go completely insane doing the same thing looking for a different result?

Setting in the school office one last time, we waited for a meeting with the principal, she came out and greeted us and gave me the biggest hug! The three of us met she apologized for what the psychologist had said and discussed what our options were, she didn’t want Our girls to leave. We didn’t want them to leave. The girls didn’t want to leave. But we knew what was going to be best for our two daughters. We explained to her that this is something God called us to do. To our surprise she didn’t fall out of her chair, she looked at us and said then what are we waiting for? So we did it! We chose to home-school, the principal went and got the dis enrollment form and I filled them out. I don’t think I ever had a meeting like that ever before, there was something comforting about her words to us, confirmation from The Lord telling us that we were doing the right thing and that everything was going to be okay. I never had a chance to tell her thank you after the fact, but truly I am thankful for her being so kind and understanding to us. We walked out of the school with relief, fear, and anxiousness.

All the while I am saying to myself…. WHAT DID WE JUST DO?

Jesus said  ” You are my friends if you do what I command. 

Well here you have it, a shortened version of our journey from public school to homeschooling. I share my story that it might be helpful and encouraging to someone else going through the same struggles we went through and maybe learn from our mistakes. I will share Part 2 within the next week or so. 10 REASONS WHY I DON’T REGRET OUR DECISION TO HOME-SCHOOL!! Stay tuned! 

For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Proverbs 29:11

For His Glory,

Jessica