To Homeschool or Not, That is the Question

My family and I are at a crossroad.  You see, we have 2 girls, one in elementary school and one in preschool.  I feel led to explore homeschooling.  This is a decision we are trying to make together and prayerfully.  

I always thought I would homeschool.  My public school experience was one I would rather forget.  I have absolutely, no plans to attend the reunions.  I do my best to avoid all things related to my high school.  

When it came time for my oldest to enter school, we did homeschool at first because the school she would have gone to-due to the location of our neighborhood-was simply unacceptable.  We put our house on the market and moved to a better school area.  She has attended that public school since then.

The school is fine.  I still like it.  My problem lies with the curriculum, and certain students in her class.  I feel like our school system is failing our children.  I don’t think they are adequately prepared for college, or life, upon graduation.  

I have sat through several PTO meetings over the years and there are several things I hear again and again: The students test scores, test prep, the funding available to the school, state and federal programs we qualify for-just to name a few.

What happened to worrying about educating our children?  Will those tests they spend so much time on actually tell us if our curriculum is effective?  

My child is at school 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.  I thought they were learning a good deal of information during this time.  However, recently, she was ill and needed surgery.  We requested for her work to be sent home so she could complete it without falling behind.  I was shocked when we completed an entire weeks worth of school work in 30 minutes.  30 minutes.  For 5 days of work that I send her to school 40 hours a week to learn we had completed in 30 minutes.  

To me, this is a warning flag, waving brightly right in my face!  No wonder young adults are not ready for college classes upon graduation and are forced to take remedial courses.  

What are they doing with all of that time?  In our case, a great deal of time is being spent correcting behavioral issues among the class.

So, we will continue to pray and research our options.  To homeschool or not?  You only get one chance at a childhood and I want my children to have the educational foundation they need.