why we homeschool

i mentioned yesterday that i believe things happen for a reason.  homeschooling definitely falls under that category.

there have been many times, during many conversations, when i have declared - shouted from the rooftops, even - I WILL NEVER HOMESCHOOL MY CHILDREN!  back before my horizons were broadened by motherhood i made other naive declarations.  my children will never talk back to me like that and my children will never ride in those germ-infested car carts at the grocery store are just two off the cuff examples.

here's what enlightenment has taught me: never say never.

kindergarten is a tough nut to crack in our area.  that is if you don't want to attend your neighborhood school.  and, for a handful of reasons, we do not care for our neighborhood school.  but colorado's school system has options.  as residents we can "choice enroll" into any school.  names are added to a waiting list on a first-come-first-served basis.  if the school has space available after all the neighborhood children have been accounted for, they will offer your child a spot.  the first round of choice enrollment begins on the first day back to school after christmas break.  so on january 4th of last year (seven months before harrison would start kindergarten!), first thing in the morning, i was driving around town dropping off enrollment forms at four area schools. 

prior to choice enrollment, back before christmas break began, we registered for the lottery at one other school.  this particular school made no apologies about their rigorous academics and i knew my  smarty pants boy would thrive in that environment.  it is not a neighborhood school so every kindergarten spot they had, which were filled by random drawing, were open to kids who wanted to choice in.  the parent meeting i attended - one of three - hosted approximately 200 moms and dads with high hopes of having their number drawn.

needless to say, we did not win the lottery.  nor did we receive phone calls from any of the four neighborhood schools where i dropped an application.  further, both cost and distance were deterrents from pursuing private education at the two christian schools we reviewed.  suddenly, in a state that boasts so many options i was feeling like i didn't have any!

and that, my friends, is how we stumbled and fell into homeschooling.

here's the thing, though: i whole-heartedly believe it was god's plan for me to homeschool harrison this year.

BUT HE HAD TO TAKE AWAY EVERY OTHER OPTION BEFORE I FIGURED THAT OUT!

i'm stubborn like that.

so if everything happens for a reason...we didn't get into any schools because we were supposed to homeschool...we were supposed to homeschool because...during the summer before kindergarten, harrison's sensory issues would come to light...and when his issues would come to light homeschooling would provided lots of flexibility with regard to treatment opportunities.

that's reason enough for me but i have a feeling we'll continue to discover more reasons for homeschooling as our school year and spd journey progress.  when i do, i'll thank god for his amazing foresight, provision, and his detailed option-removal plan.