why we Homeschool

We started hsing about 7 years ago..not really for any faith related reasons but more because the public school system around here is just not what I wanted for my kids and being a product of this local system myself I was absolutely certain of that, and it is a small community so you have no other public and absolutely NO private school options. I watched my kids struggling w/ basics like multiplication because the teachers moved too quickly so they could cover whatever might be on the end of the year test, and they came home w/ HOURS of homework....no exaggeration HOURS EVERY DAY! My oldest and my daughter were dx'd w/ ADD that year so it seemed like a great time to try something new. I had a family member who had hsed for years and my son Jamison had a therapist who was a great proponent of hsing even though she had been a primary teacher in the PS system for 20 + years. W/ this support, we took the leap....and were donated classroom supplies and childrens books that Mrs. I had collected over her 20 some odd years, which was an unexpected and wonderful blessing. I could always turn to either of these ladies for advice and I often did during my first few years. But life goes on as they say...Mrs. I moved away and we lost touch for several years, my family member has since had a serious change in her life circumstances and cant work FT & hs, and I get that, I very much doubt I could either. Lately sometimes it has been harder because of that loss of a personal support network, but we keep on trucking. There is a local Christian hsing group, which is nice but sometimes it is lonely cause I am the only Catholic mother in that group, as of now that I know of anyway. I only know one other family w/ small children who are Catholic (my sons godparents) but the kids are prschool aged right now, not officially schooling...but she is great support, likes to talk about hsing and does plan to hs in her family.We share catalogs and have already swapped plenty of books!!!!=]
Our schooling style is pretty eclectic, w/ a focus on reading LOTS of appropriate material, building creative writing skills and using the logic process. I use a mix of curriculums most of which ARE faith related...since our conversion process began 2 years ago, schooling has become about religous aspects where it never really was before. I was acutely grateful we were already homeschooling because if we had not been it would have been a change I would have HAD to enforce to insure the proper instruction in our faith. Because the Cath. community here is so small there are NO parochial school options at all.....some families use hsing services where children are enrolled in umbrella schools and just work at home w/ someone else doing the grading and attendance and paperwork type stuff for them, if that works for a family I think it can be great BUT in my case...#1 I cant afford that and #2 I want to be more in charge of my kids activitities and schedules from one day to the next w/ LOTS of flexiblity, in case they have difficulty w/ a certain subject or process, then we can linger until they "get it" w/out falling behind. I mix my Catholic curriculums mostly using Catholic Heritage Curricula as a base but supplementing from a great catalog of mixed items called Emmanuel Books. This year is a little different though, we are using a more year round format because the summer seems to drain the knowledge right out of the kids heads!!!!! I honestly got tired of wasting WEEKS reviewing every fall. last winter we took a longer break around Christmas and again around Easter but we are working through the summer, most of it anyway. BUT I have tried not to overload them so they so have some free time to enjoy the weather and whatnot.I am happier now w/ our hsing than I have ever been but I am nervous about the record keeping process when my daughter starts collecting her high school credits...dont want to mess that up and am not sure where to start!!!!!