To Home School or NOT to Home School?

This has been a HUGE dilemma for me. I have always been pretty anti-home school, mostly because it seemed the kids I saw who were home schooled were not the smartest kids, they were stuck like glue to their mama's (not in a healthy way) and just not who I wanted my kids to be like.

I was about as adamant against public school as I was against home school, if that was possible. But, after being in a local charter school since both my kids started kindergarten, I feel like it is time for a change. I don't feel like they are growing academically the way they should, and the really big issue for me, I don't really like what I see they are becoming as people. They are out of my hands for around 8 hours a day, and being molded and shaped into people I don't recognize. Who are these strange kids coming home every day, learning new (and not great) words, fighting, displaying the opposite of the Christian character we try to instill in them as much as possible?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to turn them into brainless robots that believe the exact way we do, and act exactly as we tell them. Of course anyone who knows my kids, knows that that would be next to impossible anyway, can we say strong willed? But I just don't like the influence they are under for the majority of their lives.

So, what are my options at this point? My son, my super smart, funny, sweet little boy, who is officially diagnosed as "ADHD" is drowning in school right now. He finished 1st grade able to do 4th grade work, and now that he's IN 4th grade, with the lack of challenge he's had in the past few years, he's now BEHIND in 4th grade work. My daughter, my loud, stubborn, forceful daughter, is in 1st grade and thinks school is where you get to play with your friends for 8 hours.

I looked at our local public school, briefly. I checked their ratings with the TEA and saw that it is not exactly a highly rated school, and not only that, in one short year my son would be going into middle school, which scares the living daylights out of me! Maybe my own middle school days still haunt me some (and they weren't fun).

I looked at private schools, several in particular and we came to the conclusion that we would have to sell one child to pay for the other one to have a decent education! Not quite willing to go down that route yet, that left me with one glaring option: home school. Ah, has it come to this??

So, I thought about starting this blog to help me help others who might come to this decision as well. I plan on documenting my struggles to pick out the best curriculum, figure out our schedule, find other home school families in our area, and how we're coming along. Please feel free to leave comments for me if you have any suggestions or think you can help. I'm new at this, and I want as much help as possible!