[Diva_Lady]

Hey you guys,
I was just wondering if anyone knew the rules and regulations on homeschooling? I have an anxiety disorder and am not doing so well in school right now. I am currently attending a private high school and it is a college preparatory school. It truly is a great school but I feel like the black sheep in my school. My school is really great for really intelligent students and really hard workers but I don't really fit that criteria. My school is an hour away so I'm in a bus for 2 hours and day and then at school for 8 hours a day and that barely leaves any room for my horses My friends mom teachers her 4 boys at home and they are my best friends ever. I want to take homeschooling with her because my mom is not qualified. I absolutely love that family and I promise I would work hard for her and her family and for my education. But my dad is completely against homeschooling. My current school costs 12,000 dollars a year and we could definitely pay my friends mom to teach me. How do I talk to my dad about this? I'm afraid her would get physically abusive with me if I wanted to drop my private school. But I am just not made for this kind of school, I'm not smart enough and not committed to it enough. I either drop school comepletely and run away for life so I don't have to deal with school or anything like that, or commit suicide which I really don't want to do. Please help me if you can.
Diva

[BuddyPalAmiga]

It sounds like you need help in some other areas besides school too. But homeschooling is the first issue I'll tackle, since I'm a homeschooling mom.

Whether or not you can be homeschooled depends on which state you are in. Contact your county's Office of Public Instruction - your school principal or secretary can give the info on who that is and also give you the phone number. OPI will be able to answer your questions about whether your neighbor 'mom' would be able to school you. Homeshooling requires a particular amount of self-motivation since it is less ' structured' than public schooling. Your next step is going to be to convince your dad. If your neighbor can and will agree to do it, he may be easier to convince since the work load won't be on him. It can be difficult for the homeschooling parent too, because it also takes self-motivation and some planning. An option would be to get into a satellite program where all your classes are via satellite so it is more of a classroom setting. You send in your schoolwork to be graded and recorded. It is more expensive but can be a blessing for parents like your dad

Do you have someone you can talk to? A close friend or an adult you can trust? It sounds like you have some 'junk' that you are dealing with that needs to be out of your head. If you don't, you might visit with your school counselor and they could give you some options. You said some things that send off warning signals, so you need to take care of that too. You sound like a very wise teen, but I think you could benefit from some talk time.

You can PM me if you want to talk

Beth