I guess my homeschool problem is based mostly on fear--LOL--but also on the fact that if I homeschool just my 2E child (and not both my kids), my other child will be sent to the bad elementary school. That doesn't seem fair. But in my case, both kids are so, so totally different that I don't believe I could do a good job of homeschooling them together. My kids are both "difficult" personalities--one because he is so driven and focussed when he wants to learn that he becomes almost obsessed, and the other because he might have some LD and struggles with listening and following directions. So my homeschool situation would be not unlike the bad public school situation--one kid way ahead and one kid behind, but both on the same field trip.
I have several homeschooling friends who have told me exactly what you say--they can cover the school curriculum in less than half the time it takes the public school. We already "homeschool," of course, by supplementing all the stuff my son wants to learn that the school doesn't teach. But we also use the public school, partly because the public school can offer special education, social skills instruction, pragmatic language instruction from a trained speech language pathologist, occupational therapy, etc. I feel bad taking that away from my son in favor of giving him less stress, no homework, and more accelerated curriculum. It's a toss up. Or maybe not. I'm still thinking this all through. The services in the school are weak, though, and I need to keep reminding myself of that. Nothing I couldn't teach myself in most cases. But again, I feel like I can't split myself in two. While one child is way ahead academically, he does require quite a bit of one-on-one assistance (he's only seven). The other child is struggling a bit (still trying to learn the alphabet and he's 5) and he also requires on-on-one instruction, and more intensely at this point. Add to that the fact that they are close in age and very competitive/jealous, and just the thought of homeschooling makes me want to reach for the world's largest margarita.
I appreciate all the great help and advice I am receiving here. We are desperately trying to make up our minds about next year, and you guys are all helping me get my head together.
