My Name is Alisha. I am a homeschooling Mother of five. Why do I home school my kids? Well, to answer that I have to tell you about a Mother named Vicki.

Way back in the early eighties Vicki had two little girls in the public schools, one in 4^{th grade & one in 1st grade. The oldest little girl was having a terrible time in school, not being able to read or subtract, always being sent to the Principles' office, nightmares at home & would cry & beg every morning not to be sent back there. The youngest girl had her own set of problems at school, she had to go potty a lot & the teacher would not let her go often enough so she would wet her pants & Vicki would have to go and bring her a fresh pair of pants. This would happen quite often. Vicki and Ron (the little girls Daddy) knew something needed to change, but how? They could not afford the Christian school in town.}

One day while ridding in the car they heard about homeschooling on Focus on the Family Radio show. Raymond & Dorothy Moore were guests that day, and were talking about the benefits of teaching your children at home. Well, that was a strange idea! Was it even legal? How can someone teach their own children? As it turned out homeschooling in that state was not legal. But at the end of the year when they wanted to hold back the 4th grader a year & said she was unteachable, and they were trying to label the 1st grader as retarded, the parents of the two little girls knew something drastic was needed!

So the next year the two little girls sat happily at home and learned with their Mommy. The two little girls that had been told were unteachable & retarded learned by leaps & bounds that year! When Vicki tested them they were a full two years ahead of where they were supposed to be! The little girls had to be very careful not to tell anybody that they were taught at home, & was careful not to be seen during school hours, but they were very happy.

The years passed and homeschooling became legal, the girls were doing well. One year Vicki became very ill & almost died. Homeschooling became very difficult, and the oldest girl felt she was missing out on all the fun her friends were having. So Vicki & Ron decided the girls were older now & doing great with their school so they enrolled them in the local public school.

Well! That did not go well at all. The Principle decided that since the two little girls had been taught at home they needed to be tested to be sure they had not been brain washed or abused. Meanwhile the oldest girl was shocked at how behind everybody in the classes were, how mean the kids treated her, and how they treated the teacher! In fact the teachers never really seemed to teach anything that day they just tried to keep everybody busy. That night Ron & Vicki told the principle that the two little girls would not be back!

Well as you might have guessed I was that oldest girl, and I was VERY happy not to go back to public school. I knew then I was not missing out on anything! I was very motivated to do my school work after that, & though my Mom had a long recovery & it was not easy to keep on homeschooling her two girls she did. She taught me perseverance, selflessness, and a love of learning. Now both my sister & I home school all eight of her grandchildren. So I just want to say… THANKS MOM!

Alisha Hauser ©2007