We celebrated a high school graduation this weekend.  this graduation held a special weight to it.  they said it couldn't be done...or not without great travail.  it is not kaitlyn, personally, who had the challenge~the challenge came from what we have been told and what we have believed.  kaitlyn is the first of my 9 children to graduate from {public} school....YIKES!!!  Kaitlyn {and the rest of the younger children} have had to fight on several arenas: the homeschool side:

• the children can not learn {anything profitable} in public school
• children in public school are inferior to homeschooled children
• their character will be in jeopardy
• they will be having sex by the time they are in middle school
• the teachers don't care about the children
• no one can teach your child better than you
• the children are only taught to the TAKS tests ( insert your state regulated testing here)
• (ok-this one gets me)--the kids have sex in the halls.....
• god does not want children in public school

I could go on and on...and some of this is what I have taken from what i have been taught, through my faulty filter--not necessarily what was intended.

the public school side:

• children who homeschool are inferior to public school children
• children who homeschool are very deficient in what they need
• they can not socially adapt to the setting of a public school
• the homeschool children's teacher {mom} is really stupid to think she can do their job
• the children will be a drain on the resources of the system
• the children will have to be put back at least a year to make up for their lack of education
• the public school system will have to sacrifice to help 'these' children

again, i could go on...you get the idea....doesn't seem to matter which way you go, there are so many people saying it can't be done...going from homeschool to public school...and she DID IT!!!!  AND she made incredible grades....yes we have had battles, challenges, defeats and victories....as we did the 18 years we homeschooled.

what i am convinced now, is that if god is in it...then it will succeed....

Kaitlyn has done an incredible job, considering the challenges she {and the younger 6 children} faced from the first day she entered school.  She has learned more than i could have ever taught her.  she has stood up for right when there is wrong going on around her.  she has incredible friends--friends who have high standards themselves.  i am so proud of her and her victories in entering high school when they said it couldn't be done--and she finished well: all 'a's' with one 'b'.  she has learned to study (something I never could teach) she has been able to follow her giftings and talents (which we did not have the money for), learned how to test, choose classes, choose friends, learn to relate to her teachers, learn to ask for help from them.  the teachers have been incredible--all truly caring about her as an individual....we have had incredible counselors and great support.

kaitlyn is paving the way for her younger brothers and sisters and has done an amazing job of it....

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