We homeschool

Mark and I have wanted to homeschool Morgan for as long as I can remember. The 4th day after the 08-09 school year started, Morgan informed us that she was going to school. Though it was not what we were expecting (and far from what I wanted), I knew that keeping her home against her very strong wishes felt wrong. Not to mention that I had visions of her sneaking out of the house to get on the bus:) Once Morgan has made up her mind about something, that's that. So...off to school she went. And each morning for several months, my darling daughter was up at 5:30 asking if she could go to school yet. She loved everything about it...until she didn't.
At the beginning of November, Morgan's behavior began to change. She was angry, easily irritated, doubted herself, quick to cry, violent with her sister, and refusing to work through situations with Mark and I that we disagreed on. Before Thanksgiving break she had started licking her lips almost constantly. Her lips and the skin around them were raw and bright red and they wouldn't heal. Originally I thought that maybe it was from being outside during recess in the cold weather. But by the end of the vacation, her lips had healed and she had stopped licking even though we still played outside. The moment we arrived at the bus stop on the day school resumed she started licking her lips again. I brought it to her attention and asked her how she was feeling. She said nothing was bothering her and off to school she went.
Over the next few weeks, things seemed to get worse. However, she did start to open up a bit. She told me about some problems she was having with a particular teacher, how boring parts of school were, and that she was nervous to go to her literacy center each day. We talked many nights about what was going on and I contacted the teacher. Each day it seemed like more of the easy going, confident, empathetic child I had known for 5 plus years was fading away. I was completely torn. Morgan was still wanting to go to school even though she knew that homeschooling was an option. At the same time, the amount of stress that she was under was obviously not healthy and was adversly affecting her in so many ways. Mark was ready to pull her out, but I wanted to wait a bit longer.
Xmas vacation was fabulous. After 2 weeks at home, Morgan's behavior was more relaxed than it had been in a long time. She seemed to enjoy herself again. Mark and I both went to school to watch the time period when Morgan was having such a difficult time. It was absolutely clear to us why she was unhappy when we witnessed how things were done. I talked to Morgan about what her concerns were and tried to come up with solutions. She was willing to try a few things and we did. Her unhappiness and stress grew. She stopped wanting to ride the bus. She stopped wanting to go to school. Despite not wanting to leave her friends and her teachers, she chose not to go any longer. She came home and our homeschooling journey began.