Public School vs. Home School

To home school or not to home school?  That is the question...  I have been playing ping pong with this decision for the last year.  With fourth grade here in only days, the question consumes me.  I constantly wonder if throwing my sweet Rebecca into the public school system is the best thing for her.  They are not trained to work with her learning difference.  In fact, most of the teachers know very little about Dyslexia.  In addition, the administrators don't even accept the term Dyslexia.  It's like beating my head against a brick wall.  Rebecca started going to resource the end of last year.  I called and emailed several times to find out what methodology the resource room is using.  I never heard back from them.  Being that the school doesn't know about Dyslexia, I can only assume they aren't using a method that will help Rebecca.  She feels stressed at school.  She sees other kids finish their work before her.  She knows she is behind the other students.  Am I making a mistake having her go to school everyday?

So then I start to think about homeschooling.  Rebecca loves to learn.  As much as she and I butt heads at times, she is a dream when one on one.  If she had individual attention working in the style that works for her, would she make better progress?  Most likely, yes!  Home school is a perfect fit for her.  BUT...  What about socially? Sure, I could plan play dates with her friends.  But is that enough?  Rebecca is the type of 9 year old that socializes better with adults and younger children.  She struggles to fit in with kids her own age.  She needs that social interaction that a school provides - drama and all.  

There needs to be a happy medium.  But I can't find it.  I don't have a clue what to do.  So, my plan is to sit in on resource early in the year.  I want to see first hand how they are helping her.  I don't want that time to be solely catch up from the classroom.  Adjustments can be made within the classroom for that. I want to see some individual work with her on reading, spelling, and writing.  I also plan to meet with her teacher and see if we can come up with some kind of plan that will work for Rebecca.  We need to keep her self esteem up.  I want her to like school again.  At the same time I will be researching home school curriculum.  I will be talking to some friends who do home school and see how they deal with the socialization with their children.  I will then re-evaluate.  This year will work for Rebecca - one way or another.