Hi

Sorry can't help with recommendations.

The danger with homeschooling her is you will teach her to hide from the world. Instead, teach her that her body is amazing and she should love it, and teach her to be resilient in the face of trouble and face up to it rather than running away from it. Does her current school have no bullying policy? I would have thought it should be the bullies who were forced out not their victim. You should talk with the teachers and ensure the bullies are disciplined. Otherwise it seems like they got off scot free while she was forced to leave. If you do homeschool her, make sure she mixes with other kids regularly too, the risk is she could retreat into herself and struggle later when she has to face, for example, university, or the world of work, where you do face nastiness and bullying but just have to suck it up and keep going to pay the bills.

I would say the important thing is not food but exercise. Try to find a form of exercise she enjoys - don't force her to exercise as this will put her off for life. Encourage her to try different things, maybe martial arts or dance or yoga for example, things she would not get the chance to do at school. Find local beauty spots and take her walking, go on walking holidays and enjoy the fresh air together.

Another idea is working together to fix your issues - while she starts to exercise and eat healthily, you could quit smoking and encourage each other on the journey. You could put away the money you would have spent on junk food and cigarettes, and save for something you would both like, maybe a holiday or a computer, some of the consoles have sports games which can be a lot of fun. You could have a star chart on the wall for motivation and give yourselves small treats. If she sees you can fight your problems, she will be inspired to try with her own struggles. Also if you quit smoking you will be more able to exercise with her, and will have more money for her exercise classes or more expensive healthier foods. Not to mention the benefit to your own health.

I used to work with kids (girls) in a group home, and all of them had weight problems. We had a manager, herself superskinny, trying to help the kids with strict diet. An adult can understand that not eating pizza today will make her look good for the swimsuit next year, but kids dont think that far. It only made them sneak in food or eat in secret. And those kids were older than your daughter.

I agree with Lizzie, focus on exercise. You might find a program where you live, but if not; Do it with her. Find something you both like. It needs to be fun. Try different things, if possible. We played soccer with the kids in the group home, we spent time swimming and also went hiking with a camera (and make taking pictures the focus of the trip). We arranged dance nights (all girls). We bought a pilates tape (only one girl liked that). I lost some weight myself being that active, but was in great shape despite being big. And the same was true about the girls. One of them lost a lot of weight, the others some but all of them develped great physic; good blood pressure, excellent heart rate during exercise, and strong useful muscles. We also did things like arts and crafts in the evening instead of TV since TV tends to encourage snacking in the evening...I know it is different in a family but I think a lot of what we did is possible to do at home.
Good luck to both of you,
Susanne

my daughter is overweight and was bullied because of her weight. And she wasn't even that overweight not compared to me. She lost about 15 -20 lbs in about 5 months and what worked for us was to find healthy foods (like fruits and veggies) that she liked. I didn't deprive her completely from junk food. Just gave it to her in moderation. And when we would go shopping I would let her choose the healthy alternatives of snacks she liked. There is some really tasty stuff out there that you can't even tell the difference on. I didn't make it a big deal. I just changed the way we both ate. As far as the exercise I agree with the comments here, find something fun that she likes. My daughter loves to dance to music videos and every once in a while she works out with me at the gym. It's really true that no matter what size she is she should be told how beautiful she is and how much she is loved. And that there is nothing wrong with her. Some of the most beautiful, accepting loving people are the heaviest people. And that is okay.