I think homeschooled children should still be tested periodically to make sure they are actaully gettign an eduction tht is at least equivilent to public schools.

I taught high school in Ontario and judging from the homeschooled students that came into high school as their first public school experience, I would say that it all depends on the parents which means every one of them had different experiences. Those that were home schooled for religious reasons had the most difficulty since they thought we were all sinners who needed to be saved or ignored. They had the most problem with socializing. Those whose parents enrolled them on grouip activities had a group of buddies already in the school. Ironically, the children of university professors often had to up their game to meet our standards. In other words, balanced, intelligent parents, especially those who followed Ontario homeschooling standards did as good a job as the public system. Others . . .

Both my daughters were homeschooled. They are well-adjusted, converse intelligently with any age group, and both we to college. My youngest is a Sophomore pursuing two degrees. My experience with public school kids and adults convince me it was the correct choice.

I think kids need socialization that public school provides -recess, learning to get along with others.

I homeschooled mine for several years. I researched what the state standards were, made sure we met those, wrote lesson plans, spent countless hours picking out our curriculum. Do you know how hard it is to find good secular homeschooling materials??? We had very active social lives. My kids both had more friends when we homeschooled. We've encountered a lot of bullying in public school. But, my daughter, who is the younger, works better for her teacher than she did for me. And I was getting divorced and needed to look for a job. So we had to make a change. Is it right for everyone? Nope. Do some families fuck it up? Yep. But sometimes it's the better choice.

I don't have children, but if I did, I think I would want them to go to public school to learn how to integrate with society. You can't do that by staying at home. Then my version of home schooling would be to make sure I understood fully what kind of education they were getting at school, and modify or supplement that education, as necessary, at home.

I have quite a few home schooled students. Some are products of a good schooling and the others are quite the opposite. I've not seen alot of them that were in the middle. I don't know why? Not everyone is cut out to school or be schooled. Overall, most seem to be socially awkward but that happens in public school, too! I'm not a big fan of home schooling but at the same time I don't want to have a monolithic educational system dominating America. I don't know what the best answer is.

Judging by the amount of flat earthers , anti-vaxers and creationists that have sprung up in the past 15 years I'd say it was a bad thing

I do both I think social interaction is necessary to make a person well rounded. I have people I know that were homeschooled they seem distant and a tad arrogant at times.

I think that most parents make the best decisions for their children.

I would never suggest it. Socializing with peers is so important to the development of a young person.

It's illegal in Québec but so are religious organized schools. Our system is secular. I actually think that is a good thing. I have often associated homeschooling to religious fundamentalism but I would respect this type of homeschooling:
[imdb.com]
Not everybody that think they can teach are actually good at it.
Hats off to inspiring teachers!

We had my 14 year old daughter home school this year due to bullying and she loved it. We loved it as well but she wants to try high school next school year. Her biggest complaint was feeling lonely. She did have and see her friends often but it's not the same as seeing them everyday at school.

My daughter has home schooled all five of her children,,,,the middle child has cystic fibrosis and just think of all the germs coming home from 5 classrooms of school.....most of us would catch a few colds, but they might kill Nick......consequently, with the help of some computer courses teaching basic reading , writing, math, etc, they got to learn what ever interested them,,,,they learned how to research all kinds of things,,,when people ask about "socializing" remind them that there are 5 of them.....just think of all the nonsense they never had to deal with,,,nobody bullied them,,,,,nobody got shunned by the queen of the cafeteria,,,,nobody got shot by random nut cases,,,,, nobody had to get up to catch the school bus before dawn,,,,,,,they weren't on the school bus that got into an accident,,,,,,no teacher took a dislike and picked on them..... could go on.....the eldest is graduating this May from Nursing School....the 2nd one has finished his pre reqs for nursning school,,,,,the rest of them are busy being computer nerd and we'll see what they decide to do when they are older.

As a person who was bullied (weren't we all), and the quality of education in many public schools, I do have reservations about it. I'd prefer public schools move toward student uniforms and less focus on sports. More and more, it seems, the peers I'd actually want my child to interact with don't go to public school. Many have opted for home school or private school.

That said, my spouse would prefer to home school but primarily for religious reasons, and I feel like I should resist this. I think that socialization is very important to a child's development. Especially as it relates to religion. At some point my child is going to have to go out and work with people who may not view things the way her parents do. She needs to be able to deal with it.

I guess I'm undecided...

I think public school is better than home schooling. An important part of education is learning to interact with others. That seems to be missing with home schooling. Plus studies have shown that children learn from other children.

I have no experience with home schooling. But, I have real questions about the motives and qualifications of those who do it.

I know several couples that home school. It seems to be a good option. It's a lot of work

If the Education is Rounded and Good, not a problem but is a Vaccum, people skills will be needed for this world we live in.

Well maybe parents could just become active stakeholders in their child’s public education. Seems like that would be the common sense middle ground here. We so often take sides when obviously we all want the best of both worlds. Ironic.

A little from column A and a little from column B
My kids went to the most average schools I could find as far as core curriculum goes. I figure for further studies and potential empliyment, why throw in a disadvantage of something unknown to the person checking out their results.
My kids also got lots of tutoring at home, more on non school subjects as well as education in industry. My son attended a Microsoft Academy as well as College while still in school. His basic computer skills were learnt at home.

as long as the parents are professionally qualified

I have an adapted granddaughter who is home schooled. In reality, she has 6 hours a day in computer led teaching, tests, and online discussions. Her mother does almost nothing but I am impressed with the level of education she is getting. It is through the State of Ohio. On the other hand, I owned a used bookstore and the homeschoolers would come in there for reading material. Most were bright, talkative, and into reading. But some were painfully shy, withdrawn, and huddled together. I always wondered if those kids, at least, would have been better being in school where they could have some interaction with other kids.

I think our public schools are intentionally being killed by religious fundamentalists who choose private schools or home schooling and take their money away from public institutions. I am a believer in equality of opportunities for education, so I think home schooling should be allowed only if there is a serious need for it (family travels out of the country often, a disability, etc.)

Most people that homeschool their children take on that task because they believe that it would be a way to protect their children from the bad influences they will be exposed at school. The fact is that children will get exposed to bad things no matter what. The best strategy is to teach children on how to deal with the things that they will see and experience out there. This is what my parents did with me when I was growing up and by the time I arrived at high school and later college I was well prepared to deal with all kinds of issues and pressures. A couple of years ago my ex-wife took on the task of Home schooling our three children. At the time there was nothing I could do since they were residing in another state. Two years later after a court order review it was discovered that the children had fallen behind academically and their social skills were not at the level it should be.