I would say, as a teacher and private tutor, that 75% of the home school families I have worked with did it for religious or protective reasons. Not exposing their children to other influences. The other 25%, child was advanced in some way and they could support that at home, or learning disabled and may have needed more support. With the exception of 2 kiddos all had normal social experiences. I do feel that all these parents gave it thought.

If you raise your child in a protective bubble they will be ill-prepared to face the real world.

I was a single, working mum and home schooled my daughter. We had a lot of fun together. She is not a high achiever, but she is a kind, dependable, honest, trustworthy, science-oriented skeptic. What more could anyone ask?

It depends on the parents. I had a male colleague who was a double-e and whose wife was a teacher. They decided to home school their son while she took a good number of years off. The boy was brilliant and musically gifted, as well as athletic, and well socialized--they attended church and he was an Eagle Scout. Their son finished high school at the age of sixteen, literally aced the SAT (perfect score) and was given a scholarship at Virginia Tech (engineering, of course). Kid turned out all right, thanks to good parenting.

I don't see how public school prepares you for the real world. It certainly didn't prepare me and I was valedictorian. Being surrounded by same age peers for 12 years is overrated.

My son does online public school. That was because his experience in public school, Montessori school, and a school for autistic kids already were disasters. So we're trying this and for now it's good.

Some parents are sucky homeschool teachers. But some public school teachers are pretty sucky too. There are good homeschool parents as well. But I don't think a kid is going to be a failure just because they didn't have to put up with being around 30 other kids in a classroom day in and day out. There are lots of different ways to experience life.

This can be a difficult situation. I have known several people who have been home schooled. All of them have come out fine. I do have a concern that the kids will miss out on being around other people, get a point of view not in step with reality.

It's not for me to second-guess how other people raise their children and it's not my place to say if homeschooling is a good option for any particular child.

My fear is that people choose to homeschool to avoid having their kids exposed to things like evolution, sex education, schools that don't have prayer every ten minutes, or other sorts of subject matter that's been politicized. But the reality is probably that there are nearly as many reasons parents elect to homeschool their kids as there are kids getting homeschooled.

If it's for religious reasons I do think those kids are going to have a tough time in the real world where most don't subscribe to their version of whatever religion. If it's for reasons of the parents don't want kid in class with racial and ethnic minorities or exposed to gay people, then fuck them. Seriously. Fuck those people. Preferably with something made from abrasive materials. If it's because your kid has special needs you fear won't be met in your local publicly-funded schools, I totally understand and sympathize. You're probably doing the best you can. It's awful. Hang in there.

Its probably prevention of them getting shot! When I see kids graduating from high school I think wow congratulations you didn't get shot. It's pretty sad.

As a teacher I've had some good home schooling situations and I've seen some disasters. You usually see the disasters when they re-enroll their children back into the public school system. Usually because they came to realize that they weren't prepared for the demands associated with home schooling. What you usually encounter in these circumstsnces are students that are profoundly dysfunctional in their social skills and missing large chunks if knowledge.

Conversely, I have taught home schooled students which are genuinally gifted and way ahead of their peers. These are usually re-inserted into the public sector because things changed at home and home schooling was impractical, or their parents desired to get them more social exposure.

The trend that really launched home schooling was driven by Fundamental Christians that desired to control the information their children were exposed to. Later, disenchantment with the failings of public schools drove other parents to experiment with home scooling.

Though it can be done effectively by some, I'm suspect of the motivations for doing it in the first place. It seems to go hand in hand with keeping kids from being exposed to the world outside their religion (usually Christian) for as long as possible. And to limit exposure to any other way of thinking, other than what the parents dictate.

Some are simply religious nuts who don't want their kids exposed to science, especially Evolution, but others are genuinely concerned about how miserably most of our schools have been failing over the past 30 to 40 years. If you do not the money to send your children to a private school, homeschooling is an option.

When in kindergarten , my granddaughter was coming home with bruises from a pair of older boys . The bus driver , had her sit directly behind him , which provided protection , while she was on the bus . The school didn't even talk with the boys or the parents . So she pulled her , and began homeschooling her . She's very bright . When her younger brother started kindergarten , the school tested him and told his mother , he was reading at the third grade level . They seem to be doing much better at home , than in school .

There is a wide range in this, isn't there? On the shallow end of the gene pool we have the ones who fear their children may learn ungodliness and homosexuality from the Godless school system. On the other end are PhD parents who want to be able to discuss quantum physics and calculus with their kids before their tenth birthday.

I think they’re making a very poor decision.

I think it's wrong because maybe half of "education" is dealing with other kids and being in "society."

I think if it is homeschooling in the US, their children might not get shot. Unless of course, the parents are drunks who leave guns around the house.

I've never met anyone who has home schooled their children.

I answer this knowing it's the question you're asking, specifically about parents, which seems to have been ignored in this thread, in some cases.

It's a crap shoot, just like everything else.
Some have excellent intentions and work hard to do a good job.
Others are idiots and shouldn't be permitted to own a dog, let alone
raise children.

My daughter in law home schools. It didn't hurt the oldest any so I don't suppose it'll hurt the other 3. Whatever makes them happy.

It depends on the parent some will do it for good reasons,crappy local schools schools not being able to meet kids specific needs etc a lot seem to do it for religious reasons it seems to be easier to do in your country over here not so much

I think very few parents have the ability or time to do this properly, and their motives are often highly suspect. Children also need to interact with their peers.

I depends on why..

I think many parents homeschool their kids to keep them away from "bad influences." Often there is a religious element to this: they want to keep their children away from "ungodly influences." I watched a friend of mine rush to sell her home and move to a small town to prevent her daughter's having to attend the local public high school. I lost a lot of respect when I saw her take what I perceived as a cowardly action. Help your child to learn to manage a challenging world; don't hide them away from it.

I presume that home-schooling is the province of the affluent; how many parents with limited resources can afford to have one parent stay home full-time to serve as teacher? Also, I think there are relatively few parents who have the skills needed to teach all the things that students need to know in this day and age. It may work for some people, but I think it does the kids a disservice in terms of their ability to adapt to the real world. And it's a slap in the face to the teachers in the public schools, who in essence are being told that THEIR skills are not equal to the skills the parent can wield. Or that a public school education is so frightening that it must be avoided at all costs.

I have known people who have done it very well and also people who have done it very poorly. I think there should be a little more oversight to ensure the children are meeting their educational milestones. I also think parents should keep in mind that the children need social development outside the home.