It seems like the prevailing negative opinion of homeschoolers is that we're a bunch of fundamentalist Christians. In my experience, while that group certainly exists it's nowhere near the majority of homeschoolers.

In our case, our reasons are primarily political. My wife and I are anarchists (think "extreme libertarians", not "useful idiots dressed in black"), and pretty much see government schools as primarily intended to indoctrinate kids to believe in the "religion of the state".

What are you reasons?

To raise kids that speak properly and don't say " what are you reasons"

Primarily for the freedom in scheduling it provides. My wife works part time, as do I. We can travel, etc. with no worries about missing anything. We sat on the beach in Hilton Head last year doing phonics with my daughter.

Yeah, I deserved that.

In defense of my grammer, I just picked up a new 60% mechanical keyboard and I'm not used to the switches yet.

In defense of our schooling approach, maybe there's a reason we are primarily self-directed...

We certainly enjoy that part of it, too. I'm a programmer and work remotely, so I'm usually in my home office at least half the day. My wife doesn't work outside the home. Between the two of us we've managed to do some pretty unorthodox traveling - like summer before last, when I was between jobs and the new one I landed didn't start for two months. We packed up the Jeep and spent six weeks living in a two-room cabin on the Outer Banks (in Rodanthe). It was a blast, and not really something most kids will get to experience.

Because I trust that the government will corrupt anything it touches.

The government cannot get anything right, so I don't trust that the one thing they will get right is teaching my children.

I refuse to willingly send my children to place where they will not be protected.

I believe as a parent I am responsible for the raising of my children, not the government.

My children are not a status symbol that I then send off for someone else to raise.

While we are Christians and teach our kids a Christian curriculum, I’d say the main reason is we are trying to raise thinking individuals and not indoctrinated go-alongs.

Proper education and no BS.

This

I agree with you completely, I'm just not sure if this is not political, religious, AND efficacy.  The time they're wasting catechizing kids in the state religion could be better used to teach other things.

Ours is a combination of politics, religion, curriculum control, and travel  (though this not quite as much now that I no longer work offshore).

My wife was a public school teacher until our last was born, at which point it became financially pointless for her to work because of daycare costs. Based on her experiences in the public education system, it was a no Brainerd to homeschool

....because.

Homeschooled 4 kids k-12. no regrets x one son who would have excelled in high school athletics.

The 'what about socialization' outcry is total BS.

I marked 'political' on the poll. The .gov schools are geared to raising ignorant masses and are controlled by vehemently liberal driven agendas. Nothing more, nothing less.

Many reasons, I blogged on this a million years ago (pasted below is some) but the primary reason is my wife and I teach our kids truth not the ebb and flow of whatever social experiment is queued up.

Although we are Baptists, religion was not the reason why we homeschool our kids.

My son was diagnosed with autism (Aspergers) and a speech delay when he was 4.  My wife, who has a BS in elementary education and was one class away from a minor in special education, worked with him daily and we put him in a pre-K program.  Kindergarten through 2nd grade was great, and he really came a long way.

He started 3rd grade at a new school.  The administration didn't seem to have a clue.  They put my son with a first year teacher who was not experienced in special education.  My wife and I had to fight a year long battle with that school to get them to do what they agreed to do.

We put him in a private school for 4th grade.  This school was just for special education students and students with different learning styles.  It was even worse.  He didn't learn anything and stayed at the 3.5 grade level.  We quickly learned this was a place to put kids in to give them a diploma, whether or not they learned anything.  I got mad and pulled him out and my wife started homeschooling him.  It took us about a year to get him back to where he should have been, and after another year he tested a grade higher than his current grade.

We actually started my daughter when she was 4.  She say big brother "go to school" and home and wanted to get started.  So my wife started her in Kindergarten homeschool a year early.

Its been good for my wife, who really missed teaching, and good for us as a family.

If you're ever in a position to have kids read aloud, do it. Note how many can correctly pronounce words, or can successfully sound them out. Note how many can read with proper inflection in a fluid manner. Now quiz the kids on what they've read, how many have full comprehension?

I have a friend who works with kids routinely. He asks them what continent Egypt is in. About 90% have no idea. He knew we home schooled so he asked my daughter the capital of Burma...and she answered (correctly for the time), "Rangoon." My daughter probably knows the new capital of Myanmar, but I don't.

That's why we home school.

Combination of things.

Didn't want my kids getting the same education I did.  It wasn't bad, just lacking in what it should have been. Seen the result of "good" public school education system...no thanks.

We are Christians and it was nice to look at the world and knowledge with a Biblical worldview, instead of a anti God world view. Same math, same science, just was great to see and learn for ourselves how to that it is how you interpret the same evidence and come to a better conclusion.

Didn't have to expose our Daughters to the sex "education" and the fall out that has on kids. Glad to say they are still Biblical and Morally straight. Yes you can actually know these things when the family relationship are healthy and moral. and our son says, no thanks...got work to do...don't plan on anything until 26 and have his degree and ready to take on responsibility

Plus just being able to mover and travel like we have...one side of country to other, long vacations, weeks and once even 2 1/2 months on the road ...didn't miss any school...freedom

Mom at home full time....tradition family...old school, live in country and enjoy nature when ever possible, not just a weekend or two weeks a year thing for them.

had our kids in what we thought was a good private school in VA, moved to FL, had several bad experiences with a local private school here (plus the govt schools are total shit here). I had been looking for a job, but we cut our expenses so we could live on my wife's salary and decided I should teach the kids.  Hey, I couldn't do any WORSE than the schools here, plus I didn't want to just warehouse them in a .gov indoctrination facility.  I'm a minarchist myself, and I'm greatly displeased with how .gov fucks up most of what it touches.  We bitch about the DMV and the VA, yet we turn our kids' schooling over to the .gov? Fuggedaboutit.

I guess that falls into politics and efficacy.

Get yo mouf ready, and guess!!

Similar.  High functioning autistic kid that didn't do well in public school  We've got 7 kids now and have homeschooled all of them, but now #2 and #3 are taking a couple of classes at the local high school  It's open enrollment which is nice, they take what they want and can skip the rest.

We really enjoy it.

The reason my mom started was the elementary school at Barber's Point NAS, HI was abysmal in '94-'96. Granted, I wasn't a model student, but try getting a 5yr old boy to sit still.

So after I was scolded for trying to help my classmates with their work after I was finished, and was scolded for reading ahead in the homework assignment. She figured it could be that difficult to follow a curriculum plan.

The main reason was to not interrupt 3rd, we were waiting for PCS orders that would have been in the middle of the year. Back into public school when we were back to CONUS. Back to public school for 4th, family death and a bunch of leave 1/2 through the school year, so back to homeschooling.

It just carried on from there. As the siblings came to school age, she just continued.

I graduated from high school in 1989, so my experience in school is from the 70s and 80s.  When I was in grammar school, we always had a long recess and a long PE a couple of hours later.  PE was football, basketball, baseball where we would run around a lot.  Translation, we ran around and played and got it all out of our system.  No one I knew had ADHD and no one was on any meds.

When my son was in public school in the late 00s/early teens, recess had disappeared, and PE was either walking around the perimeter of the yard or playing 4 square.  Not really that much to get the energy out of them....

Back when I was in grammer school, if we finished either our in class or home work early, we could always go to the bookcase in the classroom and pick out a book to read.  When I was in 3rd grade, I would get encyclopedias and look up the wars (that's what started my love of history.)  As long as we were quiet, the teacher was fine with it.

When my son was in 3rd grade at that "school", if they finished their work early, they were not allowed to get up and get a book to read.  They could not put their head down on their desk.  They had to sit there, quiet, and doing nothing.  Basically, penalized for working hard and getting your work done.

I WISH I had home schooled sooner. My son had learning disabilities and Tourettes. He was seeing a counselor who told me that he is suicidal and I needed to remove him from the school environment. That was 3 days before the start of his Jr. Year. It took me a full year to un-school him. A repeated theme from all his teachers wasn't best effort it was .. Hey just get a D to pass. That is all we are asking. He "thought" he was going to get by with that. When he went into high school he test on the 8th grade in reading, and math. When we re-tested his Jr. year he had regressed to 6th grade reading 5th grade math. Teachers were abusive. They lump the behaviorally challenged kids in with the LD students. Needless to say he was no saint. The first year I handed him back his assignments and insisted they be completed and his best effort repeatedly until he figured out he wasn't going to get by with doing less than his best. His grades improved. The rate he learns at is drawn out so it took us an extra 6 months to graduate. But he did with a B-C report card. His depression improved. But his social anxiety has not.
I'm going to add this. I cannot undo the trauma to my kid from being in public or private school. He had teachers isolating him, he was called a retard by teachers, he was left to wander the parking lot when teachers put him in the hallway for long periods of time. He refused to complain or tell me what was going on. The class he would have graduate has now lost 4 students (all in the LD classrooms) to violent crimes. We buried one yesterday at the age of 21. These are massive losses. He was one of two kids that have stuck by my son. Closing the lid of that casket evoked unimaginable pain for his mother... and for my son. The cover school we belonged to was great with a sweet group of kids. I think he would have been far better off had I home schooled him from the start.

All of the above?

For many of the reasons already mentioned above.  Public school was never a palatable option.  We tried our parochial school for a couple of years, but were disappointed with the cost and teachers.  In retrospect, homeschooling our kids is one of the best decisions we've made.

I would have to say for many reason as well.
My son is autistic to a degree and the program he was in school really didn't seem to help much with his education.  My wife would go to school to see him once in a while and every time she went in they would be doing nothing.
Since she has started home schooling his reading skills has increased in one month then in 1 year at school.
My daughter is doing so well with homeschooling I might need her to teach me! LOL

Every home schooled kid i have met has been "odd." If you are going to the average public school and you have trouble speaking the problem is on you. I own a business and have several employees. I have had two home schooler resumes come across my desk. Each went straight to the trash. The home schooled people i have meet have beem socially odd. If you cant fit in the fact that you think you can do multiplication flash cards faster does not help me. I take my daughter on various kid outtings. We come across home schooled kids alot. They are always having trouble mixing with the other kids. They dont have the same social skills. It is actually sad.

We had a son with Autism that had a great kindergarten year and it went to shit in the first grade.  We didn't feel we had much choice.  It's been good for my girls too.

Many reasons for us but #1 is Deuteronomy 6:6-9.

Powerful

Here's a reason. A student in Ohio was suspended for not attending the walkout. He elected to stay in his classroom, because he dared to say he was uncomfortable with group think. Let that sink in, suspended for not caving in to mob rule. When I hear the word socialize, I understand what that word means in the context of public school. It means conformity. It means social engineering. It's how SJW are made.

Thank you.

My strongest reasons to homeschool would be because majority of teachers are anti-military liberals who will impose their opinions on my kids. I refuse to pay for a school that forces their students to march chanting “no walls” or “no guns”

If they removed politics from schools, my second biggest reason to homeschool would be because retirement and taxes are major subjects not properly taught.

All the poll options fit, but mostly this type of bureaucratic nonsense that leads to things like zero tolerance policies.
Also, I would like to delay and reduce exposure to mentally limited and emotionally damaged people.

“Bad schools” in my FL city.   In my county there is still forced bussing, no school is ljust a neighborhood school.   Not gonna let my kids be in that situation w a bunch of feral savages, it is literally a threat to life and limb.

Also, I gew up in small rural upper midwest county w/o any “bad schools,” filled with mostly bright good kids in a public school that was top ranking in standardized test scores, FWIW.  And it was still mostly an inefficient waste of time with brainwashed libtard teachers teaching us degeneracy.  Will be worse here and now in those respects.

Maybe the kids might go to piblic or private HS but that is many yrs in the future.

Also, its a brutal grind.  Getting up early, mad rush to get ready, inhale breakfast, off to school in rush hr traffic...  its a brutal routine that o dont think is in theibterests of young children.   Sure that is how life is for most of us, but why make it such earlier than necessary???

Wife cares for the kids. No other job. As god/nature intended.  2 & 6.

I was wanting to be the devil's advocate on this thread and see what people's reasoning was for not doing homeschooling (other than financial).

I agree with your assessment. Many homeschooled kids I have met are socially awkward, reserved, don't have 'street smarts', etc. While I do agree that many homeschooling curricula are superior as far as the knowledge gained, I feel that there is a social development side of things that needs to be there too. I mean you can be very book smart and know a lot of stuff, but that won't necessarily help you land a job if you can't solve stressful real life problems, work in teams, communicate well, deal with pressure.

I am a public school graduate (graduated in 05), and I feel like I turned out good. Not into drugs, gangs, screwing around, etc. My parents were very proactive in my schooling and all too. I am now a Mechanical Design Engineer with a B.S. and M.S. Degree.

So all in all, there are pro's and cons to both. I believe the success of a child in public school is greatly dependent on how involved the parents are. I also know that some public schools are better/worse than others.

I have a step daughter that went to public school from K-3, then we pulled her out midway into 3rd grade due to a lot of issues with the teacher, and then homeschooled her in A Beka program. She is doing well academically, but I have noticed a change in her socially. She is going back to public school this fall for 5th grade. So I am interested to see how things change. I also have a 5 yr old that finished A Beka 4K program a couple months ago, and she did well with it also. She will be going to Kindergarten at a public school this fall. I think she will really enjoy it and making new friends, working with others, play time, etc.

My ten-year-old can speak basic Latin, loves chemistry, loves reading (he just finished Ivanhoe), can solve algebra problems at the high school level, knows basic European history, is currently learning early American history, and can pick and choose who he hangs out with, without having to put up with rabble

It is.  Between swim classes, archery classes, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, field trips, school group labs, Sunday school, Hebrew lessons, and normal play dates, I'd say they're well-socialized kids

Doesn't describe my kids at all.  Maybe your exposure has been very limited.

Having been a professional credentialed educator... the priority is not in WHAT I teach the kids...

but in what I DO NOT want them to learn in the greater public schools.

Special needs son+poor public and private school options in the area+a dislike of how schools aren't secure to begin with =homeschool for us.

I will be homeschooling my daughter primarily for efficiency and flexibility. I remember vividly all the wasted time throughout my schooling that was simply spent on administrative tasks. If she's going to be anything like me, she will get very bored very quickly in a conventional school. Plus, it'll be nice to be able to pack up for vacation and take course materials with us if required. We have a lot of days of great weather, so class can be held outdoors if we so choose.

In a word....Freedom

Reason #1: Security.  Can't provide an educational environment for children if the environment isn't safe.  Public and private schools are not currently able or very interested in establishing security, and the collateral costs of securing a potential mass casualty facility are a poor place for education to happen.

Reason #2:  Realizing that the purpose of the progressive schooling system is not education, but behavioral training with the end product being mindless consumers with no real skills at all, and that responsibility ultimately falls on us to ensure they are equipped with actual problem-solving skills for life.

Reason #3: Having full influence on what our children are being taught in their formative years and the ability to tailor that to each individual child, rather than sending them off to some stranger and hoping for the best.

Reason #4: Our children can operate on their own biological rhythms as opposed to being stressed with early wake-ups, arbitrary schedules, insane urban traffic, car waiting lines for drop-off and pick-up, and all of the physical spacial flow constraints of a mass casualty accumulation facility with gated entries and exits.

Reason #5: Being able to manage our own yearly schedule as a family rather than base our lives around the school district.  This really empowers a family with a sense of being able to schedule whatever we want, whenever we want, without worrying about high saturation vacationers at key attractions, traffic, and home sale seasons.

Reason #6: Disease vector avoidance.  Mass casualty collection facilities are some of the main disease vector nodes in our society, and we already get exposed to plenty of pathogens at frequent extended family gatherings and other weekly local social gatherings.  One of the worst things you can do to a child in this aspect is containing them within a room full of other children who come from disease-spreading environment, whether they be illegal immigrants who bypassed the INS medical screening processes we have for legal immigrants, children from families with no sense of personal hygiene and disease mitigation, and the disease vector teachers and classroom aides themselves.  The drinking fountains and restroom facilities are also major disease vector nodes in a mass casualty environment that make no sense for a developing young person to be subjected to daily.

Reason #7: Ability to schedule tutors, music teachers, and dance lessons during the workday on our time, not on the margins of the day after the most productive hours have been stolen by school.  This also allows us to go on nature walks with study of the natural world, museums, our local library, and other educational centers that stimulate and broaden their horizons without the constraints of bell-timed classrooms and chaotic school-bused excursions maybe 1-2x a year in a public school setting.

Reason #8: The ability to let a child develop based on their interests and abilities, not an arbitrary age-based grade placement system taken from an empire in the 1800s that most people have never heard of.  Many home-education programs call this "unschooling", and we like a lot of the philosophy behind unschooling, however we create our own hybrid system of systems that work for each of our children.

Reason #9: Being able to tailor an educational opportunity path for each individual child and their personality, rather than a one-size-fits-all draconian system.  This also allows us to fill learning opportunities with local library visits (walking distance), arts and crafts related to an interest area of study, outdoor explorations, bird watching, hiking...whatever we want to do as we follow their interests and underly those learning sessions with critical skills.

Reason #10: Healthy social interaction with adults and peers.  It's better for a child to learn from their elders, with a balance in play time with children of their ages, rather than being around misbehaving peers all day and limited time with family.

Reason #11:  Our children can come to us at any time of the day and ask questions, have their needs addressed, and bond more as a family, especially with me working from home.  If I feel like taking them to the store to grab something, or spending Father Time with them, there is nobody to stop me or some public employees who I have to beg permission from to do so.  We just do it.

Reason #12: No homework after the main part of the day.  "Did you finish your homework?  We can't do this until you're finished." said our family never.  They learn more in 2 hours than they would in 6-8 hours in a classroom environment.

Home education is as American as the Revolution and apple pie.

Our little children are avid readers and have been so as soon as they were able to conceptualize phonics, word formation, and vocabulary.  They'll go to the library every week and pick out as many books as possible, then devour them throughout the week without having to be asked to "work on reading".  Children are naturally curious, inquisitive, and hungry to know more.  A loving mother and father supporting them this way is unparalleled with any other schooling model you can think of, especially when the mother and father take advantage of the numerous educational tools and opportunities for their children.

How many home schooled kids have you met?

If you were to self-asses your statements above using the elements of thought and critical thinking standards, where do you think you would fall short?  Where are your strengths?



I will say that if a person's frame of reference is the social dynamic found in public and even private schools, your bar is so skewed and unhealthy as to not provide you with a baseline that has any relevance other than what not to be like or do in this life.  As NYC and State award-winning teacher of the year John Taylor Gatto stated,

"School is like starting life with a 12-year jail sentence in which bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I should know."

This is a year old, but in re-reading the thread it stuck me - how do you know that the people submitting resumes to you were homeschooled? I'm 34, and I literally can't recall the last time I listed my high school education on a resume.

Are you by chance hiring for an unskilled position? If so... well, your filters are going to exclude people who do well in their careers, regardless of how they were educated.

As an employer, I'm looking for people that were educated outside of a schooling environment for one primary reason:

Problem-solving skills and the ability to think on your own without having some teacher tell you what to do, or looking over at someone else's work for inspiration.

The past 120 years of public school has created a society with hundreds of millions of people who can't think for themselves, and never learn basics about logic and the scientific method in their formative years.

The future will be built on the initiatives of leaders raised outside of that system.

Look at the number of college drop-outs who fundamentally changed the world in the tech industry, for example.

All of the above, and to keep them away from useful idiots, like extreme libeterians, who think they aren't the village useful idiots...

1.  Declining cultural values
2.  The public education system teaches to the lowest common denominator
3.  The public education system has become extremely left wing

My wife was a teacher for nearly a decade, she knows the rot inside and out.

We’re through that finish line.

Main reason was to ensure a quality education.