What made you decide to homeschool your child(ren)?

Question

What made you decide to homeschool your child(ren)?

Melissa when I asked this question no similar questions came up so I assumed no one had ever asked this question before.

You all have great answers. I will have a hard time picking a best answer... I might put the question up to voting.
I never considered homeschooling and even though you have good points and answers it does not change my mind - I was just interested in why.
I live in one of the best counties, if not the best county in the state I live in
(google Howard County, Maryland).
I attended in middle and high school in this county and I am thankful my children can go to school in this county as well.
I like my son's (I have three sons) teachers, principal, school, everything.

Answer 1

Everything from germs to bullies to wanting him to be able to learn at his own pace and in his own style. There are so many reasons to homeschool. Families have all different ones, and usually it is hard to narrow it down to one thing. I did have one moment when I KNEW that homeschooling was the answer, but it was something I had thought about over and over for so many reasons it would be hard to list them all here.

I taught 4 year old children for 8 years and then substituted in elementary and high school and saw many, many things that made me consider homeschooling when I finally had my son. My parents are both high school teachers, my sister is an elementary teacher and my brother's wife a middle school teacher and they also have many reasons that they are all Very vocal in support of my decision to homeschool (my sister plans to homeschool when she has children).

Like many who have current and previous public school experience, of course I have some horror stories that I could share. I have come to a time now when I try to only dwell upon the positive reasons for homeschooling and the positive things I witness from it every day, not the negative reasons to stay away from formal schooling, even though that is not always easy.

My son is 9 1/2 and is just a happy, funny, unique (at times exasperating and exhausting!) child and I want his spirit and light to shine and never be crushed. "Gifted" or "special needs" are not labels I would apply to him, but I am just against labeling and standardizing in general. He is just a kid who is good at some things and not-so-good at others and occasionally astounds me with his knowledge and even sometimes stuns me with his lack of knowledge (usually the result of daydreaming) ---all-in-all I think that works out to an "average child" label.

We have a few families with boys about his age who are each an only child and we moms just love to sit in the park and watch them play. They all talk at once and use such vivid imaginative play. They do not fight or argue or "pick on" each other. It is just delightful to listen to them and know we each made the right choice to homeschool.

Answer 2

I've also given my long answer to previous people who've asked this question. Too long to re-type but you'd find it in the archives.

The short answer:
How could I not?! It's going to be such an interesting journey that I couldn't possibly hand it over to someone else! By then end, I might even feel properly educated, heheh. We're so excited because our daughter has learned to negotiate obstacles on the lounge room floor to make her way around the corner to find me. I can only imagine how excited and proud we'll be when she learns to read, produces her first wearable article of clothing, makes a salad that she grew herself, beats us in an argument by being more informed, etc etc. Then, of course, I think our chosen philosophy of homeschooling is better than the state system; and I feel that institutuionalised schooling really prohibits them from interacting with the real world. They spend all day at school, half the night doing homework and the other half in front of the tv trying to relax from the stresses of the day.

Answer 3

My son was permanenty removed from school in the FIRST grade.
Home schooling for some may become a necessity instead of an option. For me, it became an necessity when I found myself in a situation when my son was just six years old.

All through kindergarten my son was missing school constantly. By mid-year in the first grade, we knew we were in trouble. He was constantly sick and missing school. He went from stomach aches, headaches, sinus infections, pneumonia, and later was diagnosed with asthma and was put on breathing treatments three times a day.

The school officials were questioning and threatening me almost daily. I made sure that my son was taken to the doctor EVERY TIME he missed a day of school to be certain I could show proof that my son was indeed sick. During this time, my son was put on home instruction for weeks to a month at a time on several different occasions. During that time, he would get well and be fine. Every time he returned to school, the symptoms and illness returned.

Finally, the doctor determined that there was " something " in the school making him sick. By this time, my son was VERY ill. He was on 11 medications a day and breathing treatments. He had been through numerous testings. The doctor was a pediatrician but also specialized in pulmonology (lung specialist) decided my son had to be permanently removed from school.

Later, we were made aware that the school district where we lived was being sued by the teachers union. Teachers claimed they were forced to quit their jobs due to illness caused by the school. Apparently, the school district had tried to keep the situation quiet, but the local news reported the high school had large amounts of black mold. I decided to speak to the attorney handling the case for the teachers. When I spoke to him, he informed me that yes, the entire school district had been tested. Mold was not only in the high school, but the middle school and elementary schools as well. The answer I had been searching for was finally answered. I then knew the school was making my son ill.

After doing some additional research and talking to various support groups that I found in my area, I learned that mold is an issue in MANY areas throughout the US. Not just public schools but private schools as well. Most school buildings are older ones that may not have been well maintained over the years and small maintenance issues turned into large ones that the schools did not have the funds to fix.

I also learned how a child can attend a school and not be aware there is a mold problem and while some students may experience symptoms, others may not at all. The children who show no signs of illness can be affected by mold and not even know it.

Many school districts are now starting to condemn old school buildings and re-building new ones. Of course, this is not fast enough for the children going to school now.

I live in Ohio, but many other states all over the US are experiencing the same problem. See this article in USA weekend . Most school districts that are aware of having a problem will not admit it and will do everything to hide it.


It was at that time, back in 2001 that I learned about online charter schools being an option. It saved us! My son is now off of all medications and is well. His rarely has to take any asthma medication. A miracle? Unfortunately it was not a miracle at all.

Answer 4

We live in the bush, in a remote area. The closest Primary School to our house is a 4 hour drive away whilst the closest High School is a 16 hour drive away. Hence the only options for us where education is concerned are: fulltime boarding school, homeschool or no education at all.

Boarding school isn't really a viable option because of the expense - even with the government's boarding school allowances, at $30,000 or so per kid, per year, it's a pretty prohibitive option for most families such as our's. Also Dad's not keen on any of us going away to school because of his own experiences of boarding. There's also health issues to take into account. Plus, ultimately, my family's background means home education, its freedom and flexibility, better suits our family's lifestyle (both now and in the future).

'Course being educated at home also means I can do what I want; I can push myself as hard as I want, as often as I want; I can make sure that I, at least, do get the rigorous, challenging and demanding education that I believe is every child's birthright.

I saw a video earlier which showed a kindergarten class in Uganda, and guess what? Every one of those little kids was already comfortable at reading the sort of texts that probably wouldn't be seen in any classes below about year 4 or 5 here. We have a woman here (she works for our mum) who grew up in a Ugandan village and, despite only going to school part time in an overcrowded, under resourced school in the middle of the African bush, she is SO incredibly (and thoroughly) well educated. *THAT* is the sort of education I want and sadly know that I can only get from being at home. If I was to go away to boarding school, I often reckon it'd have to be an African boarding school, somewhere like Kenya or Nigeria!

Finally, being home educated also means my siblings and I get to remain in our own community and don't have to go away to an alien society in order to attend school (a society that is 50+ years away from our own in terms of attitude, behaviours, values, thoughts etc); a society that we almost certainly wouldn't be returning to once we'd left school.

Answer 5

If I had kids, I would homeschool because even in te best school districts with the most motivated teachers, PS is still dangerous. The kids are too sexualized. We have grade 6s getting pregnant and catching STDs. Kids who are still kids are bullied to death. My friend had to sit in a class for a whole semester with a girl who THREW desks at the other students, a whole month till she was removed.

Answer 6

When my son was 9 we took him out of public school because we were spending more time in the dr's office than he was at school. He started begging me to home school him. I wasn't to sure about it myself, but after some research and encouragement we've taken the plunge. We are all much happier and he's learning at or above grade level I encourage you to see if there is a home school group in your area. Also read some good books on home schooling and consider joining an e list/group. It really helps to build a support system and talk to others who are doing it. soulz

Answer 7

We also live in a good district for public school. By 'good', I don't mean that everyone who graduates are ready for college or employment. It is good in the fact that there are few 'incidents'. (That's the politically correct term for 'problems'.) (smile)
I work in the school, as a classified employee, which is politically correct for saying that I work in cafeteria and drive a school bus.
I homeschool our son because he was not learning in school. He was wasting the teachers' time and his time. He was wasting my time because I was the one who tutored him afterschool. He did learn with tutoring but since I was not in the class, the way I taught was not the way the teacher taught. I got tired of hearing "but that's not the way the teacher did it". The one on one attention is the best way for our son to learn.

Answer 8

In our case, I had homeschooled for several years, then sent my 13 year old son to PS. He " fell through cracks" all over the place and I returned to homeschooling in Sept 07. He will not return to PS.

Have you spent any time in a local public high school? Go and involve yourself in a classroom for a few days/sessions. I did. You will be amazed!! Every parent should go and see the teachers in action. Poor discipline and unwilling students. Sigh

I can teach my now-15 year old more in 3 hours, than he learns in 2 days of PS.

Answer 9

I homeschool for the fact that our daughter has.......
ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Lukemia), Asthma & Venom Anaphalaxia (allergy to venomous insects).
She would miss school for days on end as the simplest of colds is a major thing for her, the school would'nt let her have her Inhaler in class and was sending her out to play WITHOUT her Epipen (she got bit and went into shock and they waited 2hrs before they called me and had taken her to the ER).

I will never again trust the PS with my daughter, and I am more than qualified to be her Teacher.

Answer 10

When my kids were little I did it just to fill in time, because they were bored doing the normal preschool family stuff. When they got to be school age we hs'ed because they were too far ahead of their age-peers to go to school. Now they are in grades 8&9, and there are sooo many reasons that we homeschool!

They are receiving a superior academic education. They are *years* ahead of their peers.

They are receiving superior life experiences. We go places and they learn life skills and just know so much more about different skills.

They are receiving superior socialization. They are far better able to handle themselves in social situations than their ps peers. They are better friends to others than their ps peers. They have better manners and more personal honor.

We have great family life!