Poll: What is your main reason for homeschooling?

[Theodore]

What is your main reason for homeschooling?

[hbmom36]

1. Medical
2. Atmosphere of public school
3. My kids are VERY bright-and would be bored to tears in public/private school

[Linda]

The main reason we home school is to avoid the atmoshpere of the public school. Both of my girls are now in middle school...and I think middle school is the toughest place to be.

[AprilP]

We have decided to homeschool because we want control of what our children are learning and who is shaping their beliefs. I also love the way we can "custom fit" their curriculum to suit their needs.

[beyond_the_horizons4]

We homeschool because we enjoy the journey as a family. Our children are given to us for such a short period of time before they venture off into the world as adults. It seems a little strange to ship them off for the majority of the day for strangers to raise and enjoy when they are young. My children have taught me so much. When you homeschool, everyone is constantly learning and growing.

[AnnetteR]

I have a couple reasons. I think schools are very chaotic. It seems like kids are running wild in schools these days, with very little effort or expectation that they sit quietly and work. Bad manners and bad behavior seems to be the norm.

I find it very disturbing the amount of supplies that we are to purchase for our students: pencils, crayons, colored pencils, blue pens, black pens, red pens, markers, water color paints, filler paper, spiral notebook paper, composition notebooks, rulers, white glue, glue sticks, scissors, erasers, calculators, folders, traper keepers, boxes of tissue, etc. We're buying lots of supplies but I know I'm only seeing a fraction of a percentage of a return. Some of the schools here don't even let children keep their supplies to take home and use for homework, which means you have to buy replacements when the homework calls for something that the school insists remain on the school grounds.

Lastly, I think teaching methods have gone haywire. I certainly didn't like the methods they were using at the preschool that my son went to. While he was only 3 they were putting a marker in his hand and making him write letters and words in a daily journal. This made my son very reluctant to write or learn the alphabet. I don't know why any school or teacher would think it so important for a 3 year old to write that they would force them to do it against their will. I think this kind of teaching is very damaging and it's one of the things I will be avoiding by homeschooling my son.

[happymom]

We have always wanted to keep our kids out of the public school system for all the common reasons, (guns, drugs, sex, overcrowding, poor education, lack of values, etc.) but the main reason we want to HS is because there are only two catholic schools in the area, and the one we are affiliated with only allows 3 or 4 new children per year and have 4 other parishes that compete for those openings. It is widely known that the kids who are selected are from families who donate large sums of money. It seems so wrong to start out a little one's education that way.
If I had to list a second major reason for HS, it would be the desire to help my kids grow into happy, healthy, intelligent, loving people. I can't justify shipping my babies off to boot camp and hoping they turn out alright.

[love2bastayathomemom]

[Lorren]

[jan]

GOD is the source of my strength,I want my children to have that same strength.I want to be the main influence in my childrens lives.I want to be close to them,and when they have questions I want them to come to me not another child or an adult that doesn't really know them or care .



That is just to name a few!!!

[Ramona]

It's so much fun! I just love having my kids all around me and giving them all the things I know that I want them to know too.

I want them to be well-educated when they're finished, able to make small talk about the world with whoever they come into contact with. I don't see kids educated in institutional schools being able to do that.

I loved learning but I hated school for social reasons. I want to protect my kids from that.

I am strongly opposed to the secular humanism taught in the public schools. I like being able to give my children a Christian education with our values and a classical approach to Absolute Truth.

Ramona

[Kadriennel]

[Debbie]

[KarMel]

We decided to homeschool because we felt it was right for our family. We wanted to bring our family closer and teach her ourselves and give her more freedom and flexibity. We wanted to give her a good Christian education also.

[Aspie]

I'm a teenager. ((Don't lose interest in me straight away))

Taught at a 'goverment' school.

However, any FUTURE children I have WILL be homeschooled.


For plenty of reasons:

1)Safety concerns - no, teachers don't do anything. Been there, done that.
2) The confusing message(s) that school gives out: 'Don't-listen-to-strangers-unless-in-school-and-then-you're-expected-to-automatically-know-which-you're-to-speak-to-and-which-you-aren't-you-will-get-in-trouble-for-not-knowing' and
'Think-for-yourself-but-do-what-we-tell-you-to-do' spring to mind.
3)Negative behaviour = Instant attention. Positive behaviour = Instant ignorance
4)If they turn out to be tactile learners, the school system pretty much means they're ******.
5) I can make sure they learn things that are relevant to their life and not get clogged up with other pointless subjects. 'Whew, that was a close one, thank goodness I knew Pythagoras's theorem'. I THINK NOT.
6) Make sure they are taught things they need to know, which the system won't teach them. *pokes screenname*
7)If they have to do some work at home, why not do all of it at home and save them from the journey?
Because the system doesn't give adequate explantation of homework.
Oh,yes. LOGIC.

And I'm sure, given time, I could come up with lots more suggestions.