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There are myriad reasons why one might choose to homeschool.
As you know, some people choose to homeschool because of their religion and/or other values which they believe are being "challenged" in a school. That's the type that usually get trashed in here - RW fundies. While there ARE a lot of them, that is not the only group. There are as many reasons to homeschool as there are people doing it, practically. Most of the time it is a COMBINATION of things that push people to homeschool. Let me just list a few:
1. Education (you can't get the type you need where you are)
2. Bullying
3. Moral Values (and no, not the fundy ones. If you lived in Texas with their backasswards texts coming out, would you hs? Possibly.)
4. Child is gifted.
5, Chile is challenged.
6. Learningn disabilities
7. Learning differences.
8. Physical differences.
9. Health
10. Temperament
11. Environment
12. Family travels or moves a lot.
13. Family lives overseas.
14. Live in a very backass part of the country (see Texas).
15. Overcrowding in the school/schoolroom., lack of teaching time.
16. Commute time
17. crime/drugs/assault/sexual assault in the school
18. Political considerations (for instance lots of liberatarians and the "live-off-the-grid" anti-government folks.)
19. Kid has a special talent requiring a more flexible schedule with intensive school work and little "wasted time". Like a gymnast, dancer, musician, artist, etc.
20. Just cause they LIKE it!!
Take your pick of one or all of the possible combination!!
It's a great timesaver. It is so much more efficient. You cover in a few hours what may take a class days. One-on-one - or One-on-a-few are optimal ways of learning. You don't have to wait for anyone to catch up. You CAN have it repeated 10 times if you HAVE to. You don't have to wait for the class to be quiet, or calm down. You can learn it in the way that YOU learn best, now how the "average" person learns best. You don't have to line up to go to the bathroom or lunchroom. It really is a very effective mode of learning for people. It's designed "JUST FOR YOU" and no one else.
The most fun part is, you don't have to stick to a "schedule" or a "plan". If you want to go off on a tangent, get up and have a field trip in the middle of discussing worms - go out in the backyard and dig some up, etc... - then you can DO that. I tried to "stick with the standards" when I first brought my son home so if he went back he'd be "in line" with what they were doing. He was pretty bored with it though by the 2nd year. Ok son, what do YOU want to learn about. CHINA! So we studied China - in doing so we incorporated not only history, but mythology, reading, science, math (converting li to miles. Calculating how much it would cost to build the Great Wall in chinese money and how much would it cost today in Dollars and cents.
If your nine year old wants to study Algebra - and they can do it - albeit slowly - then why the hell not?
If he wants to take a middle school level Chemistry course on line and he can do it, then why not?
If he wants to spend a few months watching lectures on Ancient Egypt by a college professor, then go for it. He practiced his "note taking" while doing so.
Instead of just learning about some things in theory, you get out in the world and see how it really works. Calculate the cost of groceries, discounts. Figure out how much per oz something costs. How did it get there. Evaluate the nutritional content of different products. Buy stuff and make it yourself. Grow your own. Build it. Take it apart. Stay with a subject as long as you want. As long as you NEED. You don't have anyone else's timetable to adhere to. - oh and - do door-to-door - GET OUT THE VOTE with your mom, Go to political rallies, march in protests!
Some people are top down learners and some bottom up. Some are general to specifics, some are specific to general. School typically teaches bottom-up, specific - and some kids - like mine - are top down general to specific. He's a "global learner" which makes NO sense to people who DON'T learn that way. And sitting in a classroom that teaches it the other way around is torture.
People learn in different ways. They learn at different rates and stages. It's hard to accommodate that in the classroom. Typically most teachers are audio learners so that's how they teach - by "lecturing". However, some kids - more and more as a matter of fact - are visual learners, meaning they have to SEE it to understand it. Some kids are kinesthetic learners meaning they have to DO it to really understand it. Speaking of - some kids are just "antsy" - meaning they have to MOVE AROUND to learn best. Sitting perfectly still and "listening" is like death to them and they certianly can't learn that way.
Did you know that fluorescent lights can cause children to behave as if they're ADHD - but in fact, they are not. It's just the lighting that causes. it. Thus all those bewildering conversations between the teacher and the parents because the behaviour is so WILDLY different that each think the other is just CRAZY and/or in DENIAL or something. ooh - something else - have you LOOKED at textbook lately? So many colorful pictures and short little pull-outs. The page is a MESS of color and shape - they do it to "keep kids interested". For SOME kids! It's absolute HELL trying to use a textbook like that. If you're "visually distractable" it becomes almost impossible. Some kids want black and white text, maybe a line drawing or picts on some OTHER page, but just stick with the facts instead of trying to make it look like a PARTY on the page!
I found an Algebra text from the 50's that was GREAT for my son. Concise. Clear. Lots of "word problems" - though some were the cause of great mirth. "The bank manager makes $9.00 an hour and the teller makes $1.50. . . or Farmer John's granary hold XX bushels of wheat. He usually yields xx of wheat per acre, how many hectares does he have to plant to fill up the granary? Which also led to discussions about economics, inflation, life styles and how they differ from 50 years ago. Farming, ancestry - my folks and their folks, the depression, etc..........
Lots more connections are made. When we did study American History we did so by using it as a guide and filled it out with: an EMPHASIS on our State history (instead of a "different class"), we looked at what was going on in the world - not as in much detail, but an overall sense of what was going on and who was doing what - The French Revolution, The Opium Wars. We also incorporated - what was going on in Literature, Art, Music, Science, Inventions, during that same time period. I was amazed at what I didn't know had happen ed "concurrently - 'cause I - like most - was taught in little modules divorced from each other. American History. World History. Science, Lit. All devoid of any sense of each other. It's an amazing way to learn, I think, instead of compartmentalizing history the way it's usually taught.
That aside, for some kids, it's just the right thing to do. It works for them so why should people be upset about that? Yeah, there are some people who should no-way-in-hell be "homeschooling" their kid - but there's a few ps "teachers" out there - and some principals for that matter - who should no-way-in-hell be anywhere NEAR a kid! (No, I am NOT BASHING ALL TEACHERS!!! just a couple :) )
We were planning to hs temporarily - until we could get a different school for my older son. But it worked so well for him, he was SO HAPPY, that we kept doing it. He tried a couple of years ago to "go back" - he went to one semester of 8th grade. He HATED it. Everything about it. Not to mention - he was BORED OUT OF HIS FREAKING MIND!! (more on that if you want) so he came back home. He's now at an "alternative high school" where all the smart quirky kids go. People think they're a bunch of losers who never DO anything but nothing could be further from the truth. These kids are amazing! Anyway, if it wasn't for that school, he'd still be at home.
There's a homeschool group here on DU. It's pretty quiet but I'm sure if you're truly interested in information, and not just bashing - others will be glad to chime in!
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