Homeschooling...

My best friend home schools her 2 boys. They are still pretty young. The oldest is 7 and the youngest is 5. So far they seem to be doing well at home school and my best friend feels safer with them both at home.

We homeschool our son for several reasons. He has some health issues which is part of what brought the idea up in the first place. We also live pretty far away from the school. If he were to take a school bus in and back we'd hardly ever see him and there'd be a chance that he'd be waiting at the corner of our drive in the dark in morning and coming back after dark at night. Then we looked at the schools in our area and that made the final decision for us. I drive by one of the elementary schools just about every day and see the kids doing what's known as "structured recess" It looks a lot like physical education classes to me...but I asked and was told that it's structured play. I was homeschooled for a couple of years growing up. I was always shy though and didn't come out of my shell until I was in my twenties. I hear a lot about the socialization issue though...until people actually meet my son. Things have changed a lot about homeschooling in the last 5-10 years.Some depends on the area you live in since not all areas have a large population of homeschoolers or homeschool friendly activities. I'm lucky in that there are a lot of groups nearby that allow my son to have his choice of what he wants to do. He's 5 right now and so isn't old enough for the chess team, theatre group, spelling or geography bee teams, fencing club, etc. that are offered by our local homeschool association. He DOES have a full schedule for a 5 year old though. In fact I have to be sure to schedule his school time in so he has time to do it. He is part of 4-H (agriculture club...cloverleaf division for his age group), a canoe club that offers campouts and other fun outdoor stuff for kids and their families, and had playgroups with a couple of different homeschool groups.In addition to all of this he collects aluminum cans to bring in for money (yes he handles the transaction himself...I just drive) for his allowance/math lessons and has helped me when I collect and donate to a local women's shelter. He's gotten to where he is as comfortable with kids his own age as he is with adults.Also, a lot of the online schools offer organized activities for students in the same area as well as online interaction between students. In fact, depending on where you are some school systems even offer homeschooling as an option (and some states if in the US) if you want to use that system and have a teacher available for whatever reason. That said, I don't think that homeschooling is for everyone. Some kids really do better in public school. It depends on the school system and what resources are available in the area for kids to interact with each other on a regular basis.It also depends on the peronality of the parent(s) and the child or children involved.

My kids are grown now, but I homeschooled the last two. It was illegal when the oldest one was in school. The reason we homeschooled was because they weren't being taught some things we thought were important - like history. And the teachers were playing favorites. It was the best decision we ever made for our kids.

I homeschool because academically it provides a better education, bcause it provides the oppotunity for my children to stay children rather than growing up too fast from outside pressure, it provids them a chance to learn how to gt along with people of all ages and backgrounds rather than those who are exactly the same as them as they would find in a classroom, it allows their education to be better suited to their needs so that they get the best education they can, and it allows me to parents them myself rather than sending them off to someone else to do what I should be doing.

I dont agree with homeschooling. I actually begged my parents to allow me to leave public school so that i could be homeschooled. I regret it sooo badly now. I have issues with interacting with people now. Because I was at home all the time, and i was taken out of school at a young age, its sort of like i missed my childhood. I mean, its not horrible but im shy and nervous around people and i never know what to say. Im 100% sure that its a result of homeschooling, and not interacting with kids my own age on a day to day basis. I wouldn't recommend it.