What are the main reasons parents choose to homeschool their children?

For us, it is a mountain of reasons. And yes, I agree, this movement is in full effect, but hasn't peaked. More and more choose to homeschool every year. I think of the public education system as a production line. Every child enters the line and is periodically filled with the same information by the same technique. Problem is, some of the containers have tiny holes in them, where the information seeps out. Others are shaped differently so the technique doesn't apply to them and the contents never make it in. I think of my nephew, who actually was repremanded by his teacher for writing in cursove. It wasn't that he was doing it wrong, or that his work was sloppy. The reason she gave my sister was that the class hadn't learned it yet. WTF?? Why does that matter? The other kids didn't need to see his work, that was between him and the teacher. Another issue I have is with the form of socialization. Most people think that homeschoolers are the ones lacking in this area, but I disagree. In the sytem, emphasis is put on presentation, class, and social status. I want my children to develop effect communication skills. I want them to be able to become a part of society, without loosing their individuality. This idea that all must think, act, learn, and behave a certain way just gets my goat!! Where is creativity allowed in? Where is personality allowed? The kids subject to this environment are forced to become what the teachers, parents of other students, and other faculty think they should be. I want my children to first fall in love with themselves, to get to know who they are, and then become comfortable with that person. Then they can go out and be who they are, without any fear or hindrence.

antony2best I would think its because they can tailor the circulum to their own childrens intelligence so that gifted kids do not get bored by doing lessons way below their intelligence, and those who are not so gifted are allowed to proceed at a more reasonable pace.Also a parent has more leeway than teachers who are tied in to approved plans.

There are indeed many and varied reasons to make the home school leap. A vast majority of them, by virtue of their subjective nature, are perfectly legitimate reasons. We have home schooled our 7 children for 15 years. None of them has ever attended a public or private school. Our oldest is now a junior in college, received a 1270 on his SAT, makes dean's list every semester, and is currently trying to grow his own web development business. This is only to say that, not only does homeschooling prevent the limitations inherent in traditional school settings, but it actually allows the child to soar! We are members of that oft-disdained group of parents who home school simply because it is what we see in Scripture as the most effective model for educating children. For us, it is not a reaction to anything negative, but a decision for something positive. Some equate this with "sheltering them in our Christian values". I don't have a problem with that characterization. Can a parent really be "overprotective"? At what point is it okay to stop protecting your children? Children can learn to avoid wolves without having to be eaten by one! Anyway... Many fringe benefits present themselves as a result of this decision. Our children are never bullied at school. The peer pressure either to misbehave or to place priority on unimportant areas of life is all but eradicated. We do not have to worry about the Marxist-bent ideology of the government indoctrination centers. We can guarantee that no teacher of theirs will ever have an inappropriate relationship with our child. Our children are free to pursue areas of personal interest. The list goes on. But perhaps more importantly, our children are learning what they need to know for college and for life IN THE CONTEXT OF LIFE. One of the biggest disadvantages of traditional education is that it teaches children that what they learn in school is irrelevant to life. There is a line of distinction, indeed a chasm, fixed between the part of the child's life that is "school" and the part of the child's life that is "other than school". You say homeschooling started with politically fringed parents. In reality, homeschooling was the norm, the standard in America until about 1840. The modern home school movement, which started in the early '80's or slightly earlier, wasn't so much a movement of the political fringe as much as it was a movement of people who decided it was time to think for themselves and take a critical look at what they were doing and what the results were, especially on their children. Granted, initially it was mainly focused in the "evangelical" community. And you are correct that it now represents an ever-widening cross section of society. The only disadvantage to homeschooling, that we have noticed, is that we have to spend a lot of time with our kids! Heaven forbid!