I have a very high needs child and the school district would not try to meet his needs while he was in speech in preschool so I KNEW I did not want him ever enrolled in public school.

I got tired of fighting with the schools. My sons future was far more important to me than it was to them. Now that Im in my third year of homeschooling, I'm regretting not realizing sooner that I could teach "my son, myself"! I can't even begin to imagine what the outcome would have been had we discovered the joy and ease of homeschooling much earlier in his education!

Why we homeschool:
It encourages in my children my desired end result: Independant, Happy, Well-Adjusted, Individuals, who are prepared to be future leaders, opinion holders, and responsible citizens and ambassadors for the earth and its inhabitants.

We chose to homeschool from the very beginning. I have 2 gifted AA (African-American) children. I do not know any AA parents who are happy with their children's public or private school situations. Plus, after attending graduate school with teachers, it was clear that I didn't want them teaching my children. We wanted more hands-on science activities for our children than are typically found in elementary and middle schools. I knew that I could challenge and nurture my kids more effectively than these teachers who tend to have low expectations for AA kids. We also believed that subjecting our children to the eurocentric, state-mandated curriculum that ignores the achievements of AA scientists and inventors, as well as ancient African civilizations, would be detrimental to their self esteem.

I like my kids and want to raise them myself!

My third grade son was intelligent in all areas apart from math, and that was one area you had to be smart to get up-graded. He therefore found most work boring. Additionally, he was having a few minor social problems. Once started, we did not want to stop home schooling! We are currently in the final grade -12, and having completed grade twelve work in grade ten, have been free to explore college level subjects of his choice for our final two years!

My youngest was being picked on by her grade 1 teacher and she went from a happy and alwasy smiling child to one who always cried and had sore tummys. We found out this year (4 years later) that she has a mild anxiety disorder, but that disorder was very severe for those 10 months of gr 1.

It can not be one answer, since it is more than one.
1. School did not meet my childs individual needs. MY child is advanced and he would be bored with school. I want him to love learning, not hate it.
2. Parents don't keep their sick kids home any longer. Just send them with antibiotics is the norm.
3. Our family is a stronger unit, we spend time together. I really know my kids. I don't learn about them from a teachers note sent home from school, positive or negative. I see negatives before they become a problem.
4. It nice to hear people say, "I can tell your child is home schooled. He is so mature, well behaved and smart." I get this a lot, it is not my way of saying my son is better than another persons. It is just a common comment.