Our older daughter learns on her own, at home. While I have been a homeschool champion since I was a child and had homeschooled friends, it really is the best option for our child, who has mental challenges. Her attending a "brick and mortar" school would not work one bit for her. There are as many different reasons to homeschool as there are homeschoolers. One size definitely does not fit all!

We don't homeschool we unschool for various reasons listed in the poll. Mainly for the love of learning, for the love of life and to be ourselves, not what society or religious standards say we should be.

Our district doesn't have a full time Gifted and Talented program, so I had to pull my son out so that he could learn. And yes, we're having a blast.

I agree with Michelle... It is our God given responsibility as parents to educate our own children... We did not work so hard to have a child to turn over a major part of his life to someone that we do not even know.
It is no secret that our public schools are lacking in so many areas and not a safe environment for our children, much less a good "peer" influence or lesson in "socialization" (oh, how that question irks me!) ... Add to that what the government believes that it is necessary or appropriate to teach... (Oh don't get me started...LOL!) We want our son to be able to learn at his own pace while exploring the things that interest him (it is amazing how you can incorporate the "three R's" into our day to day life... with or without "textbooks.") We believe that life is a learning experience and we are enjoying the journey together. Currently my husband is completing his bachelor's in Oceanography. Once that is complete we will travel with his research. We are so very excited to be able to have the world as our "classroom."

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this poll.

Smiles and blessings to all...

It is our God given responsibility as parents to educate our children. If the Lord has granted us the ability, we should not abdicate this responsibility to either the government or private schools.

In addition to other benefits, homeschooling allowed us to travel with dad, who takes long business trips. This coming year we will be able to spend a month and a half in France. (The kids and I will be exploring all over the place, while poor dad is hard at work at Disneyland Paris.)

We chose to homeschool when it became apparent that my husband and I wanted to keep traveling for 6 mos. out of every year. It also was good for us as my firstborn was premature and the chances of learning disabilities are a bit higher in those kind of kids. I started researching it as soon as he turned 2, neither child has ever been in a public school and we are all the happier for it.

We chose to homeschool after a gang attack on my son in our little hometown of about 5000 people.

I chose to homeschool because the language I heard coming out of the mouths of the children walking from school passing by my home was highly offensive. I didn't like the behavior I saw. At the same time I found out that my children were sponges and they would just soak up not only the things that they were taught in school, but the things they observed their peers doing. It was an easy decision.