I am a person who has been on both sides of the fence. I have children ranging in ages of 8-13 and they went to a regular public school until September of 2007. They are now in a virtual charter school and I don't ever plan on sending them back. They enjoy having their own computers and learning in a nice environment and I love being able to watch them learn and know that my children are safe.
Some people are against children being schooled at home because they think that the children will be socially retarded due to a lack of socialization at school. I disagree because when you home school you get to pick and choose whom your child socializes with. How many times has your little "Johnny" or "Susie" came home from school and told you something they heard that just made your jaw drop?Too many times for me. Public school is can be dangerous too. My children were the good, always did there work types students. Can you guess what they attracted. That's right! Bullies.
I can't even count how many times one of my children came home and told me that they had been picked on. Does the public school system help with bullies? It didn't for me. I went to the school to talk with the principal and you know what happened to the student? Absolutely nothing. One of my children (a girl) was jumped by over twelve children and the principal and teacher wanted to talk about my child using an umbrella to defend herself. She shouldn't have to do that. She should have been safe in school. Since she wasn't that was part of my reason to remove her and my other children from the public school system.
Another reason is the curriculum. When we started this virtual charter school I looked at my second grader's work and exclaimed "What grade are you in, college?" My children have had a very challenging year seeing as though they came from the public school system and were not prepared for such a challenging hands on curriculum. I think they did good for it to be our first year doing this. They love it and my husband and I love it. He works outside the home so I do the teaching.
For those moms and you dads too who are homemakers that have children I strongly suggest you try to home school your child. You get a satisfaction out of knowing your child is learning as well as safe. If you join a virtual charter school that is part of the school system like we did you will have an easier time that going it alone, but if that is the route you want to take then go for it. You can find just about anything on the internet to home school your child. A lot of sites are free too.
You may choose to home school and then see it's not for you. You always have the option to send them back to school in a traditional brick and mortar setting. I believe it's better to try and fail then to never try at all. I am definitely a home school advocate. It's the only way for us. Is it for you too? Only you know. The question is to home school or not too home school and only you can decide.
