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Andy,
9 years ago I did not think home schooling was good either. The only one I knew that home schooled had a kid that was out of control. My wife was leaving a job that we felt was bad for our family and I got a promotion at work that I was not expecting. This freed up my wife to stay home with no lose of money. I understand the insurance problem, but I carried the coverage with my job. Insurance is a racket run by crooked companies but that another topic for another thread.
If you were to check around you would be surprised at the number of people that home school. Ask around at churches and you find them and there are groups that organize events for them. These groups are called “coverings”. In some states they are required by law and in others you don’t have to be in one. Some are so large they are their own school system. They have all of the team sports, all of the field trips and a graduation at the end of each year. They just do their teaching at home. The only reason not to have your children “socialize” is if you want to hide them from the world. There is also city league sports.
The same amount of teaching that happens at a school can be done in three to four hours at home. This can be in the morning, in the evening, on weekends or on the road while on vacation. This is a big plus. You can go places during the school year and not have to fight the crowds.
We home schooled my daughter from the 5th grade through 12th in two states. We never had a problem with finding help and we think it was the right thing to do for our family. There are good and bad examples of people that home school. The bad ones are the nut cases that are shown on the evening news and called cults or the people who don’t properly teach their kids but pass them anyway. ( Wait a minute, that sounds like some public schools.) The good ones are the kids you don’t hear about, except for once a year when the national spelling contest come around. My wife and daughter traveled a lot during that time and she got to see and do so many things that other kids never will do.
If done right, home schooling is NOT easy or cheap. It did not cost as much as the private school that we sent her to for K4- 4th grade, but there is a good bit of money involved. There is a HUGH responsibility on the parents but mainly on the parent that will be the teacher. Most will be the mother but there are a few dads that stay home.
I have probably gone on too long with this reply but there are so many good things I can tell you about home schooling after doing it for 9 years. Don’t go into it blindly. Talk about it with each other. Find some home schoolers in your area, as many as possible, and talk to them. Pray about it a lot because it will change your life. If you go this route stick with, it will be worth the effort.
Allen
BTW My daughter just finished her first year of collage and did not have any problems.
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