I am not sure if this is politically correct to ask, but here goes anyway.
Why do people homeschool their children? I know it may be different for every person, but is there a more common reason why - bad school districts perhaps. Also, how do you go about homeschooling your children - do you have to be a teacher and do you have to follow a certain curriculum? How do you know what to teach for each grade - do you follow your district's plans? Do you homeschool for K thru 12.
No one that I know of homeschools their children and I have heard of it plenty of times before this thread, but I never had anyone to ask about the specifics.
I have always wondered how people homeschool. Me, I am very happy some days to drop my kids off at school.
That's a great question...with LOTS of different answers
For our family, there's a handful of reasons. We like the freedom to include religion in our studies, we like following our own schedule, we feel our son's personality is best suited outside of a classroom setting, & our main reason is that we feel nobody would care as much about his education as my husband & I.
Like I said though, there's SO many different reasons people choose to homeschool. And I also understand & respect others who choose NOT to homeschool. My philosophy is that each family does what is best for their family, you know?
Let's see...I was a 1st grade teacher before our son came along, but I'm one of the few homeschool parents I know who was a certified teacher. Each state has it's own homeschool laws. Some states heavily monitor homeschoolers by requiring parents to submit curriculum plans, complete district exams, etc. Other states do no monitoring & parents are not required, by law, to report anything to their home district. And there's everything inbetween.
As far as curriculum, if you just google "homeschool curriculum" your eyes will go buggy! There are TONS of resources to choose from, & it's often a task of whittling down the multitude of choices & finding what curriculum & approach will work best for your family as opposed to having too few choices
Some families choose their curriculum based on religious vs secular content. Others choose it based on the learning style of their child (audio, visual, kinesthetic, musical, etc). Some families choose it based on price.
You can participate in online schools, where they give you the lessons, you report grades to them, & it's structured similar to a "brick & mortar" school system. You can assemble your own curriculum pieced with Math from this place, Science from this place, Literature from this place, etc. You can buy "curriculum in a box" where they have a skeleton schedule planned for you & all the supplies you'll need. Some families don't use any curriculum & let their child's interests direct them into learning experiences.
There's SO many
ways you can homeschool, so it's hard to define it with a short explanation!
Some families know from birth that they will homeschool (we fall into that category). Other families choose homeschooling as an alternative to school because their child is struggling with some factor of schooling. Families might homeschool for a year or two to travel the world with their children. Again, there's SO many ways you can homeschool, there really is no black & white definition. I don't think you could put 10 homeschool families in a room together & come up with the same reasons, learning approaches, schedules, etc.
All that being said, my step-daughter is public-schooled because her mother doesn't want to pull her out of school. I was public schooled my entire life. I spent years teaching in both private & public schools So I have a great respect for both sides of the coin & I feel what's MOST important to remember is that every family is doing what is best for their family.
Thanks for asking the question though...I hope I didn't speak up for any other homeschoolers on this board too much...feel free to throw in your two cents too!!
That haircut/color did not flatter me!
Better yet, it will be Marika's last one as a "minor" (assuming 16 stays hte age for that for passports).
We have been trying to book a room on the 
) He has also taken hip-hop. He will always take as many dance classes as I can pay for and get him to. He is not in hip hop this year onl becuase it conflicts with theatre rehearsals. LAtely he taps dances everywhere (in line at teh grocery, while he does his school work, you name it)
I just had to tell everyone that it is finally snowing and STICKING!!
