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I have been homeschooling my children for just five years. But, in that time period, through my efforts to keep my children "well-socialized", I have met homeschoolers from just about all walks of life. I've known Christian, Jewish, and secular homeschoolers, unschoolers, you name it. Married parents, divorced parents, single parents.

I've also heard all the horror stories that the Mainstream Media and public school proponents would have us all believe. Yes, I'm sure there are abusive or neglectful parents who homeschool (though I haven't met one in person yet), just as there are abusive or neglectful parents who send their children to school (I've met plenty of them in my lifetime).

But, what you must understand - and I do realize you yourself could be a teacher - is that public school is a big government program, and like all big government programs, its motive is to fulfill a need and to increase its size by convincing the public the need is bigger.

So, they're always looking for something to use in criticizing us. First, it was academics. But, when our kids excelled academically, it was socialization. But, our kids are well-socialized, so they're looking for more reasons.

Many of the homeschool families I know tried public school first (as did I). I even know teachers and other public school employees who homeschool their children. Many do so because their kids were being beaten-up/assaulted/terrorized in school. Others do so because the schools were insisting on drugging their children (Ritalin, etc.). Still others have children with learning issues that weren't being addressed by the schools.

Every parent I know flew into a panic when removing their child(ren) from school. They doubted their own abilities. But, what they found out was that their children got better results at home - without a quote-unquote "certified teacher".

Here's why: School time is filled mostly with wasted time. Kids are sorted into classes based on ages/birthdates, and then they're taught an established set of lessons on a particular schedule. As it turns out, kids don't learn well that way. People learn more when they're interested in a subject, when they're learning independently at their own pace, and often that pace is quicker than the public school's pace. On the other hand, when a child needs to work on a subject at a slower pace, he/she can do so more comfortably at home, catching up later, without being labeled as "learning disabled" for the rest of their lives.

I have three children, and they do very well. At one point, I was fighting with our school to keep one child in, and now I'm glad I was pushed into homeschooling.

Regards.