[neefer]

Maybe I'm generalizing about parents who homeschool, but all the one's I've met are regular church attenders. They're children gain the social skills they need through church activities.

[HiJinx]

"...gain the social skills..."

Ahhhhh, there you've gone and done it!
'They' use the word socialization to mean what you said, and it doesn't mean that at all!

[ImaGraftedBranch]

On the contrary. Many are not religious at all. They simply want what is best for their children.

You can not expect to put your children through a public school system and not have them be corrupted in some manner - whether it be liberal ideals, moral relativity, drugs, verbal abuse, etc.

Homeschooling is true freedom, for both parents and children. Our kids move at their own pace (which just so happens is accelerated from the "age slot" they'd be stuck in at public schools). We travel with our kids all over the US, unencumbered by class schedules, to attend their regional and national Tae Kwon Do tournaments (part of their Physical Education). We spent a week in France on a very educational field trip (they quickly surrendered to my youngest.)

They socialize with people of all ages, including kids on our street that go to the public and private schools.

They strike up conversations with *anyone* nearby, regardless of age. They want to learn, period. Kids are like that. You don't have to force anything - it just happens when you make learning enjoyable.

It does take some sacrifice on the part of the parents, but we get to be with our children 100% of the time. What greater joy is there as a parent? The kids wouldn't change it for the world.

They still do Boy Scouts, Church youth group, Soccer, Tae Kwon Do, etc.

With Universities realizing that home-schooled children generally perform better than other students, they are all changing their admissions policies to make allowances.

If you freepers ever think that you can swing it, you'll never regret it, and you won't miss out on so much of your children's lives.

[Carry_Okie]

A statistically-large fraction of home schoolers are kids with developmental or behavioral disabilities. Not a few of the latter acquired those "challenges" via the "socialization" process at pubelick skewels (and the all-too-common use of pharmaceutical behavior modification). Parents of such kids found a system unable or unwilling to challenge and develop those kids or making the situation worse and therefore chose to home school out of desperation. It is especially telling, that the homeschool population out-preforms public and private school children, even with this statistical handicap.