by Bret Roberts

Created on: May 17, 2008

"Why do you home school your children?" is a question I am frequently asked whenever I mention to family, friends or acquaintances that our three children are taught at home. Often times, to keep the conversation from being too lengthy, I will reply simply that we home school because we think it is best for our children's education. But that answer calls for another question, "Why do you think that home schooling is the best for your children?" So, at the risk of making this article too lengthy, I will discuss why some parents, namely, my wife and I, choose to home school.

Six years ago, when we made the decision to have our children stay home for school, our eldest daughter was ten, our middle daughter was seven, and our son was four. The two girls were good students, both excelling in public school; our son was learning more slowly so he attended a kindergarten bridge program. With middle school looming for our oldest, my wife took a hard look at what lay ahead for her socially, spiritually, and academically. After considering factors in each of these areas, we decided that home schooling would be best.

Although the mantra by those who misunderstand home schooling seems to be "How are your children going to be socialized?" it was for their proper socialization that we made this decision. Public schools, more and more, are becoming a breeding ground for experimental socialization rather than a place of education. Not only are our children being exposed to harmful social behaviors from their peers like drug use, bullying, a disregard for authority, and an over-emphasis on inappropriate sexual behavior, but the school systems themselves are experimenting with our kids. Sex Education, so-called, is nothing more than a harmful agenda-driven curriculum in which our children are enticed away from the morals which their parents want to instill. An anti-Christian attitude pervades the public schools. Christmas celebrations are out, praying in public must be silent, and the bringing of a Bible to school is often forbidden. Needless to say, this is not the kind of social environment that we desire for our children. At home they are removed, for a time, from the adverse effects of a school system that seems to indoctrinate more than teach. Besides, their social skills do not suffer. They learn from their parents how to get along in society and we provide many activities for them to interact with children their age. If anything, their social skill set is more mature than

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