Home schooling is one of my pet peeves. A supervisor I worked for was devoutly religious. We all lived in housing provided by a fish hatchery where I volunteered full time so I was able to see clearly what was going on. The supervisor and his wife kept their children cloistered and provided all contact they had with the outside world and the children's education. We were not allowed to even say "hello" to the kids in the rare event they were allowed out of the house. I think ALL children should attend public school. If the parents want to supplement their education, fine. But only if the children regularly attend public school which, hopefully, is teaching critical thinking and a secular perspective on history and current events.

I have no problem with home schooling as long as it teaches the reality of our universe to the best of our understanding and provides for proper and adequate social exposure. Textbooks should be those used in public schools (not Texas public schools). Science should be science and not doses of woo. History should be history. Religion, if taught at all, should be in the form of comparative studies and not some single-minded theology, whatever that theology might be.

To accomplish this, textbooks should be supplied by the secular public system and test materials should comply with the state regulations that apply to that state's school system (except the Texas school system).

If you think I'm picking on Texas, do a little investigating.

One of my closest (non-religious) friends home-schooled. She felt she could provide a better learning environment for their daughter and she had the luxury of staying at home. They return to her husband’s family in Germany for a month+ every year, and do other travelling as well without having to deal with the school system. She had to submit certain paperwork to the state, and give her daughter standardized tests but she was never isolated: they had groups they met with every week, and extracurriculars. She’s working on her masters now and is a joy. Religious are going to teach their kids their myths anyway, even if they don’t home school. I think the best we can do is insist on regular testing of our current curriculum.

I live in a town where public schools have gone to crap over the last few years. I’m not a fan of homeschooling but if public schools are allowed to reach a deplorable state where history, civics and science are taught as indoctrination of the local predominate church then I might consider home-school. Thankfully my daughter has already graduated.

I voted none, since I feel that since education should be secular and fully funded by the state.

There are children with physical and mental condition that cannot attend traditional schools, but beyond that the only option should be public secular school; no religious school or private ones. There are however, children outside this parameter that that due to living in remote locations that supervised home schooling will be necessary,

I just want to add that some people homeschool for medical purposes, like in cases of chronic severe illness.

It is now not just the religious that are opting for homeschooling but also non-believers like this link shows: [theatlantic.com]

I voted strong oversight.
Even licensed teachers have restrictions and oversight.

While there are many claims that homeschoolers are smarter, here is an article (it's a little long) that thoroughly disputes that claim.

I think it is great when parents take an interest in tehir kids and if htey wnt to hoem school them tha is great too. However, I think the kids need to be testign to make sure their education is comparable to other kids of their age group.

Of course i also think that education should teach more things that people need as adults, such as learning to balance a check book, beign able to calculate actual total costs when buying on credit, basics in cooking, learning about mortgages.. how to buy a house and how to qualify. You know useful things Lerning about diet and nutrition could be good too.

Especially as a former teacher, I know that there has to be strict oversight. The average parent is not equipped to teach all school subjects. e know that most of these kids are being indoctrinated into the horrors of religion.

Many people look to further indoctrinate their kids, but I like to look at the other side of the coin too for people who want their kids to understand evolution and the big bang. The schools in Florida are terrible and mostly focus on standardized testing in reading and math- no critical thinking and barely nothing extra-curricular, so I get why some parents want to do the job themselves. Those who are extremists and want to teach only religion to their kids must also follow certain guidelines, so they can't just do whatever they want; there are tests that must be given, and they have to get approval from the state. There can be an educational advantage since your kid will be getting full attention, but social skills could suffer if a parent doesn't make sure to involve their kids in outside clubs, and venues where they meet peers. It really depends on the parent as far as being able to teach. If a parent is impatient and loses his/her temper when the kid doesn't understand something right away, then it will be a horrible experience. However, you can also hire outside tutors in different subjects, so it doesn't leave all the pressure on mom or dad. If it's done the right way, a kid will be far better prepared for college than the average public school student. If you saw what I see in college classrooms today, many of these kids are reading and writing on a 6th grade level as college freshmen, and when it comes to ideas so many of them just parrot what their parents have taught them, so critical thinking is not where it should be. Tougher restrictions and oversight need to be implemented, but it just may be a better alternative. Great post.