“Why do you do it?”
The many reasons why parents choose to educate their children at home include: the desire to preserve family unity; the academic freedom experienced at home; the desire to transmit faith and values to their children on a daily basis; the positive social/emotional development fostered in the home; the success of the tutorial method of teaching; the absence of stress, peer pressure and other influences by which some children have been harmed at school.
“Is it legal?”
It is legal for parents to teach their children at home in all 50 states. Each state has its own education laws, and each school district has its own way of dealing with home educators. Practicability is more of an issue than legality. Most New Jersey homeschoolers find their district education officials indifferent, cooperative or friendly. New Jersey has no statutes pertaining specifically to homeschooling. As a result, New Jersey is one of the least restrictive states for home education.
“Are you qualified to teach?”
In the words of education expert Raymond Moore, “The greatest teaching talent in the world lies in the warm, responsive and consistent parent whose love makes the needs of his children his highest concern. If anyone disagreed, ask him for his evidence. Parents’ daily one-to-one example amounts to master teaching at the highest level.”*
“What about socialization?”
It is important to realize that there is “negative socialization” as well as “positive socialization.” Homeschooling eliminates much of the negative while accentuating the positive. The daily example of loving, mature adults and access to their perspective and wisdom, produce a sensibility and maturity which many observers admire in homeschooled children. Homeschoolers socialize with people of all ages. Consequently, they learn to appreciate and easily befriend those younger and older than themselves in a way that is not commonly seen in children who have been conditioned by the age-segregation at school, to value their age-mates above others. Sibling and other relationships therefore thrive in the homeschooling lifestyle.
*Raymond and Dorothy Moore, Home Grown Kids, 1981, p. 12-13.
Where do you get your books?” and "What about calculus?”
Many people are unaware of the vast array of resources available to home educators. New books, materials and computer software are published every year to accommodate the growing homeschooling market. These can be obtained through mail-order, at curriculum fairs, and from private and public schools.
Moreover, creative homeschoolers are finding that libraries, colleges and community professionals are among the many resources available when they reach advanced levels in academics. The use of computers and the internet have dramatically expanded the array of resources available to help home educated students learn. With such a wealth of learning aids at their disposal, parents are finding it entirely possible for their children to learn subjects that they have not mastered themselves. For “difficult” subjects, some families have turned to community colleges for assistance. These families have found that a taste of college, while still under the control of the home environment, is the perfect opportunity to start transitioning their senior from home education to college education.
“What about college?”