By Michelle Malkin · The Associated Press reports on the rise of homeschooling: Almost 1.1 million students were home-schooled last

“Oh, yes, of course. That’s a main reason why we teach our children at home!”

Here are a baker’s dozen more reasons, just quickly off the top of my head:

1. You know what your children are learning.

2. You and your child can explore areas of individual or mutual interest in detail

3. Your child progresses at his or her own rate

4. A bright child isn’t bored by excessive review of material they have already mastered

5. A slower child (which may be a bright child struggling with a particular subject) isn’t frustrated by a too-fast pace that forces them to fall behind

6. You’re not bound to textbooks selected by a state committee

7. Your child learns about the real world of socialized adults by interacting with adults in the real world

8. No teasing about not having the latest hat, jacket, or shoes

9. Eat lunch when you’re hungry

10. Get a drink of water when you’re thirsty

11. Pee when you need to, without missing any class

12. No cafeteria food

13. More time with your kids – you DO like them, don’t you?

I think most of the apparent downfall in public schooling is mainly with the kids / parents. I think this has to do with the paradigm among teens nowadays. The teachers can only do so much (which could make a case for home school); they can’t really force a kid to listen although tht’s something that could be of use. Kids these days don’t have enough passion for school, even though some public schools have their group of academic reputables. The rest of the kids unfortunately aren’t brought up in a culture of wanting to have a great education, really earning that education.

I don’t know very many people who are disciplined enough, or have the qualifications to teach children..sorry but unless you have a degree in teaching, home schooling is a mistake for most people.

From the Associated Press: Violence Scares Kids Into Avoiding School. The number of U.S. teenagers skipping school for fear of

I recommend moving to Phoenix, though. The weather, the cost of living, the charter schools, the proximity to SoCal—it’s lovely.

Ben, spot on. I was homeschooled all my life. None of this A-Becka kitchen table stuff, though. My parents just let me do what I liked best: read all day. It turned out well. I gave myself a good education, and today I’m doing well in college.

Public schools pile busy-work on kids. It burns them out fast.

83,456 reasons to home school is an easy number to support. Start with the millions of kids, particularly minority kids, whom public schools have utterly failed. Then think of the billions of dollars spend on millions of failures. Together, this is nearly as many medals as John Kerry awarded himself.

Much of the negtive views the media has about homeschooling and charter schools is, however, driven by the NEA (Thats the teachers union folks…). The media always runs to the NEA (which is a UNION and not concerned with the quality of education) whenever any ‘Educational’ issue comes up. And of course the NEA hates the idea of non-union-controlled schools.

I think it’s GREAT that you support homeschooling Michelle, and yes, I do think you could do it, and it’s certainly worth a shot for the rewards. I’ve known people in homeschooling get into college and get straight A’s, and a number of the teachers respect homeschoolers for their tenacity and hunger for knowledge.

One positive I’ve found is that homeschooled kids are not dead tired of school by the time they hit college. Besides, the more kids you have, the better– the older ones teach the younger ones. Where is your spirit of adventure guys?

(A little OT: I personally don’t care for Berkeley’s approach)

kerry lover: (do you really love small black Irish dairy cattle?)– chill out with Watley’s observations on hype at http://watleyreview.com/2004/071304-1.html

MM: what ARE your thoughts on schooling the kids? Public school, private school, homeschool them yourself, hire a tutor?

I may have been weak, but at least I’m not liberal!