That is the number one argument I always hear from people and I absolutely disagree. Statistically that is incorrect. Would you rather have a well educated child or a child who knows how to socialize?

Home schooled kids are not socially inept. I find this conception to be extremely hypocritical when coming from the NEA - the same NEA who claims that kids whose parents are involved in their schoolwork do better! Hmmm - I wonder why? Government schooled kids are much dumber now than they used to be back when the majority of teachers actually did their job. It didn't used to be that way back when there was less note passing and socialization in the classroom. I can give two examples:

1. When I was married and my oldest step daughter was in 7th grade, we were having a geographical discussion. Come to find out she had no earthly idea what latitude lines were - something I learned in 5th grade! Good thing I had a globe in the house from when I was a child.

Later, while talking about history I came to find out she had no idea who Hitler or Nazis were. I was absolutely shocked! When I was in 7th grade, we were reading Anne Frank's Diary! So I had to explain all of this to her.

These were not the only things that I ended up having to teach my children. There were times, after I mentioned wanting to home school the kids, that my kids were practically begging their mother to let me home school them. And this coming from a daughter who was VERY popular in school with many friends. But she didn't care. She wanted to learn and I made it appealing - something teachers have failed to do. I even asked my wife, who had been a teacher for two years, who could do a better job giving our kids an education with less money - me or the school? She looked at me after thinking about it and said, "you would be better."

2. I ended up becoming friends with a guy while I was a high school teenager who was home schooled. How ever did that happen? I thought home schooled kids didn't socialize! Yet here I was befriending him. He was 17 and a manager at a predominant restaurant - at 17! He had a level of maturity that no other kid his age had. He has gone from success to success ever since. I'm sure that if he had no social skills, they'd have never hired him.

To sum it up:

Kids have their whole lives ahead of them to learn how to socialize AFTER they get their education - and they'll be much more equipped to do so. And if they can't figure it out after that, then something is wrong! The very fact that you can sit down with your own child and have a dialog with them is in fact teaching them "social skills." I mean, come on - how the heck did we survive all these millennia without government schooling? Do you realize that one in five American adults currently believe that the sun revolves around the earth?!!! Or that only one out of ten knows what radiation is? That one in three knows that DNA is a key to heredity? That Americans generally don't know what molecules are? That is really sad! Read this. How do you suppose that came to be?

I don't think any kid is prepared for the world coming out of high school. I certainly wasn't. Most of us are green for several more years right out of school. School never really prepared me for what I would encounter in the years to come. I had to learn a lot of it by hard knocks. So I think this point is irrelevant as to who schooled you.

Again, this has nothing to do with school. Who is it you're talking about thats going to show them work ethics? The parent, who the child lives with and ends up emulating, or a teacher? I learned the value of a dollar when I was a kid and mowed lawns so that I could by a bike, a pair of shoes that I really wanted, and a video game system. It had nothing to do with school. The school didn't direct me to do that - my mother did.

I hope my reply doesn't come across as an argument - that certainly is not my intention. However, I am very passionate about my view on this. All I am saying is to step back and take a real good look at the information at hand. How much of it is propaganda and how much of it is really true? I've done my homework (no pun intended) over the years and thats what has led me to want to home school my child. It wasn't just something I've always wanted to do, but rather a conclusion I've come to after learning how things really are over a number of years. If you still disagree, thats fine. I have learned to agree to disagree with many people - and I'm perfectly OK with that. Ultimately, the proof will be in the pudding - and I'm willing to take that chance.

Cheers!

P.S.
More links:
U.S. Falls In Education Rank Compared To Other Countries
AMERICAN EDUCATION FAILS BECAUSE IT ISN'T EDUCATION
More money, better education?
American Education Is Failing Students
Twenty Troubling Facts About American Education
U.S. Teens Rank Low in World Tests