Yes, any age/grades. We will begin homeschooling this fall. Actually it'll be this summer, but since fall is when the school systems start, that's when we "officially" begin.
As for why, there are a variety of reasons I think it is a better choice than public or even private school (for our family at least).
1. Public and private schools are inefficient. Both type of schools follow the same pattern- a bunch of kids of the same age, learning from one teacher, and then given homework to do at home. Both must sacrifice individual time with the students in order to teach in bulk. It takes much more time to impart the same level of knowledge to a large class than it does to one person or a very small number of people, and the effect is often diluted. Why would I
want my kids to go to school for seven hours a day when I can teach them the same educational/intellectual concepts in less than half that time?
2. Private schools are also often a crap-shoot, a pricey one at that. Just because they're private doesn't make them better than public, and often they are completely unregulated by the states (because they are private) so parents shell out their money for what they think is a much better education than it really is. There are definitely some private schools that blow public schools out of the water, but they also tend to be extremely expensive. I can't afford that for three kids, and frankly I could think of better uses for my money- such as saving for their college educations, or paying for other educational opportunities while they are growing.
3. Homeschooling is ultimately the most flexible option. "School" can be held any time, and in any place. Field trips and vacations need not be limited to the school's schedule. The pace and style of learning is also much more flexible and can be tailored to each child's individual needs, which simply can't be done in a school setting. But if my kid absorbs mathematics like osmosis and is ready to learn calculus by the time she's eleven, why shouldn't she? Why should she be stuck in long division and pre-algebraic concepts? By the same token, if she is struggling with a particular math concept, I don't have to move on to the next concept until she gets it- the teacher in a school would have to eventually move on no matter what.
It's also more flexible when it comes to other things like PE, music, arts, etc. Instead of having to cram music lessons, martial arts, etc. into the after school hours much of that could be scheduled during the day, eliminating or minimizing the stress of activities competing with homework. There would be no need for homework at all! Likewise, breaks and recesses can be scheduled as needed for the kids, and not the school's convenience. Plus I would have time to teach them so much more. Life skills. Gardening. Programming. No limits simply because of age. If my eight year old is fascinated with computer systems and how they work, we can indulge that. Ditto for things like falconry, or whatever.
4. I have a difficult time packing lunches for my kids. I remember how utterly dull my bagged lunches were growing up. That's because there is an extremely limited variety of food that can be packed and kept unrefrigerated from morning till lunchtime. I can't send them with anything that needs refrigeration, or that needs to be heated, because kids don't have either option available to them at school. Insulated lunch bags and thermoses will only do so much. And yet the school lunches, in ANY school, are horrendous. Not necessarily taste-wise, but nutrition-wise.
5. With the homeschooling groups and materials available nowadays, any and all classes are available to teach, including hands-on chemistry and biology (dissections and chemicals and all). Believe me I've done my research, and done it thoroughly. I'm not willing to pull my kids out of public school to give them an inferior education.
6. I think that true socialization does not come from seven hours a day with only your own age mates (even recesses are no longer mixed in many schools beyond a grade or so) and one or two adults- and most of that time being spent "sitting quietly and still". How exactly is that socialization? Kids should be learning to interact with everyone, from babies to the elderly. This does not happen in a school setting. There are so many options and opportunities for socialization in homeschooling that I'm astonished it's still brought up as the number one concern whenever I mention homeschooling. "What about socialization?" Between youth sports, church groups, neighborhood kids, homeschool groups, service projects and more, I can't imagine that the socialization they'll be involved in would be inferior to what they (don't) already get at school.
Homeschooling is certainly not for everyone. Not everyone wants to or has the option. But it's increasingly becoming more and more common. It is no longer the thing that only "religious nuts" do (note that nowhere did I mention religion as a reason for why I want to homeschool...that's because it has nothing to do with it, for me). Many homeschooling families nowadays would be considered liberal by most, if you were to take a look at their political leanings. Studies are showing time and again that homeschoolers nearly always outperform their peers in standardized testing and as a whole they excel in college and in life.
Also, most who homeschool their kids don't make that choice without extremely careful consideration and lots of research. Homeschooling is certainly not for the lazy! A lazy parent would much rather send their child away for most of the day and let "someone else" give them a "free" education, limiting their involvement to homework. They certainly would not take on the additional time and responsibilities of planning an entire education or curriculum for one or more kids.
I always felt that I would like to homeschool through middle school and then give my kids the option of whether or not they wanted to go to public high school. My eighth grader has said she would rather homeschool (for now). She has plenty of friends in school, but school dances are as of yet not a lure for her (ditto for band and sports) and she was very quick to see the advantages to homeschooling. If she is able to progress as quickly as I think her intellect and abilities will go, she should graduate high school by the end of what would be her sophomore year in high school.
My next daughter will go even faster, I think, and be done with a traditional high school education by 14. She is the one who is most cramped by the public school system. None of my kids are dummies, and she isn't a genius or child prodigy by any means, but she is very intelligent and she thinks...differently. I don't know how else to explain it. Every single teacher she's ever had has noticed it and commented on it repeatedly (and not just her teachers). Not just the "oh she's so smart!" type of comments but talking about the way she thinks about things. She's not a linear thinker, she doesn't come to conclusions in the same way that other children do and it's very striking. I honestly think she would benefit immensely from homeschooling.
TL
R version- I think I can educate my kids more efficiently and thoroughly and quickly via homeschooling than through public schools, and give them more options and opportunity to learn many other things, and still have time to be kids at the same time.
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