Why do we home school?

Lately, I have had many inquiries as to why we home school.  I am not saying that *everyone* should home school.  I am just saying that with our particular set of circumstances and abilities it has worked out to be a blessing.  This post is a definition of our choices and not for the purpose of sparring other parent's choices.  So, if you are offended I apologize it isn't meant to be that way.

1.  Socialization.  I will start off by saying the biggest concern that we had starting to home school was social interaction for our children.  Now, that is one of our top three reasons for continuing to home school.  Social Interaction in school is more like forced association and although that is a good lesson to learn I would rather my children learn Latin, C++ and Classical Studies.

2.  Wholesome Living.  This kind of goes back to #1...I wanted their lives to be more wholesome.  Focused on the things that are important to us as a family.  I didn't want my girls worried about jean brands and who was wearing a bra in the 4th grade.

3.  Gifted and Talented.  We felt that we could do a better job providing a gifted and talented program than what is provided by the schools.  With so many children struggling and lacking language skills I knew that my children would do better with me.  Yes, yes, yes.  I could have supplemented their education at home and I did that for 2 years but with activities (boy scouts, Tae Kwon Do, playing w/friends and family time) there are only so many hours in the day!

4.  ?.  Adolescence sucks and sharing it with your peers sucks even more.  WORD.

5.  Modeling.  If the goal is to raise responsible adults...we felt that they would be better off with those who can model (most of the time) those behaviors.

Fellow home school moms...what are your top three?  You can post in Facebook if that is easier.  :-)