Reasons We Homeschool

On the Sonlight forums, in the New Instructor area, there is a thread asking WHY we homeschool, for us newbies to get to know each other a bit. Here is my post:

Originally Posted by kittie313 : "we don't do mornings LOL"
SSSHHHHHH! I try not to let people know that this is one of my big reasons.

I started thinking about homeschooling when my older son was less than 2 years old. I started my blog 2 months after he turned 2. I was working full-time and missed him so much, even though it was a very good daycare and I visited everyday his first year to nurse at lunch. Even in the 1-2yr old class the teachers were telling me he was "smart", "advanced" and similar adjectives. In the 2-3 yr class the teacher was borrowing puzzles & toys from the pre-k room for him. Both DH and I excelled in school, so we had a good idea what was ahead for him in a regular classroom (or even gifted program). One of our babysitters when he was 4 was a K teacher. She told us he already knew most of everything that she would be teaching her K kids. And now we can tell DS2 is a very quick learner also.

The academic individualization is our most publicly known reason. However, my DH and I love to travel around the US on vacation. We were married 10 years before kids and really enjoy vacationing in Sept/Oct and April, when all of the families with school kids AREN'T on vacation, too. So the family flexibility is a biggie for us. DH likes the idea that every vacation can be "educational". I try to remind him that we don't have to make it like "lessons" when we go somewhere, just going and experiencing the new places and things is educational in and of itself.

And my other reason seems selfish, but I suppose it isn't really: I like my kids and I want to spend time with them. I don't want to miss out on their joy of learning.

ETA: Things I don't like about our local PS system: I think homework for early elementary kids is ridiculous. My PS system does not have 1/2 day K anymore. (The suburban district does, though.) Fortunately we live 2 blocks from "our" elementary school so we would have been able to walk, but many K'ers have to be driven by parents or ride a bus for 30-60 minutes EACH WAY around here. School fund-raisers (daycare even had these) -- yuck.

ETA (edited to add) again: Another thing I remembered I don't like about PSs in general: Random drug testing. Not just for kids in activities (which isn't fair), not for kids with behavior problems, not for kids with unexplained dropping grades, not for truant kids, not for kids seen with drug paraphernalia, but RANDOM of ALL kids. No "just cause", completely RANDOM. I'm so glad they didn't do that when I was in school. It annoys me so much that I quite likely would have refused and been kicked out of all of my extra-curricular activities and maybe suspended from school. That would not have been a good thing for the valedictorian.