Than have to sit through that awful new movie again.

In fact, I'd certainly sit through the entire animated series - which was far better than it should have been - than have to sit through that awful movie again.

Homeschoolers are required by their districts to file reports every year in regard to their curriculums, progress, etc., and some districts do require testing to show the progress. I'm unaware of any state that just lets homeschoolers go wild without some oversight - and they certainly shouldn't if they do. But much as considerations are given to remedial learners in public education, I think the same concessions should be given to homeschoolers who are behind the average.

For instance, my kids were taught math in public school for 2 1/2 years and did horribly. We homeschooled them in math and they did better for a few years, mostly because they could spend the time they needed to spend to learn the basic math that was so hard for them. Middle school age we arranged a math class with the public school system - totally failed. The teacher couldn't do anything with them and their abilities seemed to regress. We picked it back up and have tried several ways of going about it - I think we finally have one that works. It's generally agreed by the schools and by their parents that they have a math disability - which is to say, both homeschool and public school have had difficulty in teaching the kids math.

That's part of the gray area that seems to be missed in too much of the discussion around homeschool. I'm curious as to the percentage of homeschoolers who originally sent their kids to public schools and then pulled them out. I'm also curious about the percentage of homeschoolers who have arrangements with their local schools for individual opportunities.

"So you use your own personal experience to refute the fact that the posters who aren't 100 percent in favor of homeschooling are wrong? OK."

No, I simply state that some of the arguments against homeschooling are simplistic and presumptuous and mired in generalities rather than looking at things on a necessary case by case basis. Like yours.

People home-school for many different reasons - it's no different from the choices families make in regard to which school a child attends. You might choose a public school in a different district for a certain reason, or a Catholic school, a charter school, or any of the different types of private schools that exist - military, college prep, experimental, performing arts, whatever. The choice of what kind of school a kid is sent to doesn't seem to elicit the hostility that the home-school choice does, however. For instance, I think that military and Catholic schools are potentially damaging choices for families ... but I also understand that other people look at it differently and the right person might be able to relate the strength of that choice to me in context of their family's own life.

One thing I have learned from home-schooling and from seeing what other home-schoolers do, I have learned that it is not an "either/or" proposition. There are various shades to what any home-schooling family chooses to do involving curriculums and outside - sometimes school district - involvement, hours, schedules, focus of study, and method of socialization. There is no one way of home-schooling.

I've noticed many posters comment on the harmfulness of home-schooling with the declaration that they have this opinion based on personal experience with it - and yet none of the examples they give even remotely sound like our family's situation. I suspect this is the same for other home-schoolers reading the comments. It's because the statements seek to stereotype situations that are personal and varied - as personal and varied as the situations of those who seek a structured, community-based educational solution.

You sum it up perfectly for my wife and myself. Thank you for that concise and on the ball description of the attitude of too many people who don't seem to approve of taking your children's lives into your own hands.