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It works well for parents who can do it well, but often it's not done well at all.
My FIL is a long-time professor at an elite college. He reports that he can often spot home schoolers because they they simply won't do what they don't feel like doing. Fine, I suppose, if it's weeding out busywork, but in this case it's doing chemistry experiments, and precision is critical. As he says, kids who don't want to be precise and work hard should not be taking chemistry.
He also finds that they call their parents if they don't like their grades, and he gets calls from these parents demanding that he change their children's grades. Not a pretty picture.
Of course, as he is the first to say, he sees the ones that are trouble. He doesn't know the educational background of most of the kids he teaches. However, he's noticed the problems enough to reach a conclusion that many home schooled kids do not function well in the elite college environment.
I've considered home schooling, and I like it for many reasons, but at the same time I don't want to promote this sort of nannying and dependence. I'm not sure what we'll do.
