I make no secret about the fact that we homeschool our children. I also make no secret that when the idea first presented itself, I was against it. When we tell people we homeschool, we get a wide range of reactions/responses from people, but a few nights ago, we got the best response ever.
We were in a restaurant and my oldest son and I were talking about something, I do not recall what it was. While we were talking, a woman at the next table over says to me, "Your son is very polite and very intelligent." I thanked her and she then turned to my son and asked, 'Where do you go to school?"
My son replied, quite proudly, "We are homeschooled."
Her response, "Well, that explains a lot."
My wife and I then spent about 20 minutes answering this woman's questions about homeschooling such as how to get started, what benefits there are, what kind of curriculum we use, etc. She seemed genuinely interested in homeschooling as an option for her children.
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Now with that said, what we need is not just for parents who 'home school' to change thinking. We need parents of public school to find a way to put children ahead of career, money and hobbies. This is the biggest reason children like yours get ahead. It is the love of parents and perhaps because you spend regular time with your children you deal with issues that less time wouldn't make apparent. It's good to sacrifice because we love our children... but not if children don't get the guidance and relationships of a family. This is IMO perhaps the biggest key to what home educated children have that on 'average' makes them do better.
I did seek out information and was surprised to find that there are a lot of people I know who were homeschooled. One of them said something to me that almost instantly changed my mind:
"There is nothing better for building a child's confidence than to spend every day during their most impressionable years in a loving and caring environment"
It is hard to argue with that logic.
Our kids (eight and counting) are being homeschooled and we have found they are much more able to interact with people of all ages than a lot of their peers.
There is a homeschooling group at the church my wife attends and when they have events or field trips there are kids ranging in age from 5 to 16 and they all get along. There was one day where all the kids were playing kickball and it was truly amazing to see how all these kids of different ages all got along.
The longer we homneschool, themore advantages we are finding with it. My in-laws are coming to visit this weekend and my father in-law is going to do some science experiements with the kids.
When you homeschool, I think you tend make the most out of every possible situation or experience to teach your kids. At least we do.
I personally think that this is a bad reason to home school as many parents who do it for reasons of sheltering their children from society are just putting off the inevitable fact that their kids will most likely someday have to integrate into mainstream society.
If parents wish to choose to shelter their children from society, that is their right to do so and I would never cast judgement on anyone for whatever reasons they choose to homeschool.