I have yet to delve into the world of home schooling; however, the more I do my research, the more I realize home schooling my girls may be best for them in the long run. I have been a part of the public education community in several capacities over the last fourteen years, and I can honestly say that the public school system continues to leave me looking for alternatives, and quickly.

There are a myriad reasons why parents choose to home school their children, and many public school educators themselves are distancing their children away from the public system to an extremely private one: Home Schooling. If you are looking for reasons to home school your children, please due your homework-yes, pun intended-and make sure this is something you can handle. An education is nothing to mess with.

There are several factors to consider when choosing to delve into unchartered territory. The first and foremost being can you handle being with your children literally twenty-four seven? If you have doubts for any reason, don’t home school. At least your child would get an education, albeit not a very good one if they continue within the public school system.

Here is a list of my top five reasons why Home schooling may be our next move.

Bullying in schools has become more common place than in years gone by. With the advent of social networking sites and texting/cell phones, cyber bullying has displaced face-to-face confrontations and this in turn has caused more unlikely bullies to rear their ugly heads upon society. And since old fashioned bullying still takes place, some kids in school are not safe whether they are in the school building or at home. While many schools claim they are taking a hard stance on bullying, our senate leaders think the bullying stand is too tough for the bullies. According to a recent amendment to SB 3004, school officials will no longer be allowed to use suspension or expulsion as a form of punishment until physical harm takes place, and; then, the bully can only receive three days out and cannot suffer academically because of his or her bullying. I’m starting to think this should be my number one reason.

Socialization is often a strong arguments by idiots against home schooling your child. However, with all of the work schools are cramming into a school day, socialization is severely frowned upon in schools. It is so bad that many schools do not let the students fraternize or talk during lunch. The school claims the kids won’t eat if they talk, but, hey, isn’t that their decision? A couple of missed meals and then struggling through the day may be just what a kid needs to learn how to mix eating and socialization. And what socialization skills do schools really teach beyond kindergarten? Students cannot talk in class. In fact, every time my middle school aged daughter got in trouble at school it was for talking and/or socializing. There, are certain socialization lessons that need to be taught that didn’t exist twenty years ago. Like teaching students how to hold a conversation without having a cell phone glued to their fingertips. Oh wait, I forgot cell phones are banned in most schools.

Curriculum in America’s schools is being overhauled at alarming rates and in a way I believe will hurt far more than it will help. Many schools across the nation, for whatever reason, are buying into Common Core. Yes, common core will help schools meet or exceed their numbers on standardized tests, maybe. But more importantly it is taking creativity away from good teachers and creating little drones who do not, cannot, and will not think or do for themselves. I was recently in a seventh grade classroom in which the students actually expected me to read the story to them so they could answer the study guide questions. Humina what? I’m a former English teacher who loves the classics. However, we do not students of this advanced technological age who can read or understand Shakespeare, Dickens and all the other old authors still being taught in school. Yes, there are valuable lessons in their works. Yes, teachers should use examples of these works when teaching concepts or writing. But to force a kid to read Romeo and Juliet just because the two main characters are about the same age is ridiculous. There is great stuff out there that can teach the same lessons and be more relatable to today’s youth.

Money is another giant issue when it comes to home schooling your children, and I wish this reason was really as simple as just saving some money. Let’s face, education has become all about money. More money is being pumped in to feed kids. More money is being spent on discipline issues. More money is being stopped, suspended, or cut altogether. Money is the only reason the school cares if your kid is absent or not. The students know they’ll get their homework and get time to complete it they are absent, and how much would they really miss by being absent for a day or two? Why does the school need to make sure your kid is there and why are there attendance rules? The school needs to fill its maximum number of students daily to receive the maximum number of funds daily, which many schools don’t get in a timely fashion to begin with. Now, distance yourself from all that drama and you just may be able to some amazing things with your finances once you home school. No more registration fees. No more fund raising expenditures. No more athletic fees. No more lunch money. No after school or before school daycare. No more summer daycare.

Common Core is teaching students how to think alike so they can pass a useless test. And, that’s if they are being taught to think at all. I’ve been to the ACT test prep sessions and I’ve taught them. Our main goal was to teach them tricks for adding one or two points to their test. Tricks became the focus. For instance, we taught them which answer to choose based on statistics. Like the majority of the time the right choice is the third option. Students are discouraged from adding their opinions or sharing their beliefs because it’s not relevant to the lesson at hand, which was designed by the ACT people, and taught by your schools with no room for independent creativity and thought.

The decision to home school is totally up to you, but I seriously hope your do the work necessary to make sure your child will get a q