I am seriously considering homeschooling my kindergartener. Bullying (yes, in kindergarten), toleration of horrible behavior in the classroom and a general lacking of any sort of intelligent response from administration on many occasions have brought my family to this point. My question is, now that I have made the commitment to myself and my children, how do you deal with the negative people telling you you're making a huge mistake? And not just the average person, how about the mother-in-law?

Which state are you in? Will you have state guidelines to follow and curricula to teach from?

Also, how many children will you be homeschooling, and at what levels? Will you have opportunities to involve them in sports and in social groups?

My neighbor home schools her kids, one is in grade 7, the other in grade 4. She's been doing it for 2 years now and she loves it.

I don't know what the system is like where you live, but here in Canada there is a huge support system for home schooled kids. Outings with other home schooled children, meeting for the parents, help lines, you name it.

I myself don't home school, my son has ADHD and he's in a great program at the school he's in. They can help him far more then I can.

The sad thing is, most people aren't informed enough about home schooling. Until I talked to my neighbor I too had concerns. My main one was lack of socialization. Kids need to be in social situations in order to learn, grow, deal with things. But because of the great support system she has available to her, that's not an issue.

I wish I could give you some advice on how to deal with the negative people, all I can tell you is to show them the curriculum, let them know about the support available to you (if there is) and tell them why you're making this decision.

Good luck. I know I couldn't do it. :)

My eldest son was home schooled and I never received any negative feedback.

Many members of my immediate family are teachers and no one ever made a derogatory comment.

As long as the child has ample opportunity to interact with other children on a regular basis and you are prepared for the rigors of home schooling it is no ones business.

People who are uninformed may believe that there is not a curriculum and that you are just sitting home watching cartoons.

In New York,you need to adhere to the states agenda and your child must pass standardized tests administered by the state.I assume that is the case in every state.

We were also required to buy the same textbooks that were used in the public school system.

If anyone has the nerve to question this ,I would simply inform them of your reasons and assure them that you have all the bases covered.Proceed to explain.

My son was home schooled in the eighties when it was not as popular and so it was rather a chore to find other home schooled families to share field trips with and swap books and such.

I suggest you find other HS families in your area to make the experience as rich for your child as possible.The one argument that is often repeated is that there is no interaction with other children thus affecting socialization, and that is easily remedied.

Below is a link I think you may find helpful.
Homeschool World: "The World's Most Visited Homeschool Site"
Good luck and have fun!

Teachers are now the biggest influx into the home school venue. Share the following article with the naysayers in your life. It tells the reasons teachers are choosing to home school their children rather than putting them in the public school system:
Thinking About Homeschooling? Teachers Are