My exposure to Home schooling was largely negative. I do realize that there are some great parents that do a great job of homeschooling. However, The bulk of my experience came from being a welfare eligibility worker, then as an investigator in Childrens Services.
If the student is not in school, then the parent will see a reduction in assistance (money). This is a problem in family dynamics because it puts the child in the driving seat. The child can punish her parent by not going to school.
The problem is pretty obvious, as is the solution. The parent “home schools” the child.
This does not mean that the parent sits down with the child and develops’s an individualized education plan. As an investigator I did drop in’s. What I, almost invariably saw was a kid (usually a girl) at home, frequently babysitting a younger sibling. Normally there were friends over (who should have been in school) and they were playing video games, or just watching TV, while smoking.
On the upside for the parent, the payments no longer rely on attendance; so that element of the home power struggle is over. For the girl, she sees it as a win because she doesn’t have to go to school.
Now, there were exceptions. In my caseload of “home schoolers” of about twelve (I had a lot of other stuff in my caseload too) there was one girl that I would meet at the education resource office. This was a place that homeschool students go to get the great services that are available to them. I am not mocking it, there were great resources.
I hate to sound so jaded; but, quite literally, it was one in twelve. The rest were babysitting at home, smoking marijuana and playing video games or staring at the TV.