That is the question!! Often it isn't a "right or wrong" answer, but merely what is best for a particular child. Some families homeschool all of their children but others may find that one child does better in public or private school.

One reason some children want to go to public school is to play on sports teams or to participate in other extra-curricular activities. Yes, homeschoolers can join the YMCA, join 4-H or Scouts, play Little League ball, join a theater group or a local band, and, in some areas, participate in public school activities. In other areas, the choices are more limited.

A lot depends on the personality of the child and the home situation. Some children who do well in any situation. Conversely, other children will have a problem with education that has nothing to do with their intelligence or where they are educated.

For example, this society has many, many "throw-away children" who are victims of unsettled homes and are not emotionally able to cope. Other parents have merely given up and told their children to "hit the road." Because of our laws protecting children, the unfortunate mess that these children get into is that they cannot go to public school because there is no one to sign them in! The laws that were supposed to protect them backfired.

The first time I ran into this situation was in the 1980s. My youngest son was forever bringing kids home whose parents had dumped them. Most were there for a few weeks. One boy was 15 when he came and he stayed for five years. His father, an evangelical preacher, told him to leave when the boy made the unfortunate decision to get drunk. We took him into our home. The father refused to give his son permission to go to high school. This was a very intelligent child who had been sent to a private Christian school for ten years and there he was, unable to finish his education because without parental consent, he could not go to school at all!

Of course, I then homeschooled him. When he was 18, he got a GED. He is now married and has a daughter. He has a good job, lives in a nice house and has had the ability to forgive his parents for the decisions they made.

That child should have been in public school for high school. He should have had a scholarship to go to college or technical school, rather than have to learn everything in the "school of hard knocks." Fortunately, he was able to overcome the emotional disaster that could have enveloped him. Many children are unable to do this. Homeschooling worked in that case, but it isn't the answer for everyone in such a situation. Some children need the structure and discipline provided by public schools.

The easiest children to homeschool are those who have never been to school. They have no concept of "peer pressure" and are much more able to mingle with people of all ages. There are people who think that homeschooled children lack socialization, but that is often the one thing they are better at than other children! However, children who need constant reinforcement in order to learn may do better in a public or private school, where there is more structure.