Seeking Research (or Personal Experience) that is Anti-Homeschool

[SaveTheWild]

I am planning to start homeschooling with my dd next year (kindergarten).  I have done a lot of reading about homeschool and am feeling confident with my decision, but the reading I have been doing is from a decidedly pro-homeschool perspective.  I always feel best about a decision when I read the best arguments for both sides and make sure that I am comfortable with the cons.

I have also already asked and received responses from the "Learning at Home" forum, but as most of the folks there obviously believe in homeschooling, I am still getting that perspective woven in.

Does anyone know of good material/articles/research that focuses on the cons to homeschooling?  Not just articles ranting about socialization issues, but real research or scholarly materials? 

I would also be interested in personal experience from folks who homeschooled, but the decided to return to traditional schooling with their children.

If it provides any useful context, part of the reason I am interested in homeschooling is that my DD is academically advanced, but also still very much disinterested in being away from the home for extended periods.  The only "gifted" programs in my school district have full day kindergarten, which neither myself nor my dd want for her.

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

Thanks! 

Edited by SaveTheWild - 6/21/11 at 10:38pm

[meetoo]

I can give my personal perspective having done both.   First off there are pros and cons to both and some kids do better in school and others do better at home. You never really know until you try. I think the most important thing is not to get caught up in dogma. Most public schools are not nearly as bad as many homeschoolers make them out to be.  Also kids in school are not all rotten little things and all homeschoolers aren't little angels.  Go year by year for what works for your family. I ultimately sent my kids back to school because my life was to hectic. I felt I wasn't able to be a good mother and a good teacher. Something had to give.  I also felt my kids needed some time out of our crazy family life. I have many days I wish I was still homeschooling (and there were many days homeschooling when I wished they were in school lol). 

IME and for me the biggest problems with homeschooling are theses:

-negative reactions for others (kids pick up on this and it can be hard for them to answer questions even from well meaning people who are just curious)

-less of a peer group to choose friends from 

-less time spent with peers to really develop friendships. At the high school level less time to network with other kids.. For a shy kid it can be really hard to make friends at a once a week homeschool group/class. 

-mom is in charge of everything! This can lead to a lot of issues IME. From totally burnt out moms, to moms of kids with big problems who just don't notice/make excuses........

-less adults teaching kids different views. (not so important in the early yrs)

-the time it takes to homeschool can make caring for littles hard (this was a biggy for me)

-I feel i have a lot of gaps in my education which made me very unsure when it came to teaching my kids. 

-the stress of being 100% responsible for your kids education ( I was always questioning myself) with them in school we get to do all the fun stuff(libraries, museums, projects, etc) and I don't have to worry about the 3r's. I go to talk to the teacher and pay attention to things in their school work we have to practice at home but I don't  have to stress about if I'm teaching them right/enough/etc. 

-lack of access to a trained teacher to bouncing things off of. I personally would have liked one of those charter programs I think.  I would like suggestions from teachers, who spent 6 years in school for it. I don't believe I know everything. lol I think it would have boosted my confidence some.

-me needing to pay for all the extra classes and the gas money to get to them!  (in school they get at least gym, music, art every week.)

-the fact that my kids are missing out on such a large collective memory. I.E. Most kids go to school and can relate to things that happen there. Even kids in more alternative schools....

-one of my kids works so much better for the teacher. Where I got complaints and struggles she just does it when in school. 

Anyway that's a few things I can think of. If I think of more I'll chime back in. For me I'm not against or for homeschooling. I think it works very well for some kids/families and really horribly for others. I just think it's important to not get caught up in the "theres only one right way" dogma.This is includes all kids must go to school too. There were many positives to our experience too, you just asked for the negs so that's what I'm giving you. 

[whatsnextmom]

I have seen poor homeschooling situations but they had more to do with mental health issues and poor reasonings for homeschooling than the idea of homeschooling being "bad." I will share some examples but remember you ASKED for negatives. I don't want to be accused of trashing homeschooling because it's an educational choice I fully support.

A long time friend of ours has homeschooled through 8th grade so far. Their son is a great kid. I wouldn't say he's behind. However, my friend suffers from depression and weekly migraines. Dad's work takes him away from home for weeks and sometimes months. Their son has spent most of his childhood taking care of his mother. He remains on target academically largely because he's an intellectually gifted child who hasn't actually needed her help to keep up with studies. However, at 14, he's not the outgoing and eager to learn kid I knew at 5. I think being in a school setting would have actually given him a needed break from mom and less time in front of the TV.

All of my nieces homeschooled (though 2 were part-time homeschoolers through a church program.) The two that did part-time did well though neither have continued into college and working retail in their 20's. For whatever reason, they've yet to find their calling. Another niece (gifted) was pulled out for mental health reasons in 9th grade (depression) and even when they quickly stabalized her with medication, their church encouraged them to continue homeschooling. They just weren't consistant enough with the studies to keep her on track. She finished hardly any of the high school curriculum. She ended up getting a GED when she was 19 and has taken a handful of community college courses but classes like pottery, no academics. My youngest niece is 6 and her mom homeschools her because she's Catholic and doesn't want any outside influences (not even Catholic school.) She also wants to keep her children little. This child is a mean little brat who openly says she wishes her parents were dead. Mom is so iscolated that she has no concept of what normal behavior for a child is and so equates it with "terrible twos".... at 6.

Just like public schools... there are going to be some homeschoolers who are great and some who are not. The more common it is (and it's pretty common in our area) the more diversity you are going to get, the more negative cases you are going to come across. We know far more homeschoolers who are doing great. Do I see a difference in their kids socially? Well, yes, I admit that I do. My kids do a lot of handholding their homeschooled friends in social situations. It's not that their friends haven't had lots of experience with other kids BUT, the experience they've had is largely through interest-activities and so only used to being with kids who share particular interests with them. Being in a social situation where there may not be any commonality, with people who don't share your background, with people who might not actually WANT to be there... well, that's a whole different world. Finding kindred spirits in a diverse crowd is a learned skill and I will say that my public schooled kids do seem to have an edge in that department. I don't think it's impossible for a homeschooled child to get those skills but it takes effort to provide some of those experiences and from what we've seen, most our homeschooling friends are very against putting their kid in any but the most optimal social environments.

Personally, I have two gifted children in public school and it's been largely great. We're in a flexible district where they've been allowed to work years ahead in the curriculum. Their talents have been nurtured. They've been encouraged in their weaknesses. They've learned skills I wouldn't have been adequate to give them like fluency in multiple foriegn languages. They are socially savy and leaders. They've gone through some crap too that they wouldn't have dealt with as homeschoolers but they always rejected homeschooling. It just depends on your kid and situation in any circumstance really.

[SaveTheWild]

Thanks for the responses so far.  Yes, I know I am asking for negative (I have read  A LOT about the positives, so I know that there are a lot of positives to homeschooling).  I certinaly don't want this to be a trash homeschool thread, just one where I can get some real info to weigh against all the glowing reviews of homeschool.

As far as personal anecdotes, I am sure there are a million stories of "homeschool nightmares" because of bad parenting, bad teaching, etc.  I.e. parents isolating their kids on purpose for religious reasons, parents of special needs or academically challenged or gifted kids whose don't recognize or know how to deal with that etc.  I don't think those anecdotes are widly applicable, though.  I am not a religious homeschooler and will not shield my kiddos from the real world, etc.

MEETOO:  I can definitely imagine parent burnout being a probelm, finding personal time and space, being put in the position of controller and overseer of everything, and not getting to be the fun parent anymore.  So far those are really sticking with me as potential "cons."  thanks for highlighting that aspect, especially since you have seen both sides.

[SaveTheWild]

This is a very interesting point re. "finding kindred spirits in a diverse crowd."  That does seem to be a important life skill and one that certainly is given a lot of opportunity for practice in PS.  (Though there are certainyl a lot of PS graduates that are terrible at it.)

On a related note, I know from my personal PS experience that I defined myself as much by those to whom I felt kindred as those I felt "different from."  In my case I grew up in a place with a dominant religion, of which I was not a member, and as much angst as it brought me, oit definitely played heavily into my self-definition.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom 

Do I see a difference in their kids socially? Well, yes, I admit that I do. My kids do a lot of handholding their homeschooled friends in social situations. It's not that their friends haven't had lots of experience with other kids BUT, the experience they've had is largely through interest-activities and so only used to being with kids who share particular interests with them. Being in a social situation where there may not be any commonality, with people who don't share your background, with people who might not actually WANT to be there... well, that's a whole different world. Finding kindred spirits in a diverse crowd is a learned skill and I will say that my public schooled kids do seem to have an edge in that department.

[meetoo]

Originally Posted by SaveTheWild 

As far as personal anecdotes, I am sure there are a million stories of "homeschool nightmares" because of bad parenting, bad teaching, etc.  I.e. parents isolating their kids on purpose for religious reasons, parents of special needs or academically challenged or gifted kids whose don't recognize or know how to deal with that etc.  I don't think those anecdotes are widly applicable, though.  I am not a religious homeschooler and will not shield my kiddos from the real world, etc.

I wouldn't completely disregard personal anecdotes. I think what tends to happen is more of a case that homeschooling stops working for a family yet they are still doing it. Not that homeschooling never worked for that family.  It could easily happen to anyone. On a side note, personally, I think your child is at the best age to give homeschooling a try.:)  Even if you have a total flop of a year, hey, it's only K lol. Just don't let yourself drink the kool aide. ;) 

[SaveTheWild]

meetoo: yes, certainly personal anecdotes are useful, especially from those who have been there done that.  I was mostly commenting on the anecdotes about extreme situations (religious extremism , etc) that don't apply to my siituation.

[whatsnextmom]

I agree. I mostly share those stories because I find the homeschooling community in general reluctant to own them. I can understand why. In a culture where homeschooling is still considered an "alternative lifestyle," it's natural to be protective and stay as positive as possible publically. I just think it's good to acknowledge that it's not always great and that there are situations where homeschooling is NOT the best choice. Outside the religious extremist, the poor situations we've witnessed closely developed over time as opposed to having started negatively. It wasn't that homeschooling was NEVER good for their kids. Some years it was excellent! However, life happens and circumstances sneak up on you. You start feeling a little off and before you know it, 2 years of feeling "off" has passed. That's nothing in adult years but in a kids life, well, it's a substantial chunk.

For better of worse, being in school gives you a "norm" to compare too. Not always the case in homeschooling. I know my SIL's felt a total lack of ambition was normal in teens. It's not really. Yes, they can be lazy and unambitious in areas they have no interest or resent having to be part of but most do have dreams, goals and and eye on the future. I know that my own DD and her friends entering their teen years has been very eye-opening to them.

I've always been a "one year at a time" parent. What works one year, might not work the next. Parenting is constant re-evaluation and willingness to shift courses in any circumstance. I think that is something more naturally done with schooling children because you have those clear transitions from grade to grade, teacher to teacher, campus to campus. It sets the stage for re-evaluation a little stronger than with homeschooling. A homeschooler, I believe, has to make a more pointed effort to do so. The situations that we've seen gone bad were when re-evaluation wasn't happening. My stories aren't the norm but they are cautionary tales of very well meaning families who just missed cues and got lost in the daily happenings of life.
 

Originally Posted by meetoo 

I wouldn't completely disregard personal anecdotes. I think what tends to happen is more of a case that homeschooling stops working for a family yet they are still doing it. Not that homeschooling never worked for that family.  It could easily happen to anyone. On a side note, personally, I think your child is at the best age to give homeschooling a try.:)  Even if you have a total flop of a year, hey, it's only K lol. Just don't let yourself drink the kool aide. ;) 

Edited by whatsnextmom - 6/22/11 at 11:08am

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by meetoo 

I think what tends to happen is more of a case that homeschooling stops working for a family yet they are still doing it. Not that homeschooling never worked for that family.  It could easily happen to anyone.

yeah, that happened to us.

My kids homeschooled until they were 10 and 12. We had a year when one attended public school and one homeschooled. Then a year when they both attended public school. Now they both attend an amazing private alternative school. 

I'm still fuzzy on exactly when it started going bad and what I would do differently if I could.

Homeschooling was great when they were little. We had a lot of fun, did FIAR, went on fun field trips etc. And then we reached a point where it was horriable -- my of my DDs wasn't really progressing the way she should have been, both my kids were isolated, and I was SUPER burned out. We should have stopped before we did, but even now I'm not sure exactly when. I ended up feeling like a failure, like a bad mom. And when I left the homeschooling community, I also lost friends. It's like leaving a religion.

Then we also went through the difficult process of sorting out exactly what was going on with my DD, who is turns out has Asperger's. That took about a year.

Homeschooling can mask special needs. Even if you are a wonderful, involved mother who should know better. Relaxed and unschooling moms repeatedly tell other moms not to worry and that everything will be ok when they don't have any way of knowing if that is true for a specific child.

I feel really ashamed that I didn't figure out what was going on with my DD sooner, and I regret listening to the rhetoric in the homeschooling community.

____________________________

Also, here are a few observations that I'm sure would get blasted on the homeschool board:

1. Homeschooling is often seen as "mom's thing" while school is often seen as the kid's thing, so daddy's are *often* more involved in school than in homeschooling. They look at the work, go to programs at school, etc.

2. It's much easier for mom to meet her own needs if the kids are in school. It's like taboo to say this on mothering, but you can only give for 24/7 for so many years. Eventually, you need to take care of yourself or you fall apart. I saw several homeschool moms come down with chronic debilitating illnesses, and I wondered if that is what their bodies HAD to do to get a break. Overall, the moms I've met since putting my kids are school are more balanced people. I kinda feel like the whole homeschooling community rest on the myth that mom really can do everything if she is dedicated enough.

(And oddly, school moms were more accepting of doing what is right for each kid. The year I had one homeschooling and one in school was weird, weird, weird. Homeschoolers were nasty about it, school moms really didn't care. They just assumed I was doing what was right for each child. )

3. Some kids do better with the energy of a group environment. They work harder when they can see what their peers are doing.

4. Some kids do better with a teacher other than mom. They are more focused and take things more seriously.

5. Some kids have to WORK to learn things. It's a lovely story that they don't have to, and it gets repeated by the parents whose kids never really had to work, but it isn't true for all kids.

[whatsnextmom]

You really shouldn't feel ashamed. Your child is with you daily from birth. Any quirks or oddities just become part of their personality and you accept it because we naturally expect that problems will "develop" not be there when they are born. The internet can be a great resource but lets face it... there really isn't a perspective in the world that can't be "proved" using the internet. On top of that, being in any sort of community that is "all or nothing" isn't helpful... whether that means they are quick to reject a diagnosis or quick to diagnose your child as EVERYTHING. A balanced network of friends and family can be difficult to collect.

It's a confusing world and we're showered in constant and conflicting information. There is a reason kids are so adaptable.... if they weren't they be scarred by all the mistakes we made that first week we brought them home from the hospital. You've figured out who your kids are now and what they need. No reason to feel ashamed about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linda on the move 

I feel really ashamed that I didn't figure out what was going on with my DD sooner, and I regret listening to the rhetoric in the homeschooling community.

[SaveTheWild]

Thanks, Linda on the Move, for that helpful info.  a lot to think about.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom 
 

You really shouldn't feel ashamed. Your child is with you daily from birth. Any quirks or oddities just become part of their personality and you accept it because we naturally expect that problems will "develop" not be there when they are born.

I agree completely.

I also have to say that I agree with Linda on the Move about the 24/7 thing. I'm feeling pretty burned out right now, and dh does a lot. He's involved in the housework and helps out with the schooling. There's just not much in the way of downtime when you're homeschooling. Some of that, in my situation, is because I'm "on" with ds1 in the evenings, when dh is home, and some of it is because I also have a toddler at home. But, a lot of it is inherent to homeschooling. I'll freely admit to deliberately looking for drop-off classes that will take both of them (a lot of them have an age break that puts dd1 and ds2 in different sessions), just so that I have that hour or whatever more-or-less to myself. (Actually, I had them in a Monday afternoon science class recently, and it was near dh's work. So, I'd call him after I dropped them off and he'd meet me, and then we'd go for a walk with dd2, or take her to the park, and have a mini-date - worked out nicely.)

I enjoy it, but there are some days that I wake up thinking "OMG - I can't do this today - I need a break". OTOH, once dd2 isn't nursing at night, anymore, I'll take a night off with dh, so I'll get at least a few breaks at some point.

I can't help you with the research and such. I've been profoundly unimpressed with ds1's public school experience, and am thrilled with the way things are shaking down for dd1 and ds2. But, I'm in what's called a "distributed learning" program and it's the best of both worlds, imo. I get a certain amount of funding, and the support of a teacher, but I also have almost total flexibility about how, what and when my kids are learning things.

[Linda on the move]

Save the wild,

Since your DD is advanced, much of what I said will never be relevant to you. But I would encourage you to be careful when you word things to others about what works and what doesn't to keep in mind that not all children learn as quickly and easily as your own, and comments that "we just did X, and DD learned Y" might not just be irrelevant to another's child, but lead the parent down a path that isn't in their child's best interest. I think a lot of what gets said over and over over in homeschooling circles is said by parents who's children are gifted, but they talk like it is true for ALL kids.  You really never know if you are talking to someone who's child has a vision problem, a LD, etc.  Your DD's successes won't really be because of homeschooling or because you picked just the right curriculum, but because she was born with a wonderful mind. Enjoy that and celebrate it, and of course nurture it as best you can. But don't imply to others that you caused it and that if they do the same things you do, they will get the same results.

IMHO, Far less of this is about us and the choices we make than ANY of us would care to admit.

__________________________

I feel like the school my kids go to is a "best of both worlds" situation. So many of the things that I wanted to be true of homeschooling are true of their school, and yet they have amazing teachers, interesting kids, access to wonderful resources. And I get real time to myself.

___________________________

whatsnext mom and storm bride,

thank you for your kind words. This is a difficult subject for me to talk about because I feel like a fool, but I know other moms who've been through similar things (some who left Mothering.com). I hope that by being more open about my failings as a parent, it can help open honest dialogue.

[SaveTheWild]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move 

Save the wild,

Since your DD is advanced, much of what I said will never be relevant to you. But I would encourage you to be careful when you word things to others about what works and what doesn't to keep in mind that not all children learn as quickly and easily as your own, and comments that "we just did X, and DD learned Y" might not just be irrelevant to another's child, but lead the parent down a path that isn't in their child's best interest

 Good advice for moving forward, thank you.  I can imagine that could easily happen, especially if parents of advanced kids don't interact with other kids to see that some areas their kid breezed through are a long struggle for others. (e.g. I should never try to give out advice about how to teach a child to read.  I haven't the foggiest notion.  She did it herself and I just watched.)  On the flip side, some advice from parents of less emotionally intense kids about how to alter particular unwanted behavior is equally irrelevant and unhelpful for intense kiddos (like mine).  It is all so kid-specific.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by SaveTheWild 

If it provides any useful context, part of the reason I am interested in homeschooling is that my DD is academically advanced, but also still very much disinterested in being away from the home for extended periods.  The only "gifted" programs in my school district have full day kindergarten, which neither myself nor my dd want for her.

I thought I would address this specifically, because it sounds very similar to where we were 8 years ago.

DD started a two day a week, 2.5 hours a day co-op preschool when she was 3.5.  The following spring, DP & I were really unhappy about how a couple issues were being handled (we didn't feel that physical aggression and exclusion were being taken seriously enough) and decided to pull DD out.  I expected DD to be devestated but she was actually quite happy about it--- the 2.5 hours was really just too much for her.  At the same time, we decided to have her tested for early kinder entrance and she was accepted to go into kinder at 4 years, 8 months.  We decided, though, that it would be a bad fit--- it would have the same issue with being seperated from us for too long for her comfort PLUS it would be a poor academic fit (I think she was reading around a 3rd/4th grade level at that point--- I remember her reading Tales of a 4th grade nothing).

Anyway, we ended up homeschooling for kinder and 1st.  Then she decided she would like to give "real" school a try.  We had her tested for our district's gifted program.  Because she had been accepted for early kinder entrance, they insisted she go into 2nd grade (instead of 1st, which is where we wanted to put her).  Since she qualified as a 2nd grader, and they had her down as a 2nd grader, but it would be a 1st/2nd split, we decided to go with it.

The transition was very hard for her.  The first year of homeschooling she had not even wanted to do classes that I did not sit directly outside the class during.  During her 1st grade year, she was much more comfortable, though.  When she entered school, the length of the day was just overwhelming for her.  She missed DP & I, but we worked it out.  She determined that she could go 3 hours without us.  So each day DP went in and had lunch with her and then went to recess with her.  I picked her up from school (and volunteered when I could).  That way, the away segments were about 3 hours each.  After a few weeks, she started relaxing a bit more and by winter vacation she had stopped having DP come in daily (he still volunteered once a week at least).  Third grade was hard at the beginning and since then she has had no problems.

There is a good chance that, academically, she should have skipped either 4th or 5th grade.  Socially, though, she is really comfortable with her peer group and doesn't want to skip ahead.  She just finished  her first year of junior high (7th here) and is still in the gifted program.

To make a long story short--- I really think you need to do what is right for now, now.  Don't worry too much about what will happen in the future.  Especially with sensative children, I think waiting to enroll in school until a bit older can be a really good fit for all involved.

[SaveTheWild]

Tiredx2:  Thank you so much for your very helpful response.  yes, very sensitive little one here at my house.  She has been in some kind of very part time preschool since 2 years old (in hindsight that was a huge mistake) and each year we have either missed a lot, pulled her out early (like this year when I pulled her out completely in January), or I have had to attend with her for many of the days.  She really just isn't ready to be away for long.

We do have some apparently good gifted programs here, and maybe, like you, in 1st or second grade I could transition her there, if she is ready.  We also have a dual-enrollment program where you can send your child part-time to school and homeschool the rest of the time.  Unfortunately they will not do dual-enrollment with the gifted program.  So if I decide to do the PS route down the road, I will have to decide between full time gifted program (which might be too many hours away from home) or a better fit in terms of schedule at my local school, but not a gifted program.

but I really should heed your advice to just take it a year at a time and not worry too much about the years ahead.  For next year, it really seems that home will work out best. 

[Linda on the move]

Have you checked into homeschool groups where you live? Some have co-classes/drop off programs. When we were homeschooling we never lived near one like that, but my sister does. Her kids basically go to school one day a week. It's all homeschoolers and it meets at a church. The teachers are paid and the moms all get the day off. The kids do enrichment activities, unit studies, etc. Something like that could help your DD work on developing some independence while giving you a break.

Good luck. I hope things work our well for you and for your DD.

[ollyoxenfree]

I don't think there are solid objective, reliable, valid, controlled peer-reviewed studies that compare homeschooling and formal (public or private) schooling. Any study I've read has been flawed and subject to criticism. Homeschooling can be very successful. That doesn't mean that homeschooling is without it's negatives for any particular individual. 

One issue for researchers to consider is that many families move in and out of formal schools and homeschooling. There are a heck of a lot of part-time homeschoolers/part-time public schoolers out there. Do you include them or exclude them from a study? If you include them, how do you decide which form of education influenced the outcomes? 

Another issue is study population bias. I've suspected, from meeting homeschoolers and reading homeschool blogs and websites and message boards, that there is a trend for families with children near or at the gifted end of the spectrum to decide to homeschool because they are dissatisfied with accommodations in formal schools. OTOH, children who struggle tend to end up in the formal school system where they have easier access to special services - speech language pathology, OT, PT, educational aids and computer resources and teaching specialists. I know there are families who homeschool their LD and developmentally delayed children because they aren't happy with formal school, but I wonder about the comparative numbers. 

Since many homeschoolers are unregistered and therefore not available to researchers, it is extremely difficult to compare homeschooling and formal schooling outcomes. 

In addition to trying to find good studies, I'd suggest you search for articles, message boards and blogs that honestly and thoughtfully explore the challenges of homeschooling. Search terms like

- mistakes homeschoolers make

- challenges of homeschooling  

- homeschooling negatives

There are some good discussions about problems and how to avoid or overcome them. As you read, consider whether you could find yourself in a similar situation as described by the author and how you would manage it. Do you and your children have different challenges, priorities or principles that would counter or add to the problems? What resources can you access that might alter the situation?  

Much of what you turn up will discuss the challenges from the parent's perspective. Commonly discussed issues include stress and burn out, overscheduling, and financial burdens. These are important but I'd keep a lookout for thoughtful discussions from the child's perspective. Those stories will give you the most helpful insights into how homeschooling might work out for your family. Good luck. 

Edited by ollyoxenfree - 6/23/11 at 7:27am

[ollyoxenfree]

Here is a review of problems with research on homeschooling outcomes.   

An interesting excerpt, discussing the oft-cited Rudner study from 1999: 

Consider one of the most widely publicized studies in the home school research literature, the 1999 report by Lawrence Rudner entitled “Scholastic Achievement and Demographic Characteristics of Home Schooled Students in 1998.”[1]

Rudner’s study was funded and sponsored by the Home School Legal Defense Assocation.  It analyzed the test results of more than 20,000 home schooled students using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and it was interpreted by many to find that the average home schooled student outperformed his or her public school peer.  But Rudner’s study reaches no such conclusion, and Rudner himself issued multiple cautionary notes in the report, including the following: “Because this was not a controlled experiment, the study does not demonstrate that home schooling is superior to public or private schools and the results must be interpreted with caution.” Rudner used a select and unrepresentative sample, culling all of his participants from families who had purchased curricular and assessment materials from Bob Jones University.  Because Bob Jones University is an evangelical Christian university (a university which gained a national reputation in the 1980s for its policy of forbidding interracial dating), the sample of participating families in Rudner’s study is highly skewed toward Christian home schoolers.  Extrapolations from this data to the entire population of home schoolers are consequently highly unreliable.  Moreover, all the participants in Rudner’s study had volunteered their participation.  According to Rudner, more than 39,000 contracted to take the Iowa Basic Skills Test through Bob Jones, but only 20,760 agreed to participate in his study.  This further biases Rudner’s sample, for parents who doubt the capacity of their child to do well on the test are precisely the parents we might expect not to volunteer their participation.  A careful social scientific comparison of test score data would also try to take account of the problem that public school students take the Iowa Basic Skills Test in a controlled environment; many in Rudner’s study tested their own children.

Rudner himself has been frustrated by the misrepresentation of his work.  In an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal, which published a pioneering week-long investigative series of articles on home schooling in 2004, Rudner claimed that his only conclusion was that if a home schooling parent “is willing to put the time and energy and effort into it – and you have to be a rare person who is willing to do this – then in all likelihood you’re going to have enormous success.”  Rudner also said, “I made the case in the paper that if you took the same kids and the same parents and put them in the public schools, these kids would probably do exceptionally well.”

[Alenushka]

Here are some posts from children who grew up and shared their experiences of hating being HS ed

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&source=hp&q=I+hated+being+homeschooling&aq=0p&aqi=p-p1g1g-sx3&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=951dc7972bfd90fb&biw=1280&bih=670

http://www.antihomeschool.net/

I think one thing is obvious, how good somene's exprience was in public school or home school setting very much depends on many factor rather  than the system itself.

http://www.antihomeschool.net/