Is homeschooling a sacrifice?

I don't feel like I do, but I also know no different. I never sent my children to school. I've never worked and have always been around the kids all the time. I would suppose homeschooling is a tradeoff. I mean a friend of mine has a public schooled PKer and she drives her daughter to school, drives back to pick her up, and spends quite a lot of time in between with PTA type meetings and stuff (very involved mom - just can't volunteer because they don't allow younger siblings in the classroom). On the other hand I teach my kids myself every day so we are both busy, just in different ways. It all boils down to I think no matter what with kids there are certain sacrifices you make and that includes educational choices. Whether you feel like you are sacrificing anything or not is another story.

No, I feel like it's a bit of a luxury. The alternative would be sending him to school. We'd have to get everyone up at an insane time to get ready for the bus that comes at 7am. In contrast, we're not always awake at 7am; the kids waiting for the bus often wake us up with their screaming and laughing. Everyone would be rushed and grouchy. DS1 and I are not morning people at all. When he came home, I'd have to help him decompress and deal with his lovey younger brother who would want to smother him and deal with the ensuing bickering and tears. DS1 is an introvert like me and the lack of personal space and quiet in school would overwhelm him and lead to people snapping at each other. I've have to make him do homework and squeeze a bath in around suppertime, while he would rather play with dh. Then, the day would start over again. I'd have to deal with the constant paperwork and "send this in at the last minute" stuff (my sister's kids are in school nearby, so I know the deal). I'd have to deal with school policies that I disagree with, take time to conference with teachers to advocate for his special needs and deal with my own aggravation over what they teach (or don't teach).

That would be a huge sacrifice for me on so many levels. Homeschooling, by comparison, seems like a luxury. We are free to do whatever we want and it's purely driven by needs. Also, and this might seem silly, but we can take mental health days and vacations whenever we want. I've seen the fallout that happens when a parent tries to take their child on vacation or give their child a much needed day off; schools don't like that and it's a huge hassle. With homeschooling, we're free from all that.

I mean, parenting is a sacrifice. I would love to have more personal time. I'm an introvert and I really reallly need some personal space and time. If my kids weren't here, I'd have tons of that. So the homeschooling thing doesn't seem like any more of a sacrifice than the early years of parenting are. I'm thinking it might get harder in some ways (driving people around as they get older and more involved), but I think it must get much easier in many ways. Some day, no one will need me to get them a snack every time I sit down. No one will need a poopy diaper changed when I'm in the shower. They will feed themselves and take care of their own very basic needs. They're going to want to be left alone to do whatever it is that older kids do. I see us having more of an understanding wrt space and how we spend our time.

I don't think so. There is opportunity cost, as Pancake pointed out, but that is part of decision making. There is always an opportunity cost when one decides to pursue one path over another.

If Bailey were to go to school (1/2 day Kindergarten) and the boys to daycare, I would be able to return to my full-time work and salary. However, a chunk of my salary would pay for daycare of three kids. We could dreamily designate the rest to fabulous vacations, but I would be working and the kids in school, so... Frankly, when I worked full-time (as the chief bread-winner, since I work in tech and my husband is a public servant) we still didn't put away money for things. We're looking back on those years now and wondering what we spent the money on, since we're able to continue in our assumed lifestyle, for the most part, and we're down to less than 1/2 our previous income. It's depressing.

I would have more time on my hands, sure, but there would be added preparation and travel time taking chunks out of the day and the time that the kids were home more hechtic than it already is - from dinner to bed time is always crazy, but the rest of the day is fairly regular. We socialize more now than we did then, mainly because we're home to do it and I don't have the need to be available for communications with clients.

There is opportunity cost of having children, alone. Without children, my husband and I could (theoretically) travel more and more easily. I could be in school full time. We could have finished the renovations to our house. We think we picked the better path, though.

No, I don't think we're "sacrificing" to homeschool. Nobody is going without. We have simply adjusted our timelines and cashflow.

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Exactly. Only in the same way that I could say that cosleeping or extended breastfeeding or gentle discipline is a sacrifice - sometimes I'm jealous (not really, but you know) of parents who just let the baby CIO, close the door, and have the evening to themselves, who just leave the 3 week old with a babysitter for the weekend while they go to Mexico for a getaway. Heck, I'm jealous of parents who have never even tortured themselves about the vaccination decision, regardless of what they chose. The fact that they just get to go to the doctor, get the shots and move on with their life without blinking, well hell, that beats spending months bleary eyed reading every article and book about vaccination issues and laying awake at night worrying about it.

But in the end I feel very privileged to be able to do this for my kids.