text: have you considered the long-term impact of homeschooling your child? homeschooling is a great way to make a child book smart.  the down side is that homeschooling hinders social development.  homeschool kids tend to become brilliantly educated and social retarded.  by sheltering your child, you prevent them from learning how to deal with everyday social situations.  homeschoolers are shy for the most part and lack interpersonal skills.  1. is it worth trading a childs social life for a "better" education?   2. are you really qualified to teach your child if you don't have a teaching degree? 3. which would be better for the child: homeschooling or active parental involvement in public schooling? 4. how do you plan on developing your childs social skills if you are homeschooling them?  homeschool groups are like social special ed classes and don't help children develop social skills that can be applied later on in life. 5. can you teach you kids to be religious without teaching them everything else? 1. is it worth trading a childs social life for a "better" education?   trade?  what trade?  they get both -- a better social life and a better education.  2. are you really qualified to teach your child if you don't have a teaching degree?  of course.  it is by god's design.  3. which would be better for the child: homeschooling or active parental involvement in public schooling?  homeschooling.  4. how do you plan on developing your childs social skills if you are homeschooling them? homeschool groups are like social special ed classes and don't help children develop social skills that can be applied later on in life.  i don't need a plan and it isn't up to me to develop my child's social skills.  your questions should not even have question-marks because they are all ignorant statements of false thinking that is not based on fact.  my children are already applying their skills because they are "later in life".   one is 23 and married with 3 children, a good job and more friends than he can keep up with. another is 20 and in the second year of college getting great grades and associating with a large group of friends. another is 18 and working, studying, and keeping busy with many activities and people. the youngest is nearly 16 and is busy with studies, friends, and many pursuits  ------ none of my children have been hindered in their "later in life" application of social skills.    5. can you teach you kids to be religious without teaching them everything else?  what in the world does that mean?  i do not understand this question.  i don't teach my children to be religious.  i don't want them to be religious as far as religion goes.  i do want them to have every opportunity to learn about god and christianity as based on the bible -- but this is with the view that bible based christianity is not a religion.  my children learn to think for themselves by practicing it every day.  they learn math skills by doing math, they learn writing by writing, they learn reading by reading --- they learn science by experiencing it, history by reading about it, economy by living in it, etc. etc. etc.    they don't need me to funnel information into their heads -- they learn to learn by learning, and they learn to study by studying and they learn to think by thinking.   everything they do progresses naturally from one level to another -- it would be silly to imagine that things would not become more advanced each day.  the long term impact of homeschooling has proven itself over and over again by those that are finished with it.  just ask the veterinarian that graduated from home-school and went on to the university and graduate school -- he is now 30 with a very profitable job.  ask the chemist that is a research scientist and making more money than you might ever see -- he writes articles for major medical publications and gives lectures and speeches around the country.  ask the graduates of homeschool about the long term impact of their home-education.  be sure to talk to the one's that chose to apply themselves and made it their purpose to do well in life.