Thank you, Jim!

You explained what I have seen and thought. In my case, anyway, every single home schooled young person I have met was friendly, polite, able to understand words and concepts beyond their public school counterparts, and were a joy to be around.

Most parents seem to invest about four scheduled hours a day for home schooling, but also take advantage of opportunities that come up during each day, like having the children figure out how to add fifty percent to recipe ingredients, how to come up with a complete diet for their chickens out of individual materials, ask them to design small structures, keep track of pets' veterinary history, and make a point of taking them to businesses (pre-arranged) where an employee (or owner) will take them on a tour and explain how it works.

Many people point out that many parents aren't educated enough to home school, but the desire to do so can be a great incentive. There are all kinds of sources available to parents so they can provide a complete education.

I took a friend's cat to her vet's office for an appointment, and met a young woman with Down's Syndrome, her mother, and the young woman's young daughter. She proudly explained that she and her mother were going to home school her (apparently normal) daughter. I was very surprised, and glanced at her mother, who smiled and nodded. I was overwhelmed with the idea that this young woman had both the courage and the will to even try to do this, even with the help of her mother, when it's simply too scary for most American parents.

I also read somewhere that private colleges especially, are quietly hiring home schooled teachers.

Thank you for all your information.

Sue