Why do families teach their children at home? Most parents today spent 12 of their childhood years in a classroom, 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week for nine months out of the year. For our children not to spend their growing up years the same way as we did, may seem foreign. Children go to school because their parents went to school. The reason for our children to be in school should be because it is the safest environment for our children to be encouraged, nurtured, and educated to grow into the most functional, emotionally and physically and spiritually sound individual possible. Has this been and is this best accomplished by schools? Home schooling families today simply ask, "Could there be a better way?"

Home education is not for everyone. Because of the financial demands of a family, often both parents must work. Some parents simply do not want or need the added stress of the responsibility to educate their children. Homeschool is work and commitment for both parents.

The following chart attempts to compare home schooling with private and public education.

Public	Private	Home School
mass production education	mass production education, but usually smaller numbers	tutorial
same goals for all children with limited access to advanced programs & technical training	normally have high academic standards for college entrance	individualized goals
parents have limited control of what children are taught	parents have limited to moderate input	In AL, parents are held responsible to church school administrator for children's education
teacher is held responsible for children's education; parental responsibility limited	because of fees paid, teacher is usually held accountable to teach; parental responsibility limited	parental control of what children are taught
emphasis is on time spent in school or attendance	usually less emphasis on attendance & more on educational material covered	accountable to spend time teaching, but emphasis is on material covered
cost is minimal, depending on school	will pay for books & tuition $2,500-$5,000	books & material $100-$500 & lost or reduced income for 1 parent
6-8 hours per day & up to 2 hours per day on bus	6-8 hours per day plus driving time	about 3 hours per day in book work & the rest of time spent in special areas of interest
school clothing cost is moderate	peer pressure generally increases clothing cost	special school clothing is not necessary, so clothing costs are minimal
safety is questionable	normally safe environment	safe environment
limited parental commitment	moderate parental commitment	total parental commitment