Wow! What a question. There's no way to cover all the reasons.

Initially, when I first became interested in home education, my reasons were strictly academic. I was a straight A student and graduated Valedictorian of my class. However, I knew that I really UNDERSTOOD very little of what I supposedly "learned". I have good memorizations skills which allows me to read something and recall the correct answer without actually having to understand what I've read. I also had good test-taking skills.

An example of this was when my husband and I took ground school. I had very little understanding of how a plane worked or how to fly. My husband flew quite well. On paper, however, I received a significantly higher grade that he did. I knew the answers, I just didn't necessarily know what they meant. Trust me, you'd have wanted him piloting the plane, not me!

So...my goal in homeschooling was to teach my children in a way that they truly understood and practically applied what they learned.  As my boys grew, I became more involved in church and character and Biblical training also became a large part of our schooling.  Sadly, I ended up going through a divorce and my two older boys went to school.

Years later, after remarrying and having more children, I was faced with a dilemma when my daughter became school age. In all honestly, I harbored bitterness at being required to put my older boys in school. I was reluctant to give that much of myself only to risk having it taken away again. Perhaps I was even a bit angry at God because I'd tried to do everything "right" and things didn't work out the way I would have chosen with my children.

The decision was difficult. I had to fight myself and determine if I was willing to give up an income and, again, become solely dependent upon my husband. Was I was willing to devote myself to something that I knew could easily be taken away? And was it really worth the effort and sacrifice? Both of my boys enjoyed public school and excelled.

My husband's public school experience was extremely negative so he was very motivated for me to homeschool. I did recognize changes in family dynamics once my older boys began public school. When we were all at home, things were a "team effort". They were involved in whatever I was doing and we undertook projects together. Once they were in school, that was no longer the case. After starting school we also had to deal with "age" issues. Previously, my boys had been happy to spend time together. Now my youngest was "uncool" to his brother's friends.

The largest difference to me, though, was time. When the boys learned at home I had no problem with them attending Scouts, Awanas and sports in the evenings. We'd had all day together. Once they were in school, it was as if I literally NEVER saw them. They were gone all day, then participating in some activity in the afternoons or evening. This really DOES affect the dynamic and relationships in the family.

With my younger children, character is probably the largest motivations. I'm SOOO saddened by the sexualization among young girls. The way they move, talk and dress at such a young age is extremely sad to me. Homeschooling has allowed me to surround my children with like-minded friends so that is not the norm. They are not sheltered to the point that they don't see it, but it's not "normal" or desired. They don't have a "cool" group they feel they need to fit in with. I think these types of things are a greater struggle for girls in public school than for boys.

So I guess my "why" boils down to the following:

1) Being able to have a closer personal and family relationship with my children

2) Teaching my children to love and support one another as a team

3) Raising them with God's values as "normal" rather than them being "oddballs"

4) Ability to teach and make sure they understand and can apply what they learn

5) The ability to teach the Bible and character training

6) And just the joy of showing them that learning can be FUN! I want my children to learn because they have a thirst for knowledge, not to pass a test. So far, that is the case.