Great thread, Kriston! And acs, great observation about the defensiveness of choosing public school.

I first have to say that I love reading everyone's posts, no matter what the thread. Usually I sit and read without posting because I get so far behind. I think I might actually be able to jump in here, though, because it's currently only two pages. Of course if I digress too much it will be up to 4, I have no doubt. LOL

I admit that I have questioned many HSers I know, but their reasons are primarily about bad influences in our public schools. We have a very large number of HSers who attend our church, and depending on the group I'm with at a particular function, they can outnumber us PSers. I definitely feel defensive then, just as I feel defensive when I'm discussing public v. private schools with private school parents. I think I'll always feel defensive about our educational choices, at least somewhat, because parenting is such a personal thing (duh!) and a source of insecurity, and especially so for women, I believe.

Not to throw this into a topic of gender issues, but I do think that my husband is much better able to make a decision about the kids and move on, without regret, embarrassment, or defensiveness. I, on the other hand, will continue to question decisions even if I know they were right. This observation really only applies in the area of parenting; it was not true when I worked in my profession. But as a mom I'm way too defensive about my parenting, and it's something I can't seem to shake. My husband does not have that same problem. If we were to decide to HS, I doubt he would ever feel insecure about it or defensive about it. I would though, especially if I felt like Kriston does and couldn't state the REAL reason why we had chosen that option.

So I just want to offer support to all of you defensive HSers, PSers, ___ers out there: you are doing what's best for your child(ren). And as we all know from reading these fabulous posts each day, every child is different. In my week of lurking I have loved reading about the personalities of your children, finding my DD5 in someone's DD and my DD3 in someone else's DS. I'm so thankful that you are here and are sharing, and am sorry that you ever feel defensive about anything.

As I say many times each day, parenting is HARD!