I agree. The first schools in the US were founded in the 17th century, but public school as a place for learning reading, writing and arithmetic came only in the last 175 to 200 years as the model we are largely familiar with today. Before that, schools were church and community driven, with parents expected to fill in the math and reading literacy if capable. Agrarian life was a family business. In modern public schools, children are age-segregated within a year of their birth dates, and a large portion of the day is spent on mundane administrative tasks such as lining up, going to your locker, moving classes, sitting down and getting quiet for a lecture or other class. I sent my first two children through the system against my wishes, but as a compromise with my wife at the time. I am now raising my youngest outside of the school system. People always throw out the 'socialization with peers' thing. IMHO, I think it is healthier for the child to socialize across the age groups - maybe a violin class with 40 to 60 year olds, a yoga class with 20, 30 or 40-somethings, play time with close-in-age children after they are out of school, or during the morning with other home-schooled children. Right now I am living in East Java, Indonesia, and my baby is being social with everyone in the village from other babies to 80 to 90 year olds. I am originally from Brooklyn, NY (born and raised), and could easily do the same thing there, especially nowadays with more 'outside of the box' parents than when I was raised there. Home schooling used to get a bad rap because a lot of fundamentalist religious parents wanted out of the public school system. I am an atheist, so this does not apply. I don't think you do any great harm either way with school or home schooling; it's a personal choice. I just feel it is more of an easy thing to do. And, no, I am not independently wealthy. I grew up poor, and I have just decided to live life a bit different to accommodate my family's values, which sometimes means minimal living, but not skimping on fun and creativity and activities which abound in many places if you just look.