The most common reason around here are parents who don't want their kids religious beliefs distorted by the general public and secular school system. There are

The most common reason around here are parents who don't want their kids religious beliefs distorted by the general public and secular school system. There are religious specific schools but they tend to be expensive and far apart. It is easier to just pull your kids from school and have a parent teach them, supplemented with clubs and special activities. Another reason is parents might not want their kids to have to cope with the social pressures of the school resulting from both income disparity and bullying. Some kids just don't do well in large group activities with generic and/or dumbed down lessons. 1:1 teaching and custom tailored educational experiences can really help some kids excel. When the household has enough money and a well enough educated parent, to support a parent staying home doing full time teaching, these kids get educational opportunities they wouldn't get in a large public school system. Similarly, for whatever reason sometimes the family lives in a school district with either terrible schools or schools with such a cultural mis-match that it doesn't make sense to even bother sending your kids there. Schools in the US are not all equal. Even a few miles apart, schools can be VERY different. And kids are all different too. We have the opportunity to be flexible about educating our children, which I think works out for the best for the majority of such special cases in the long run. I have seen home schooled kids who have serious issues with: 1) Deadlines 2) Structured Schedules (like showing up for work on time). 3) Coping with social situations that are outside their comfort zone. 4) Separating from their parents. 5) Recognizing that not everyone learns the same way or at the same speed or is as smart as they are. Sometimes they end up in trouble and unable to be self-sufficient in our society. Sometimes they find a niche that works for them and are very happy. Sometimes they have none of these issues and you'd never know they were home schooled.