Some of my questions about home schooling goes beyond how to best do it, to questions about if it is truly a good idea. My teacher daughter says no, that mothers can not do as good a job as people who spend years training.
Home schooling seems to me to be a wonderful idea. My daughter feels that our schools do not interfere with what God wants children to learn, I do. I see humanism taught, and the schools idea of tolerance is not the same as God's. We are to love and not judge, but we are to judge pagan religions and pagan ways of living, just not people. My little neighbor was warned never to speak of God at school, so he is never to mention a main force in his life.
I think children learn better if they are made to stay with a subject until they truly learn it, and are not made to be bored by hearing something over and over that they know about. That takes one on one teaching. On the other hand, competition that spurs a child on is built in with the classroom, it has to be created at homeschooling.
Christians live in a world apart from worldly people, and worldly people are in the majority, now. A child needs to learn to cope with this and it comes naturally in public school. Sometimes a sheltered child gets lost when he must go out in the world.
There are lots of things to think about in regard to homeschooling.
Many home schoolers surpass their peers in grades, extra cirricular activites. Colleges and universities will often seek out home schooled students as they tend to have better grades, work hard, be more motivated and mature. Also more well rounded as people.
Of course, this varies from parent to parent. Some parents goal is only to isolate their children from 'evil' more than give an education. Homeschooling can be better than regular school. First they get more attention and help, because there aren't 20-40 other people vying for help as well. They don't get 'left behind' if they struggle on a topic, they can move at a pace that is comfortable with the, so no getting bored if its too slow, or getting lost if its too fast.
Also, it does limit the influence of peers, because they don't spend 8+ hours a day in hostile, dangerous, sexually charged atmosphere of teens. They don't have the government influence of teaching evolution, abortion and gay rights.
Because they have less wasted time in the day (such as time between classes, getting to and from school, homework) they have more time to do other things such as sports, or other activities.
You talk about 'competition'. I don't think education is a time when a child needs to be worried about competition. Its a time when a child needs to feel at ease and comfortable so they can focus on their work and goals, and not on if they're keeping up with the kid next to them. All that does is create pressure and stress kids out, or in some cases, may cause them to give up because they may feel inadequate, or less intelligent if they are struggling in an area no one else is.
When done properly, public education can't hold a candle to home schooling. But of course it all depends on the parent.