Teaching religion and providing moral structure is the most common reason cited for homeschooling children, followed by a need to provide a safer learning environment, devoid of drugs, negative influences and violence. Parents poled by the National Center for Education Statistics also listed dissatisfaction with academic standards in the public school system, family time, money and the school's distance away from the home a primary concern, creating a desire for homeschooling. A small percentage of parents expressed a need to provide an alternative education structure not found in the public school system.
Parents with children who have special needs or learning disabilities represent the next group of those home schooled, which include behavior problems or inadequacies that prevent the child from learning or coexisting with other classmates. This group is smaller, however, as these children usually require qualified professionals to address their specific needs.
Students learn in an intimate one-on-one learning environment, as opposed to the large public school classrooms, and benefit from a curriculum that better fits their needs, learning capabilities and interests, promoting the freedom to explore different subjects in greater depth than a public school adhering to strict standards. Parents can also provide more hands-on opportunities due to a lack of restriction, such as visiting other countries to get a better understanding of that country's history. By controlling the curriculum and pacing, parents can inject more college-level work earlier on in a students learning career. This may allow home-schooled students to enter college earlier than if they followed the normal education track set forth by the government.
Children lose social interaction provided in public school settings. In most schools, there is a diverse racial population, which gives children the opportunity to learn about other ethnic groups and how to communicate with their peers. A dependency on parents or tutors might crop up in a child not subjected to the rigors of having to perform in a competitive learning environment. As the pace of learning can speed up, it can also slow down, causing a student to fall behind the education levels of their peers in the public school system. Students may also lack routine, because learning hours and tasks can be flexible in a home setting.