Why do I want to home educate?

I have both reasons for wanting to home educate and also concerns about the current school system. 

This is not to say that I think all kids should be home educated, children are individuals and some thrive with more structure/authority that school provides, or love the safety and refuge offered at school if they have a hectic homelife.  I don't think all adults should necessarily home educate.  As some parents know that they 'could never be a SAHP', it logically follows that some (the same?) parents could never home educate.  A happy parent, leads to a happy child, much more than a parent doing what they think should be best, to the detriment of their own (or their family's) mental and emotional health.  And, there is also the group of parents who would like to home educate but don't or can't.  Maybe they don't think they are academically able (there is *lots* of information out there, if this is you!), maybe they are worried about the legal side of things (in England, it certainly is legal), worried about opinions of friends and family, or financially cannot not work, thereby needing the school to be chidcare as well as the main educating body.  Indeed, if it turned out that we couldn't survive and I needed to get a full-time job, I wouldn't hesitate putting my two into school.

So, why do I want to HE?  Firstly, I think the philosophy is fantastic.  As with much of my parenting, it is child-led, and HE provides the opportunity not only for education to be child-led, but also individually tailored to each child.  It's like the ultimate private school that has been set up for a single child.  As a SAHM to two pre-schoolers, I'm already HEing!  Between me, DH and our extended friends and family, we've already taught language (oral and sign, and basic French), societal norms, counting, simple arithmatic, relationships, social skills, problem solving, songs, stories and telling them, art and crafts, physical activites, basic geography (the joys of having no family nearby!) etc etc.  At least for primary school, I do believe that there is no need for this "system" to change.  I do foresee that, as they get older, things will become more structured.  I love books, and think there is great value in learning how to teach yourself something from a book, so I will naturally gravitate towards text-books.  Having a degree from Oxford, myself, I do also see the value in qualifications.  Being HEed doesn't prevent this from happening, or means that there's anything you can't learn, or have to go to school for. 

But what about Socialisation??  Ah yes, the S-word.  That's a big topic, that I won't go into here because I do not think school is the only, or indeed the best, place for socialisation to occur.  Obviously humans, especially children, are social creatures, which is why I do not intend on keeping them locked inside my house all day, nor have them enrolled in our local prison, taking orders all day.  Sorry, I mean school.

So, what are my concerns about school?  Actually, my concerns are less about the fear of bullying or peer pressure (although I do recognise them as valid concerns, and good enough standalone reasons to HE), but the teaching, teachers and schools themselves. 

DD1 is very clever (not just saying that as her mum) and I do not want her being told to sit on the story corner and read whilst everyone else catches up to her level.  By the time that happens, she'll be used to doing not much and will be in for a shock when she's expected to work.  Or maybe she would be told to do the very simple maths exercises, or read the beginning-to-read books, anyway even though they are well below her standard and she will be bored and frustrated.  Maybe she will act up, due to the boredom, and labeled as a trouble-maker (as many boys are, especially because boys learn better when they are being active too).  What if she doesn't develop the fine motor skills required to write until she is 6 or 7 (bearing in mind that many European countries do not start schooling until the age of 7)?  If she knows the answer to a question, and the teacher knows she knows the answer, will she be told off for being stubborn/disrespectful/disruptive/etc for not writing down the answer quietly, when in fact she could be physically unable from doing so? Maybe she will enjoy doing routine worksheets, and then the bell will go for breaktime, and she will be forced to stop, even though she would happily continue learning and practicing throughout breaktime.  Maybe they are studying a topic that DD1 is really interested in and she asks lots of questions; maybe the other pupils, or even the teacher, don't understand the questions/know the answers and tell her to stop asking questions.  Will she be zapped of her current love of learning and thirst for knowledge? Or, she will be correct about something, but told she is wrong.  Eg What colour is the sky?  DD1 answers "it is colourless", and the teacher (who only has double C grade at GCSE science, maybe) says "no, you are wrong, the sky is blue", and everyone in the class laughs (maybe picks on, and is the start of bullying?) at her when in fact she is correct.  The sky isn't blue, it only appears blue due to the action of light through the atmosphere.  As a parent, should I be not answering questions correctly, so that my children with give the expected responses?  Are schools more about coersion and control, or about real education?