I guess it would surprise this fool that it was *me*, the mother, who was interested in homeschooling. I don't know of a single instance of a homeschool family where the father was "for" homeschooling and the mother was "against." In most cases, the mother is the one who does the research and prepares the case for the father as to why she should homeschool. It's generally the mother who convinces the father.
I've offered advice to several women (hey even some Freeper women) on the male perspective and key points that men will be interested in when discussing the homeschool option. Here are some highlights:
1. Gather the latest statistics on the achievements of homeschoolers. Facts will help your argument. Emotionalism will not. Comparison of achievement test scores is a good place to start.
2. Emphasize that you want to "educate our child at home," not that you want to "keep my babies with me." The first implies that you're taking an active stance on advancing the child's interests. The second means that you want your children to never grow up.
3. If all else fails, just start doing it. Nobody ever said you couldn't do some homeschool activities while your children are still enrolled in public school, or even before. Heck, my wife taught my son to read at age three (he wanted to read his own stories... this was not a forced thing). After that, I knew she was capable of teaching him.
4. Address how your child will have the opportunity to grow friendships outside of the schoolhouse. I didn't want my son to grow up a hermit. I wanted him to have a chance to play sports if he wanted. My wife showed me that she was concerned about these things, too, and she had a plan.
5. If you work, what is the economic impact to the family if you stay home? Have a prospective budget worked up.
6. Ask your husband to go to a local homeschool support meeting or event. Just knowing that there are regular guys with regular kids who homeschool is an eye-opener.
That's a good post...my husband went from thinking home-schooling was a "way out there" kind of strange thing to do a few years ago, to saying "We've got to get our kids out of there and teach them ourselves!" a couple years ago.
I would add to your list for "making the case" that if your family is having any difficulties with the public school, enlist husband's help on an issue and let him have some front-line experience dealing with the bureaucrats. Dealing with the H.S. principal and school nurse about P.E. and P.E. credits when our eldest was faced with a temporary physical condition preventing P.E. participation was a real eye-opener for him. (The school nurse YELLED at the surgeon, insisting our daughter could play!) He'd heard my tales over the years, but seeing the kind of nutty bureaucratic stuff I regularly deal with for himself was something else. I think that was the tipping point for him. We already had one child in private school and knew tuitition for a few children at once was out of the question. I had been researching H.S.'ing with increasing intensity and had an "action plan" to act on when we were ready to make the decision.
Recently my husband attended a business meeting where the "ice breaker" was to tell others something about yourself that they might be surprised to learn. He told me that he said "My wife and I are homeschoolers!" It was neat to realize what a change this represented in his thinking -- from thinking of it as kind of a "fringe" thing to do to now broadcasting the news to others!
I've been home since my 6 yr old was born so that impact has been absorbed for some time now:-)
You have a great list there and I agree thinking of some past mistakes I made when first considering this and approaching my husband. I know I meant what you were saying, that my children receive a great education under our Christian guidance, but it often came out as an emotional rant to my husband. I've since learned to present my case with facts and a plan and not with the whining, moaning, pleading, etc.