Andy raises the issue of whether homeschooling is better for boys than girls. I think that the school system is tilted in favor of girls over boys. Girls are more likely to be able to sit still for hours, do what they are told, and learn at a carefully structured rate. Homeschooling makes more sense for boys. Andy writes:

Joe's statistic about his local private school MICDS (11/15 nat'l merit semifinalists are girls) is interesting. It shows that wealthy girls in school make the academic top 1% more frequently than wealthy boys. I don't doubt it. Maybe that statistic works independent of wealth too.

But it's a very different story, I think, for girls who struggle in or dislike school. Recent data, for example, show that teen pregnancy is correlated to how close a girl is to her mother. School is a disaster for many girls who are not comfortable there.

It's possible that homeschooling is optimal for many boys in grade school, because they have trouble sitting still at a young age, but for many girls in high school.