jesu joy of mans desiring is such a simple melody but at least in my brain chemistry sounds like a doorway to heaven. I find it full of heart and emotion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR0GenPc2lU

Given they are sufficiently successful to be living on their own, married, and some with their own homes, whether they went to college is probably an inappropriate yardstick of success. I mean, be real. If a 25 year old is married and owns a home, but doesn't have a BSc are they a failure? What are we doing here.

I would say the interesting thing is the sudden increase over the last 5 years. Presumably, the number of Americans who think they can KO a grizzly bear is a lizardman constant situation in the surveys over time. But the number of people homeschooling is recently skyrocketing.

This is my perspective too. A bunch of 11 year olds raising your 11 year old doesn't always result in preferable outcomes. I think the other part of it is that a lot of people have this sort of idea that homeschooling means sitting in your kid in the basement in front of their homework and never seeing the light of day. Obviously that's not accurate.

US Big City numbers. I'm generalizing, but these are broadly accurate.

- employees all-in-cost is ~$5000 per month paying $20-something an hour (they will be hitting OT as well, because they arrive before dropoff and stay after pickup). Typical maximum legal ratio might be 5 to 1 kids to carers depending on age. This means just for basic labor, every parent is paying $1000 a month.

- Next there is commercial rent. In a metro area, easily $5-$10k a month. Amortize that across 50 kids and that's another $200 a month.

- 2 meals + snacks daily. Adds in another $250 a month per kid assuming $11 per day per kid. More if you're prioritizing healthy fresh foods and not prepackaged garbage.

- Liability insurance which is very costly (insurers dont love cases involving dead or injured 3 year olds!)

- Utilities in a building that houses 50 people for 200+ hours a month.

- Throw in all the other costs. You have the admin costs of running a business like accounting and billing, and you've got to buy diapers, replace worn-out toys, and purchase endless crayons, and so on.

By the end of it all, you're looking at very slim margins working 55-hour weeks, your employees are paid barely more than a barista, and the parents are taking on a second mortgage with every kid.