Imagine if when you told people you had chosen to send your kids to school, you were met with the kind of assumptions, judgement and questioning that is typical of families who have chosen to homeschool.
Imagine that after all your research and thought, you were met with:
The assumption that you homeschool and shock when they find out you’re not.
Them quizzing your child to check what school is teaching them.
Outdated assumptions that don’t apply to modern schooling.
“I could never do that! I’m not organised enough!”
“I knew someone who was schooled and they were freaks”
“Oh I don’t know if she would suit school, she’s a bit too spirited for school”
And questions.. So many questions!:
“Is that legal?”
“Are you concerned about negative socialisation? Bullying? Peer pressure?”
“Aren’t you worried they will end up ‘weird’?”
“How much does it cost and how are you going to pay for it?”
“Are you going to miss them? I would just miss mine too much”
“Do you worry about rules being enforced and your child’s lack of autonomy?”
“Are you worried about what school will teach them?”
“Aren’t you concerned about them not learning something?”
“But you’re going to homeschool for high school right?”
“Are you worried they won’t be self sufficient because they’ve always had their learning enforced?”
“How will they make friends that aren’t their age?”
“Don’t you worry that all they will do is work and not get to play?”
“Are you worried they won’t get enough free time?”
“But you’ll let them homeschool if they ask right?”
“How will they know how to do anything without being tested or graded for it?”
“Do you worry that they won’t be able to handle the real world after being out of it for their youth?”
Frustrating huh?! This is the life of a homeschooling parent almost every time they talk to someone new about their choice.
This is just a tongue in cheek way to show how bizarre these questions and assumptions are to those of us who homeschool.
Silly disclaimer – I understand that some people just aren’t informed and are being genuinely curious. This is satire.
(Thanks for inspiring this Dadosaurus)
Thank you for reading!
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“But you’re going to homeschool for high school right?” That one made me chuckle.
Hahaha!!!
Oh wouldn’t I just love to say sone of these!!!
SAME!!!
I can’t even say how much I love this!!!!!
LOVE this…So many of these questions are extremely valid questions!
“Are you worried they won’t be self sufficient because they’ve always had their learning enforced?”
This is happened to me, and it’s seriously my 1# problem in life. I’m almost certain school is responsible. In any case, halp? Is there no way to reverse this conditioning? ;_; I’ve been searching everywhere, I don’t know what to do…
I’m not sure what areas in your life you are referring to Quinn but maybe start but sitting down & having a big brainstorm on what you would actually like to do with your time, & then start doing some of those things. If you’d like to paint, have some fun painting, learn a few techniques, keep learning more & more if you love it. If you are doing some things in your life that you real love & feel proud of, the positive feeling will flow into areas that you struggle in.
If you feel like you can’t cook maybe think about one thing that you would love to eat & learn to cook that.
If you struggle with time management maybe pick one activity that you do & work out a plan for that one thing until it works & you feel that you are controlling it instead of it controlling you.
“Aren’t you afraid they’ll turn out weird?”
For our family, weird was kind of a baseline assumption, no matter where they were educated… ;>
These are great questions, because they really shine a light on some of the more uncomfortable aspects of schooling people don’t usually question.
And yes, I sometimes hesitate to tell people my kids graduated from homeschool, because I don’t want to have *that* conversation.
Fantastic, so many of these are so familiar (but the other way around). Imagine how offended people who sent their children to school would be if you asked these questions!
Yep!
I absolutely loved this post. I’ll be smiling about some of these for a while!
I have actually had many extremely positive responses and very long conversations about our learning though living home ed.
I love it! The funny part is that I get support from the least expected places. The folk that are supposedly learned are the worst. Suddenly people get overcome by this super confidence in the education system as soon as they meet a homeschooling parent.
I have one child in school and three that are homeschooled. Depending on the circles, I get these questions all.the.time. Homeschoolers don’t understand why the one kid goes to school. Public schoolers don’t understand how I homeschool the others. Everyone feels the need to ask all these questions. :)
These are a funny twist on a situation we’ve all faced at some point in our homeschooling career. Although sometimes tempting to return the favor of invasive questioning, I’ve never been rude enough to go there…well, not yet. Of course we’re still working on our socialization skills. ; )
i do ask those question, but only in my head.
I seriously consider taking these questions to school with me on Friday, where we’ll be announcing we are not returning my girls to school next year…
I continue to struggle with the one about being able to do stuff without being tested and graded on it.
They certainly make me think about the damage School caused me…….and there were good things as well in School for me…….. I just struggle with the division focusing on this kind of thinking causes …. If Homeschooling will be respected, it will be out of certainty from the families who are doing it, not by needing to validate ourselves through comparisons, division, judgement… just like parents showing the way to our children, we , homeschooling moms, can show the way to other moms who are in the School system….without judging, secure on what we are doing, in love, quietly giving the example, without needing to be elevated, recognized or rewarded.