Homeschool Kids Aren't Weird, and It's Good That They Are
Homeschool Kids Aren't Weird, and It's Good That They Are
Note: This is part of my experiment in posting every day. We’ll try this for a bit and see how it goes.
Homeschooling is growing increasingly popular, so naturally it’s under attack on several fronts. Democrats don’t like it because it hurts teacher unions and takes control from the government. Republicans don’t like it either because every student not enrolled in a public school means lost funding, and for most Republican politicians, money is the only thing that matters.
A talking point I hear repeatedly is that homeschooling is bad because homeschooled children are “weird.” No one can ever quantify what they mean by that. And after reading about the suicide of 10-year-old Sammy Teusch, I’m okay with my kids being a little “weird.” He was repeatedly taunted by students for his hair and teeth. His parents took it up with the school 20 times. The school did nothing, his parents didn’t do enough, and now he’s dead. I’d rather my kids be weird.
Earlier generations of homeschoolers could definitely be a bit odd, but every homeschool family I know goes out of their way to have their kids be around other kids their age. There are many “tutorial” programs where homeschool kids meet once a week for in-person classes and socialization. There are many homeschool groups that get kids together to play.
However, homeschool kids are a little different in some ways, and there always seems to be friction between homeschool and public school families.
In my own observations, the kids public schools are pumping out are downtrodden, moody, and easily frightened by the boisterous vitality of the homeschool kids. The public schoolers go hide while the homeschool kids climb trees, shoot Nerf guns, laugh, and generally act like children.
If that’s weird, I’m okay with my kids being weird.
However, there are downsides to everything, and there’s one aspect of homeschool families that drives me nuts: everyone is so used to marching to the beat of their own drummer that coordinating group activities can be infuriating. The event says it’s from 10-12? Everyone will show up at some point between 9:45 and 12 and the event will end when the vibes run out.
In any case, that’s a pretty minor downside. I have yet to see a homeschool child that couldn’t adapt to the time requirements of a job.
Read more about homeschooling in these two articles:
