Imagine yourself in this situation. You are a normal everyday parent. You believe in God or you don't. You send your children to public school or private school. You are living your life as normal as the next fella when circumstances arise and you find yourself making a decision you never thought you would have to ponder. You are deciding whether or not to homeschool your child(ren).
It may be that your child is having difficulty with rules and regulations at school. It may be that your public or private school has shut down. It may be that you or your spouse is now working afternoons and will never be able to see the kids. It may be because you found out that your child can go to college early if they homeschool but whatever reason, here you are contemplating Home Education of all things!
You are a normal gal or guy. You never really gave it much thought before now but the more you look into the idea the more you see that there are other normal
people, just like yourself, who are having a wonderful time with this kind of lifestyle.
You jump in with both feet and begin your new life. You are enjoying the kids, though freaking out a little that YOU have decided to do this but other than that things are going along smoothly. Then IT happens. You and your children are minding your own business at the grocery store, park, field trip, zoo, museum, nature hike, play date, Science Center, or some other random social activity when a complete stranger says, "Why aren't they in school? Did the school have a day off today?"
You are now staring at a random stranger contemplating your response. For the very first time you get to say (or have to say) "We homeschool."
You are about to experience the wonder and awe of the human mind. You are about to witness ignorance at its best and you don't even know it. That random stranger will say one of the following statements and you...YOU...will stand there stammering...wishing you had a response but you won't. Why? Because you did not realize that you are now one of us.
You are now considered "Not Normal" dunn...dunnn. dunnnn
To other people you have morphed into whatever that specific person's idea of a homeschooler happens to be. YOU are ...gasp..."abnormal!"
Some people are nice and understand homeschooling and ask questions out of legitimate inquiry but some people are flat rude, judgmental, nasty and they...need a jolt! Here are some answers you may wish you have said. These are answers I've actually used...some I shouldn't have but there you go.
Read them. Memorize them, ponder your own answers, because I happen to know you WILL need them at one point or another. Some are funny but most are just boring and true. :o)
Hope you Enjoy.
HOMESCHOOLING ANSWERS TO RANDOM RUDE STRANGERS Random Stranger: "Why aren't your children in school today? Did the school have a day off?"
You: "We homeschool."
1.
RS: "I don't have the patience for that. You must be a saint."
You: "If you are doing homework 2 to 3 hours a night, you're already doing it. We don't have to force our kids to learn it all by the "test date." We don't have to answer to a teacher. We get to take as much time as we want to teach our children the subject. Who's more stressed? Parenting takes patience. Homeschooling just takes time."
2.
RS: "Is that legal?"
You: "Yes."
3.
RS: "Do you have a teaching degree?"
You: "Do you have one? You are teaching your children every night when they bring homework to your home or does your children's school have courses for parent's to take that will give them a degree to teach their own children?"
4.
RS: "Do you have a teaching degree?"
You: "Do you have hemorrhoids?"
(rude personal question begets rude personal question)
5.
RS: "What gives you the right to do that?"
You: "Their birth certificate."
6.
RS: "What about Socialization?"
You: "Between sports, camp, clubs, homeschool organizations and field trips we've decided we're going to have to cut back. I just have to decide where."
7.
RS: "What about Socialization?"
You: "They weren't allowed to talk in class for 7 hours a day and only had 3 minutes between classes to chat, so we thought we'd take them out of that situation in the hope to teach them to socialize."
8.
RS: "What about College."
You: "I know what you're thinking. You've heard about Harvard and Yale grabbing homeschoolers left and right and that colleges are now recruiting homeschoolers but we're not going to push that in our family. We're just going to send them to the local community college when they turn fourteen like many homeschooling families do. That way they can graduate homeschool with an associate degree when they are eighteen."
9.
RS: "You can't possibly teach them Algebra and Chemistry!"
You: "Do you remember your Algebra and Chemistry?"
10.
RS: "You can't possibly teach them Algebra and Chemistry!"
You: "That's what the community college is for." or "That's what our Co-Op is for." or "That's what tutors are for." or. "Sure I can." or ...you get the drift
11.
RS: "You are abandoning our public schools! It's our responsibility to fix the schools."
You: "Are you saying private schools need to fold also? Don't you think that monopolies, even in education, are bad for the consumer? The educational success in the homeschooling movement will invite the the public schools to take a look at the successful educational ideas and maybe they will implement their findings to improve the quality of education for the children who have to attend there. In the meantime, we'll raise our children while the schools sort out their own issues."
12.
RS: "Why would you want to shelter your children like that?!"
You: "Shelter them as in keeping them in the same class with the same kids for 13 years, day after day, year after year or do you mean Shelter Them as in bringing them out of that situation so they can work in the community, play in the community, serve in the community, and explore the community year after year, day after day for thirteen years? We don't have a horse and buggy my friend. I know how to drive and they do get out of the house daily, unlike most children who have a field trip once a year."
13.
RS: "Oh" (snarky look)
You: "p, q, r, s, t... was that a test or...?"
I'd love to hear them.
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4 WHAT'S YOUR TWO CENTS?:
What about "Don't your kids drive you crazy?" I once started doing a series called "Debunking Myths of Homeschooling." The first one was "But I'm a better mom if I send my kids to school because I'm refreshed when they get home." I really meant to get back and do more myth debunking, but I keep forgetting!! It is fun, isn't it?
Okay I had to use my kleenex to wipe the tears from laughter away from answers 4 and 13!
You hit the nail right on the head, when you talked about homework, especially this last year for mine. The teacher would teach the lession in class and the practial was homework so it could be as much as 4 to 5hrs worth for her with my help. So I have to take my last comment back (you can just delete it) and say I am home schooling also.
All I need to know now is can mine come to your school?!?! :O) LoL
Thanks for sharing
I don't homeschool. I am pleased with my children's school. Well, the ones that live with me full time.
My one child lives with his dad. I had to fight the school to make accomadations for him. They wanted to label him as a problem child. They insisted on me medicating a 5 yr old. I wouldn't have. I told them where they could stick it. Instead, I did behavior modification at home and told the teacher what works for him.
As far as patience, I don't have the patience to teach him. I don't. I tried homeschooling him and it was a nightmare. We both cried every day and fought.
It took some persistance from me to get the school to realize that not all children are square pegs. Some, all, children are unique and learn in different ways.
He enjoys school and his friends now. He's 3 reading levels ahead and a year ahead in math. I couldn't be prouder.
My other son had a speech delay. I put him in an early childhood program. It was a wonderful program. The school system he is in is very unique for a public school. They don't group all kids into one category. They let children andvance when they are ready. The kids sit at tables and work as a team until 6th grade. They have different level classrooms. The teachers actually love teaching. I'm so happy with the school I refuse to move out of the district.
I think that education is a personal decision. They are your children and who knows them better. If you want to and have the ability to, then home schooling is wonderful. If you send your kids to school then you should be involved and not leave it to the school to educate them completely. As a parent, it is your responsibility as well.
No, I probably couldn't teach my children chemsitry. I have enough resources to be able to provide that to them. And it is not a requirement in life to take chemistry. It is a requirement that you can read and write and problem solve. Most of what children learn in school is teaching them problem solving skills. That's what Algebra is. It's more about them being anayltical then being able to figure out 1+1.
I love your answers. I get questions about why I don't medicate my son. Wouldn't it be easier on you if you medicated him. Probably, but that doesn't mean it is good for him. Just because it's easier doesn't mean it's better. And it's not about me. It's about them. Their needs first.
Great post.
Hi Parenting Cafe,
If your name weren't "Parenting Cafe" I'd chalk your comments up to a difference of opinion but since that's not the case I have questions.
Why does your husband have custody now?
Why do you think a teacher who does not love your child, can control him and teach him better than you, his mother, who does love him?.
Why do you think a teacher, who does not love him, will be able to handle him if he is so unruly that you cannot?
I have had so many teachers tell me that one of the major problems in schools is that parents who cannot control their children, will send them to school expecting the establishment to handle the "problem." Then those same parents show up and try to tell the establishment just how to do it when they, themselves cannot.
Isn't this exactly what you are doing? How is that good for your son, the teacher, or the students who are affected by the situation?
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