Those Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

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I am not quite sure the reasoning, but it seems that when strangers find out that any one of my children is homeschooled, they always ask them how they like it, and wouldn’t they rather go to school?  With my oldest now being 21, I’ve been listening to my children answer these questions for what seems like forever.

When strangers realize that I homeschool my children, they always feel the need to quiz me as to my reasons for choosing that route, or if I feel qualified to teach them, or if I worry about them being socially isolated.  Early in my homeschooling career, I’d get worried and feel the need to defend myself.  I’d go into long monologues about the advantages of homeschooling.  Now, I just look at them, smile, and tell them that we love our life and would have it no other way.  

Well, one day earlier this year, someone started quizzing my 10 year old while we were at a local children’s museum.  I just sat across the room listening to him answer.  I loved hearing him tell this nosy lady some of the things he’d been learning lately and just how busy he is with all of his activities.  She asked if he missed out on being able to have friends.  His answer, “I have so many friends that I worry because I don’t have enough time to spend with them all.”  He then flitted off to go play with someone.  I just watched her watching him and it made me think.  Why do people always feel the need to question us because we are homeschoolers?  I mean, how often do strangers start asking a child that goes to school if they’d rather be at home?  It started to irritate me, although I’m not sure why.  When I got home that evening, my 16 & 17 yr olds were home.  When they asked me what was wrong,  I just told them I was irritated and I’d explain later.  I asked them if they’d do a writing assignment for me.  I asked them each to write down what role they thought homeschooling has played in their lives so far.  They both did.

Today I am going to share with you what my 16 yr old wrote(I’ll share my 17 yr old’s another time):

Homeschooling

Homeschooling has affected my life in many ways;  it has helped shape me into the person I am today.  One of the greatest reasons I believe that homeschooling is the best is the fact that you learn what you want, when you want.  By learning what interests you, instead of what a school puts in front of you, you gain more passion for what you’re learning. When you write or study about something that you’re passionate about,  I believe it helps you remember it better. By learning and studying what I want, it has helped me find my passions early. I learned that I have a huge passion for numbers and that I am drawn to the finance world. To me, nothing is more interesting than the stock market.  When stocks first hit my radar, I naturally asked my mom about them. When she told me that she didn’t know much about them either, I began my journey into stocks. I went straight to that library that day and checked out 17 books about the stock market. I spent hours watching YouTube videos about them.  I started reading and studying, hours and hours every day, until I had a good idea of how it all works.  Then came the fun part, I had money saved up from my jobs, and I started trading stocks. Since I am under 18, I convinced my mom to let me use her name so I could trade. If I was never homeschooled I don’t think I would’ve found my passion for stocks, and I sure wouldn’t have traded stocks since the markets are only opene during school hours. Another reason I’m grateful that I was homeschooled is the fact that I could work during school hours. Working during school hours, I found that I could talk to and work with some pretty amazing people. I have  always found it easier to talk to adults than to talk to teens, so working during the day with them just felt more natural.  These adults that I worked with treated me as an equal and not just as some kid.  They also talked a lot to me about how to pursue my passions and even gave me advice on investing.  Besides just stocks, I found that I love cooking, real estate, auto mechanics and music. I have had adequate time to delve in to each of these topics during my high school years as well.  Homeschooling has helped me to see who I want to be without the stress of trying to fit in. I’m so grateful for the opportunities I have had and continue to have and I contribute 99% of them to being homeschooled. Every year I get the choice to go to school or stay homeschooled and I will always choose to be homeschooled.

Reading this made my heart melt just a tad.  This is the child I have struggled the most with.  His ADHD has kept me on my toes and encouraged me to be constantly looking for ways to challenge him.  There were so many times throughout our homeschooling journey that I was afraid I was messing everything up(especially with him).  When I read what he wrote, I started to cry.  It was as if he truly understood the reasons I chose homeschooling, without my having to really explain myself.  

I know there are days a parent feels overwhelmed or inadequate, but trust me, you know what is best for your child.  Had I given in during one of my moments of feeling inferior and put him in public school, I shudder to think who’d he be today.  The school would’ve strongly urged me to have him medicated.  Honestly, his ADHD was BAD for a long time. It was not easy to handle.  They would’ve tried to stifle him.  He’s always dreamed and acted like an adult and struggles immensely with doing things he finds trivial or juvenile or repetitive.  If he isn’t challenging himself or learning something new, he becomes bored, restless, and annoying.  Although at times this made homeschooling difficult, it also gave him the freedom to just be himself.  

So when you are feeling overwhelmed or discouraged, don’t give up!!  You are planting seeds now and will be impressed by how well they grow if you just continue to nurture the soil around them.