Homeschooling Myths #1

Found this image & the T-shirt here.

There are a lot of myths regarding homeschooling. I thought it might be interesting to look at each one. I have come up with at least 6 or 7 but if you have suggestions feel free to let me know. I would love to cover other myths that I may not have thought of.

Myth #1 People that homeschool are weird, peculiar, or freaks!

That was my first thought when considering homeschooling too! I know I am not alone in this thought. However, over the 10+ years we have been homeschooling I have noticed more and more people choosing this way of educating. I think that means it is either less freakish than it used to be or there are a whole lot more freaks out there now. To tell you the truth, in the years that we have homeschooled we have met some very strange people but we have met a lot more "normal" people. I look at it just like society in general. There are lots of weird folks out there in any group but there are also usually a lot of normal folks too. Whenever you get a group of people together you will find all kinds.

The homeschool families I have seen have a few things in common. The first one is usually not freakiness. The main things I see are stability, sacrificial (willing to make sacrifices for their children/family) honest, patriotic, dependable, & compassionate. Most that I know truly want to please God in everything they do and want to help raise up an amazing generation of people that can change the world.

I guess the answer to this myth depends on what your definition of "weird" "peculiar" or "freak" is.

One definition I have found, at dictionary.com says, involving or suggesting the supernatural; unearthly

Honestly, a lot of people react to homeschoolers as though we ARE supernatural. Comments like, I just couldn't do THAT or how do you do it...I just couldn't spend the WHOLE DAY with my child(ren) makes me think some see us with SUPER MOM capes!

Back to dictionary.com for the definition of "freaks". It says, a person or animal on exhibition as an example of a strange deviation from nature; monster.

Well, I don't know about other homeschool Moms but I can see that some people look at us as an exhibition (a large-scale public showing) or an example of a strange deviation from nature. (That is probably really true with large families when they have all their children with them in public. They hear a lot of, Are those all yours?) I surely hope monster doesn't come to mind though. LOL

I choose to look at myself & my family as more "peculiar" though. Here are a few of those definitions.

#1 distinctive in nature or character from others.
#2 Distinct from all others.
#3 uncommon; unusual


These don't look too bad now do they? The fact that we are Christians make us peculiar already so we are pretty much used to that.

Now we come to the heart of the matter. If you consider raising children with a heart for God, good character, love of country, respect for adults, & don't speak vulgarities on a regular basis (like what I see on TV,videos, & the Internet) then maybe we are a bit peculiar in this world.

That is something I am willing to live with.

(This is the end of part one. I will have more homeschooling myths. Keep checking back.)