My Kids Are Now The “Public School Kids” I Used To Judge

My smile faded as a realization struck me. My kids are the ‘public school kids.’

Adult Homeschoolers Speak Out: Part Ten, Are the Stereotypes Better or Worse?

“When I wrote my socialization post, I said that the Number One homeschoolers got was ‘What about Socialization?’ When I was growing up, this was actually the Number Two question. The Number One question I got when I told someone I was homeschooled was: ‘What’s that?’ Nowadays, everyone knows someone who has been homeschooled. But that doesn’t mean that stereotypes have gone away or even changed.”

Adult Homeschoolers Speak Out: Part Nine, Do Former Homeschoolers Want to Homeschool?

“When I started this series, the question ‘Do former homeschoolers want to homeschool their children?’ was one that was very personal. In my current circle of friends, I know lots of parents who are currently homeschooling or are planning on homeschooling. But none of these parents were homeschooled themselves.”

Adult Homeschoolers Speak Out: Part Eight, The Best Thing vs. What Was Missing

“This post is the ‘big picture,’ the reasons that former homeschoolers list as the best thing(s) about homeschooling. The second half of this post is the responses of these adults about what they wish had been different about their homeschooling experience. I hope this post encourages you and gives you some food for thought as well.”

Adult Homeschoolers Speak Out: Part Seven, What About Socialization?

“The issue of socialization and homeschooling is so dynamic because, whether homeschoolers like to admit it or not, what they are doing is counter-cultural. It isn’t ‘the way’ most Americans are educated or how most adults learned to interact with the world. This is neither good nor bad. It simply is. But because it is ‘different,’ it may and often does present some challenges.”

Adult Homeschoolers Speak Out: Part Six, College? Prepared or Not?

“Honestly, I don’t believe I was prepared academically for college, especially in my chosen field (woefully unprepared in writing and critical thinking!) but I got by because homeschooling taught me to be an independent learner and I was extremely self-motivated.”

Adult Homeschoolers Speak Out: Part Five, The Highschool Experience

“The truth is, everyone goes through ‘crap’ during the high school years, either in public, private or homeschool. The struggles for public/private school students are often very different — and not just the ‘unholy trinity’ of sex, drugs and alcohol. Like it or not, homeschooled high schoolers still experiment sexually and are tempted by drugs and alcohol. But homeschool students often go through personal struggles that their non-homeschooled peers do not have to deal with.”

Adult Homeschoolers Speak Out: Part Four, Academic and Emotional Experiences, K-8

“Emotionally, the numbers were a little different. 65% of adults (or 28 people) said that their emotional memories were good (‘I loved it!’) or that they had no memory of how they felt (2 participants or 4%). 30% (13 participants) of adult homeschoolers said that they struggled with negative emotions concerning this time in their lives.”

Adult Homeschoolers Speak Out: Part Three, Why Parents Homeschool

“Most of the homeschoolers who took the survey cited multiple reasons that influenced their parents’ decision. But the # 1 reason for homeschooling on the surveys mirrored my own family’s reasons for homeschooling: Religious Reasons or Convictions.”

Adult Homeschoolers Speak Out: Part Two, Survey Stats and Large Families

“in my own experience, homeschooling families tend to have large families. As you can see, the range of siblings in each family is pretty dramatic (from an only child to a family of 14 children!) The average of 4 children in a family seems pretty ‘normal’ to me. Many homeschoolers talked about relationships with siblings in the surveys so that is why I included this information.”