Homeschool World Forum

[Sandy]

My daughter, who is 3, is taking swimming lessons this week. While there, I started talking to another mother, who ended up being on the school board. She mentioned it when I asked what she did. Anyway, today, she asked me if I had my dd signed up for the preschool program at the school. I just said, "No, she's not in anything." Is my thinking correct, when I think that if I were to say, "No, we're homeschoolers," she would judge me, maybe watch how I interact with my kids a bit more, decide I wasn't worth talking to? Or are most school board members and school staff reasonable to deal with?

[seekingmyLord]

[momo3boys]

I've never had a problem. I usually get very positive answers from people, but I live in an area that is very open to different ideas. I actually was on the school committee in our town. I wasn't the only hs parent either. Currently he is the chair! You would be surprised what people's views are. Personally if they don't agree with you , that is their problem not yours. They need to know how many of us there really are. If I ask the school district how many families HS? I'm told only a few. I know and personally associate with a whole lot more than a few.
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Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

[Calla_Dragon]

Personally, I have no problem telling people we're homeschoolers and my son is more than open about the kind of "school" he goes to. People often make it a point to ask my obviously school-age son if he's in school and where - every time, without fail, he proudly announces that he goes to school at home. If people have a problem with it, they have never said anything in front of my son. We've only gotten positive responses and they've come from all places. Just last night at a county fair, a middle-aged lady commented on how wonderful it was that we were homeschooling because "the stuff they're teaching in the schools these days is just awful!" and how it never used to be like that when her children were in school.
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To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

[Theodore]

School board members, teachers, and PTA members may or may not be accepting of homeschooling, you'll just have to ask and find out. Most other people (at least in our area, I don't know about the rest of the US) seem to be quite ok with it - just about everyone knows someone who homeschools, and many have a relative who homeschools. Several people I've done consulting work for are also either homeschooling or looking into homeschooling, which is unusual considering the range of states and backgrounds represented.
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The Farming Game - Software Edition for PC, Mac, Linux
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

[Calla_Dragon]

Generally speaking, I think that if you're dealing with a member of a teacher's union, chances are much higher that they're going to be not accepting of your decision to homeschool or even hostile to it. I understand there is quite a bit of anti-homeschool propoganda going around the unions and virtually none of it is based in fact. I've faced this propoganda directly from my mother in law (fortunately, I knew what the unions were saying about it beforehand and could counteract it with facts), but she was adamant against homeschooling based almost verbatim on the reasons why the unions were against it.
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To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

[seekingmyLord]

[StellarStory]

I don't think you can assume that someone is going to react that way without knowing.

OTOH, if you are more comfortable being safe rather than possibly sorry, I can't blame you.

[Morgan]

During the public school's school year (September to June) when I am out at the grocery store/eating out for lunch, etc. I often get weird looks from people who pass me by. It makes me wonder if they're thinking, "Ooohhh....she's skipping school and her mom's allowing it..." and I just want to yell out, "What are you staring at, I'm homeschooled!". I am not ashamed of being homeschooled, but I don't like it when people judge a book by its cover. Just because to some people it may look like I'm playing hookey, and my mom may look like she's allowing it, but that does not mean that it is true. Sometimes I just tell myself, "It doesn't matter what these people think. I know that I am homeschooled, and my knowledge is all I need." but there are times when it is hard to let people's stares and glances go unnoticed.

Also, there are times that people build up the nerve to say something like, "Aren't you supposed to be in school?", and I reply, "I'm homeschooled." Usually I will catch their glances, and I know they are judging me because they do not support homeschooling.

But then there are my teachers. Very few (only two from the past two years of my education) have supported my homeschooling. My 6th grade Language Arts teacher was happy for me when I told her why I was leaving the school. My 7th grade Science teacher thought I made a great choice. All the rest sort of said, "Oh...wow, that's nice." and I knew they didn't have a good opinion of homeschooling. One of the secretaries, when I was with my mom handing the principal my withdraw papers, shook her head and mumbled, "Droppin' out..." I could not believe my ears! Did she really think that leaving to get a better education was dropping out?
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"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
- George Bernard Shaw

[StellarStory]

I hear some people get identification cards made for their kids who home school and are out during the school day without them just in case they are hassled.

Around my area, there are so many homeschooling kids, and so many different school systems with different schedules we don't really get that reaction at all.

[Morgan]

According to the National Home Education Research Institute…

“There were an estimated 1,700,000 to 2,100,000 children (grades K-12) home educated during 2002-2003 in the United States. Homeschooling appears to still be the fastest-growing form of education."

Now, there is an estimated 3,000,000 homeschooled children in America, and the number continues to grow.

It's great to hear this, don't you agree. I know we are not alone!
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"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
- George Bernard Shaw

[StellarStory]

I agree! Yay!

[LasPlagas]

I'm always told how cool it is that I get to be homeschooled. I've never had someone say something like "oh your homeschooled that sucks." I love it, it just can get boring. I can't imagine homeschooling as an only child.

[bittersweet]

We get almost exclusively positive responses--including from school teachers, board members etc. DH chats with a school board member he works with about school things all the time. Dh respects him for trying to change things instead of just complaining about them, and coworker respects him for taking charge of our children's education.

In our area approx one third of all kids are homeschooled, so it's far from unusal here. Just like all things in parenting, it seems that some ppl do get defensive when they choose not to homeschool. I Hear a lot, "that's great that you are able to do that , but I just couldn't". I say, ya know I believe that everyone can but it's not right for everyone.