Confessions of a Socially-Inept Weirdo

I was homeschooled. There, I said it.

I'm also kind of quirky, weird, etc. but I am not socially incompetent. At least no one has told me that I am... yet. For those of you who have been waiting to tell me, now is your chance.


You're probably wondering why I'm writing this. First, there is a lot of controversy about . For the most part there are a lot of unfounded assumptions and stereotypes that are associated with being educated at home. Example:

Ugh.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that statement...

Now that I'm older and I can view my past experiences in a more objective way and I would like to take a few minutes and share my overall opinion of education.

It all started when I turned the ripe old age of 5 years old. I was absolutely terrified to go to school. I begged my mom to stay home. She realized that my terror was more of a phobia or age behavior than a fear of new things, so she decided to homeschool me until I grew out of it. But, both my mom and dad were worried that I would be weird. So they enrolled me in a PE class at the local rec center. It didn't turn out well. I was terrified of the bearded man (teacher) and would hide in the bathroom until class was over. Some people may say that I just needed to be put into school and face my fears. I'm very grateful that my mother was wise and knew that I would grow out of it. I would be a completely different person today if I were forced into going to school when I wasn't ready.

Around eighth grade I decided that I was ready to go to school. I went to just two periods and that was enough for me.

Overall, I don't feel that I lacked social skills. I made friends and I kept those friends. My parents took me and my siblings to all kinds of social events and real life experiences. My dad would read excerpts from "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and would then help us apply the principles in a social setting. We would come to him if we experienced a problem with another person and he would assist us in finding an appropriate solution. What I'm trying to say is that I learned social skills from my mature parents, not immature kids.

Academically I did fine; I scored advanced on the majority of the annual standardized tests and have done well in college. I sped past subjects that I knew well, and I took my time on subjects that were harder to understand. My mom would incorporate real life experiences and rituals into our daily lesson plans. I loved being homeschooled. My brothers liked it until they wanted to be around cute girls. Well, other than their sisters.

My brothers were homeschooled until 7th grade and then both my mom and my brothers decided it was time to throw in the towel. My brothers enjoy public school and are glad they made the change, but they fondly remember the freedom they had to be little kids when they were homeschooled.

There are actually quite a few people that are deciding to homeschool their children.  In 2007 there were close to 2 million children being homeschooled and it's growing at a rate of 7-12% per year.

Homeschooling was the right thing for me. And It was the right thing for my brothers in the early stages of their education.

Here is an article written by Aaron Smith (not my husband) debunking the myths of homeschool. I have searched for studies written on the problems of homeschooling, but I have not been able to find any sound research on the subject. A fellow student in my writing class was planning on writing about the harms of home education, but she had to pick a different topic because of lack of evidence.I laughed inside because I was writing a research paper on the exact opposite and I found LOADS of information.



I know some weird homeschooled kids, I admit it. But I know a lot of weird public-school kids too. I also know a lot of amazing people from both educational backgrounds.

My point is that education should not be approached in a one-size-fits-all method. It depends on the individual's age, needs, and maybe even the subject. I truly believe that a child should not be altered to fit the most convenient mode of education, but rather education should be altered to fit the child. Be in tune with your children's needs; if a child is screaming that he/she needs to learn at home for a while it may be the best thing you will ever do for them.

The curriculum that my mom used is K12, a public charter school founded by William J. Bennett (Secretary of Education 1985-1988). You can also find many curricula available in stores and on the internet.

People ask if I am going to homeschool my children. Honestly, I don't know. I would love to homeschool, but ultimately the decision will be up to them.

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