The Truth About Homeschooling

I am carrying on a conversation with the curly-haired cashier at the grocery store. All is going well...at first. And then she asks it. The. Dreaded. Question. That question I try to avoid every time I go out. 

Where do you go to school? 

They always ask it, every single time. To most kids around the world this question is not so bad, but for me. Well, the same process follows every time. 

I tell the cashier that I am homeschooled. 

She smiles uneasily, eyes grow wide, and says, "That's nice," in a tone suddenly different than before.

From then on the conversation either falls apart, or the questions come. Oh and boy do they come! They come one after another. Brutal slaps in the face. 

Do you like it?

Do you do your school in your pjs? 

How do you make friends? 

Why do you do that? 

Is that even legal? 

So today I have decided to tell the truth about homeschooling, the truthful answers. I am not saying everyone should home school. I am not saying everyone should not. Homeschooling is different for every situation and I can only speak to mine. 

First off, homeschooling is hard. I love it but there are so many struggles. Here are the top three hardest parts. 

1. Everybody labels me as a weirdo and a judge. Yeah, I may be a weirdo but I am not going to judge someone just because they don't have the same education as I do. Homeschooling does not define who I am, God does. 

2. My education is my responsibility. I do not have a teacher telling me what I need to be doing all day long. That's is pretty hard. It means I have to teach myself. I have teachers and a mom but they are not there all week. 

3. Peer pressure. Haha. This is going to sound funny but most homeschoolers are super smart. I feel like there is a lot of pressure to be smart...as if we have to prove the government education wrong. Let's be honest: homeschoolers are typically wiz kids. I am not sure how or why, but I do know that I do not fall into that category. 

So those are the hard parts, but I'm sure there hard parts about any school, and I think homeschooling is pretty easy in comparison. 

But there are also lies about homeschooling. Now, I cannot speak for everyone. I can only speak for myself, but just about everything that happens in public schools happens in the homeschool world too. Yeah, surprise surprise. Sin is everywhere. 

So, some people say homeschoolers are living outside real life. They are not in the real world every single day. They are not preparing for reality. I have thought about this a lot...but the more I thought about it the less I agreed. A school full of kids the same age is not reality. When we graduate and get jobs we are going to be independent. We will not be working with are peers and a teacher. Homeschooling prepares you for responsibility. Just some thoughts. 

One lie about homeschooling is that lie about not having friends. Homeschooling does not technically mean schooling at home. (despite the name) Through all the years that I have homeschooled I have worked with friends. I have always had friends to do school with. Co-ops have saved me. I am not saying I haven't been lonely before. I have been, but I was lonely because I was different and because I moved away from bunches of friends. I would have been lonely no matter what education I got. 

Lastly, I want to make one thing clear and final. Just because I am homeschooled does not mean I don't go through the same things everyone else does. 

I am still human. 

 I promise. 

So yes, I admit, I still try to avoid going shopping during school hours and I still dread those questions, but if you are homeschooled let me tell you something. Be thankful because that is an amazing gift that most people don't have, and I know it is hard. Being different often is, but being different can be super cool too.

~storyteller 

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