Real Cons of Being Homeschooled

Real Cons of Being Homeschooled
February 27th, 2007 — Tammy
For kids, what’s the real cons of being homeschooled?

1. People making assumptions about your knowledge, experience and social skills.

2. People will quiz you and ask you “academic” questions to “see if you are really learning”.

3. Sometimes, public and private school kids snub you, even though they are supposed to be learning how to “get along with everyone” by being in a classroom setting. (Homeschool kids might snub you too if you aren’t doing the “right” kind of homeschooling.)
4. Whatever your homeschooling experience, it will be completely different and unique compared to any other child you’ll meet. You’ll grow up to completely own your individual experience.

5. If you grow up and you are missing some kind of knowledge or information, you can’t blame it on the schools. You can’t even blame it on your parents. Because you’re free, and if you don’t study something, it’s your choice. In other words, homeschooled kids grow up to own the responsibility to gain the knowledge they need to succeed, from the day they start homeschooling all the way through life.

6. Public/private school kids have one authority, or sometimes, two authorities, telling them what it means to be successful and how to go about it. Homeschool kids have everyone telling them how to be successful - experts, parents, other homeschoolers, books, random people in the street, the news. Since homeschoolers are free to choose what it means to be successful, that means there is a HUGE array of choices, and, it also means that people will see it as an opportunity to try and make you go their way. Moreso than in school, because in school, there’s really one one “right” choice, and one ultimate authority - grades.

7. It’s easy to get a big head. And it’s easy to look down on kids who aren’t homeschoolers. This is a trap that some kids fall into, especially if their parents are very critical of school. Public school kids can fall into this trap as easily as homeschooled kids. The difference here is, that homeschoolers who feel that anyone who isn’t a homeschooler is beneath them, is disrespecting 99% of the population, and cutting off a major source of learning. Public school kids who direspect homeschoolers are only dogging 1% of the population, and public school kids perceive to miss out on very little, since they probably hardly ever come into contact with them. So the con here, is that homeschool kids are human too, but that humanity, since it’s outside the system, can’t be so easily swept under the table as it is so often in public school. So, if you like to disrespect people and belong to a group that thinks they are superior, homeschooling is gonna be rough.

8. People will want to know what grade you are in, where you are going to college, if you plan on ever going (back) to school, what you do to “learn how to get along with others” and basically, want to make sure you aren’t weird. It’s gonna be hard to avoid being on the defensive. These kinds of questions get asked of parents, but the older kids get, the more the kids get it too. Homeschoolers have to be ready to talk about it, or learn how to get out the conversation politely if you don’t want to.

9. Many of the things that school kids take for granted are harder to come by for homeschoolers. They are not at all impossible, but it often takes ingenuity, resourcefulness and creativity to achieve the things that school kids do without giving it a second thought: getting a driver’s license, going on a field trip, accessing resources such as science labs and teachers, attending community college classes, sports, after school enrichment classes, etc. Homeschoolers have to learn tenacity, resourcefulness and how to redefine problems in order to access these things. It’s not really hard, but it demands a completely different way of looking at the world, and an ability to be open to different paths to the result.

10. The last con I’m going to to mention for being homeschooled is that often times, mom and dad drag you all over the damn place just to learn something. They take you to conferences, take long drives out to see stinky flowers, and have this unnatural love affair with Google. And guess what, no matter how long you resist, no matter how long you claim the lameness of doing things in order to learn, it’s gonna eventually infect you too. And then you’ll get caught up in it, and you’ll be a life long learner too. And when that happens, you’ll never see the world the same again. And for a while, some of the other kids who don’t see the world this way, just won’t get you, and will think you’re weird. And you might be. But, the truth is, all kids going through this stage are weird. Only, homeschoolers KNOW it, and can’t hide it, while school kids, have more chance to hide it or run away from that weird stage that we all go through.

Here's the link to where I got this...

http://justenough.wordpress.com/2007/02/27/real-cons-of-being-homeschooled/

why we touching this can of worms again?

I don't think it's a can of worm for anyone but you my dear :-)

Jesse wrote:

I don't think it's a can of worm for anyone but you my dear :-)

LOL so very true Jess...............Brian, we all know that you are secretly jealous that you weren't homeschooled, so are trying to cover it up with verbal pomposity and imagined antagonism........

Lynelle wrote:

Jesse wrote:

I don't think it's a can of worm for anyone but you my dear :-)

LOL so very true Jess...............Brian, we all know that you are secretly jealous that you weren't homeschooled, so are trying to cover it up with verbal pomposity and imagined antagonism........

If only he understood what you meant Unkanell, he would be able to come up with a smart comment!

I think he's afraid of homeschooling because that would mean putting a lot of time into those kitties and that doesn't gaurantee that they'll be able to keep pace with the public-school kitties due to the lack of non-accredited cat cirriculums. He wants only the best for his kitties, and we're all just sooo sorry that he can't see the truth. The best place for kitties to learn is in the home Brian! Why can't you see that?!?!

Jig wrote:

Lynelle wrote:

Jesse wrote:

I don't think it's a can of worm for anyone but you my dear :-)

LOL so very true Jess...............Brian, we all know that you are secretly jealous that you weren't homeschooled, so are trying to cover it up with verbal pomposity and imagined antagonism........

If only he understood what you meant Unkanell, he would be able to come up with a smart comment!

I think he's afraid of homeschooling because that would mean putting a lot of time into those kitties and that doesn't gaurantee that they'll be able to keep pace with the public-school kitties due to the lack of non-accredited cat cirriculums. He wants only the best for his kitties, and we're all just sooo sorry that he can't see the truth. The best place for kitties to learn is in the home Brian! Why can't you see that?!?!

That is so true Jig. I think that Brian has fallen into the old "socialization" trap. His kitties need "friends" so that they will learn how to socailize with the other kitties. And don't forget all those enrichment programs that they would miss out on if they were homeschooled.....they wouldn't be able to read the Harry Potter books or be able to buy the Scooby Doo books at the book fairs. And my favorite; (this happened just this past week), how could they possibly sign their pledges to honor the earth (left-winged, tree hugging, earth day propaganda) if they aren't in school?........They would miss out on sooooo much...........

I wish there were more tree huggers... then Gas might not be so expensive and the world won't be melting.

Tough luck....the kitties don't need friends.

As a matter of fact, they don't want friends. The neighbors kitty comes over to visit and all they do is fight. We have anti-social kitties.

I laughed SO hard from this! Homeschooled kitties should be the next KT adventure at bedtime, Jared.

Oh it already is. The kitties are all homeschooled in King Tiddle's world. That way when they're being disobedient he can hit the little button on his desk and all the kitties desks shock them.

Lately the kitties have been traveling. They've seen Russian Blues, Siamese kitties, and even the wild kitties of Kuthu-Lulu. And we've cut out poop jokes for the most part much to Linden's dismay.

The kitties also like BASE jumping, skydiving, hang gliding, snowboarding, surfing, snorkeling, SCUBA diving, and sleeping on KT's bed during thunderstorms.


See what homeschooling can do for you? Skydiving kitties.

Jig wrote:

Oh it already is. The kitties are all homeschooled in King Tiddle's world. That way when they're being disobedient he can hit the little button on his desk and all the kitties desks shock them.

Lately the kitties have been traveling. They've seen Russian Blues, Siamese kitties, and even the wild kitties of Kuthu-Lulu. And we've cut out poop jokes for the most part much to Linden's dismay.

The kitties also like BASE jumping, skydiving, hang gliding, snowboarding, surfing, snorkeling, SCUBA diving, and sleeping on KT's bed during thunderstorms.


See what homeschooling can do for you? Skydiving kitties.

Hey AJ, Jared's kitties sound like Konos kitties... don't they? Wonder if they wear coon-skil hats and have a stuff bag...........

They DO! Think they've ever made powder horns?

LOL!!

They blew something up with the powder long before the horns were done. I always envision these kitties as being black and very disheveled looking. Crinkled up whiskers, nicks out of ears, very stressed out and twitchy looking (like they had too much java) and very very excited.

After all, he used to tape them to kitty hang gliders and hurl them off of the roof till he perfected the design for kitty hang gliders. After the initial testing phase he figured out that they needed a lot more speed to stay airborne even with good gliders, so thus the kitty slingshot was born.

They're big fans, trust me.

Also, they were not actually aware of the impending skydiving session. KT had them sitting in a circle singing and doing the kitty dance and wearing some funny backpacks when he hit that large red button in the airplane, the floor dropped out, and they all got sucked out. They felt better after he jumped out too tho, because that meant that they weren't really gonna die. Then they started having a little fun.

Yeah, I see them as looking very twitchy