What's the worst comment you've gotten about homeschooling

[KatieJ]

I can't remember them all anymore, but this comment from our neighbor girl whose parents are teacher. They won't homeschool her because they want her to get into a "good" college.

Note: She is now going to the local community college.

[BethInNH]

When I first took my two out of school and started homeschooling them- 6 years ago, I told my grandmother, and she started bawling and exclaimed "They're going to throw you in jail !". She has since calmed down a bit.:lol:

[Miss Marple]

"The only reason someone would homeschool is that she is too lazy to get up and get the kids' lunches made and get them to school."

 

Said many years ago by my MIL who is now demented, but was, a short time ago when she still had her brain, an avid homeschool fan. I guess I won her over :-)

 

There are some days, though, when I'm avoiding getting the boys up that I hear those words...then I just sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee and some peace and quiet...then I get the boys up. I think I deserve to be lazy once in a while ;)

Edited November 9, 2010 by CynthiaOK

[Belacqua]

I was at the park one day and chatting with a fellow mom. She was all nicey-nice until she asked where my oldest went to school. When I mentioned that we homeschool, she abruptly walked away without saying another word. Not even "oh" in that disapproving tone of voice that I sometimes hear from folks. She just turned and high-tailed it out of there. :001_huh:

 

Unclean! UNCLEEEEEEAN! Ring the leper bell!

 

Do people really think the desire to homeschool is contagious?

[Photo Ninja]

I have been told that I am being selfish because I am hsing my dc. Their (warped) reasoning is that my dc are smart, polite, and nice, so they need to be in ps because teachers deserve to have kids like mine to teach, and the other kids will benefit from having my dc as examples. She also commented that it is not fair to have people like me, who care so much about their children and value a good education, keep their kids out of the ps system because then only kids whose parents don't care will be in the ps. (I wanted to point out that her kids were in ps and ask why she doesn't care about her kids, but I refrained.)

 

I have been told that hsed kids are just not normal, with the funny addition, "Well, not your kids. Your kids are the only normal home schooled kids I've met. But all the others should be in ps because they are not normal."

[dakarimom5]

I always get the comment, "I could never be around my kids all day, I need my alone time." This always confuses me and I always want to ask why they had children in the first place!

 

I also get the socialization comment...I even got it from family members..

:001_huh:<---This is what I looked like...I have 5 children for Pete's sake!

[Starr]

And my mom's friend, "What will Starr do when the kids leave home? She's given her whole life to them?"

[Amber in SJ]

I have a really good one. One day while in the grocery store a lovely, older woman asked my children where they went to school and one of them responded that we homeschool. She straightened up, looked me over and said;

 

"Aren't you afraid they are going to become mentally ill from spending so much time with you?"

 

I am afraid I didn't hold the homeschooling banner terribly high, because I just started laughing. In my defense baby #4 was about ten days old. I may have looked a little spacey, but I promise you we were all fully dressed and wearing our really nice shoes.

 

Amber in SJ

[AndyJoy]

That is actually a good question. I often wonder that about my son in particular. He gets rather annoyed in group settings because people don't pick up things like he does and is easily bored because he is so quick to master things. He will have to learn patience with others and how to endure monotony.

 

Don't worry--this isn't unique to homeschoolers. My dh sat through 12 years of PS, 3 years of college, and 2 years of graduate school still has this problem. He's found ways to cope that don't involve detention or angry phone calls home anymore :D.

[LaissezFaire]

I was having a massage by a German woman, she would not shut up and managed to get out of me that I homeschooled my children (aren't they supposed to shut up so you can relax when you get a massage?)

She was very angry that I was homeschooling and said, "Oh no you must get ze in school. Zey need to be in school now, none of zis homeschooling."

 

Umm thanks...No tip for you.

[DaffodilDreams]

I had a friend tell me that the mere thought of homeschooling made her feel like vomiting. That was her reply to my announcement that we were going to homeschool. She called a week later to apologize.

[Cinder]

fortunately, i've not heard anything too outlandish. i've had a few occasions though, where it's not *what* was said to me, but more-so the tone in which it was spoken... almost condescending . . .

 

This is my experience, too. We once lived in a rental and our next door neighbor would give me dirty looks and ask when my kids were going to a real school. She clearly disliked us for no reason, and her kid was such a brat. I was so glad when we moved because I always felt that if anyone called CPS on us it would be her.

 

Cinder

[fastforward]

Recently I had a conversation with a woman who is in charge of a community Girl Scout camping trip, and I was letting her know that the troop that I lead would no longer be participating in this trip. I was explaining to her that our troop would prefer a smaller, more intimate camping experience. (We are a newer troop, plus we are the only one made up of homeschoolers. This town is not particularly homeschooling friendly.)

 

The woman took great offense that we would no longer be attending the encampment, and said, "Well, that's a shame because I know that girls who homeschool don't ever get out to meet other girls. They don't get social opportunities." :glare: Aside from it being a rude remark, it was so filled with ignorance that I was speechless. Um, hello, the troop itself is a social opportunity! And the troop isn't just a girl or two, we have almost 19 girls registered!

 

She was very gracious by then telling me my daughters and I could stay with her troop if we decided to change our minds. No thanks! :tongue_smilie:

Edited November 9, 2010 by fastforward
redundancy

[scrappyhappymama]

I had a booth at a local rummage sale recently, and a kindly older woman shopped my items for over an hour. Turns out she was a retired school librarian. I had quite a few books for sale, but all ones that hadn't sold online, and then hadn't sold at a used curriculum sale- so pretty picked over. But they still must have screamed "homeschooler" because the first question she asked me was if I homeschooled.

 

She then proceeded to grill me with every single homeschool-skeptical question you've ever heard. I honestly think she was shocked that I had reasonable answers to all her 'concerns.' I sounded so (gasp!) normal. So she kept digging and digging, I guess thinking she'd eventually uncover our particular weirdness. It didn't even bug me really- it just became more of a challenge as the conversation continued. Plus, she kept piling up items to buy. Of course, at the end, once I sufficiently convinced her that I wasn't secretly abusing or neglecting my children under the cloak of homeschooling, she picked out a few of the items from the considerable stack she'd amassed, haggled the prices, and ended up spending $5.74. And then pulled out her checkbook to pay! :001_huh::lol:

[Hannah]

After driving home from a concert in which more than 60 homeschoolers had just taken part and for which we'd practised for weeks, my step-mom announced that her major concern with homeschooling was that the children would not have an opportunity to socialize! :001_huh:

[delaney]

Mine were:

You aren't going to get all weird are you?

They will be at least a year behind by June.

[Tenaj]

I had a friend tell me that the mere thought of homeschooling made her feel like vomiting. That was her reply to my announcement that we were going to homeschool. She called a week later to apologize.

 

My dear mil made exactly the same statement to me when I told her we were going to homeschool. I had completely forgotten about it until I read your comment :)

 

To be fair though, my in-laws were missionaries in Japan when my husband and his sister were growing up and they didn't have a choice. They basically homeschooled by default and didn't have the variety of materials we have available.

 

By the way, she's adjusted very well over the past 10 years :)

[katemary63]

"Aren't you afraid they are going to become mentally ill from spending so much time with you?"

 

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[Barry Goldwater]

"You'll only be able to teach them what YOU know."

 

"You're smothering them and they'll go wild on you when they're teenagers." (Yes, he said 'go wild...' Picture the next TV shock reality show "When Homeschoolers ATTACK!!")

 

"You're David Koresh." (from the Branch Davidians cult) :confused: really?!?

 

Rarely do I get negative comments any more...but once years ago in a conversation with 2 ladies at church, one got very rude, not against HS, but PS...she ranted how smart we were to HS, because the <blank> school district in our town was just awful, terrible, and anyone who sent their kid there was stupid...the other person in the conversation was a mom whose kid went to, yup, <blank> school district...I quickly exited the conversation before the fur started to fly!

[Kates]

Well, let's see...for the past 7 years, my mom has (at least 2-3 times per year) asked me if ds is exhibiting signs of manic depression, sociopathy, or suicidal tendencies brought on by homeschooling. (I almost responded once that I was starting to show them, just from having the same conversation for the 12th time...) She also spent the first four years asking me if I thought he was going to join a commune. :glare: She then, after the 21st time of finding out that homeschooling is not a confirmed cause of mental destabilization, commended me on what a good job I'm doing. Huh.

 

A youth pastor, after speaking to my then-8yo, asked right in front of him, "Seriously? He's homeschooled??? But...he talked to me!" Uh...yeah. They do that.

 

A kid at the same church told my son his brain was broken because he's homeschooled. Nice.

 

A friend of mine now lets her kids answer: Q: "Do you ever get to go anywhere?" (While speaking to them in a public place, no less) "Mom, did you tell her what we got to do yesterday? When you let A. and I go sit in the car, and roll down the window, and pretend like we were going to go somewhere? That was, like, sooo fun!!!" :D

[Mama Geek]

I always get the comment, "I could never be around my kids all day, I need my alone time." This always confuses me and I always want to ask why they had children in the first place!

 

I also get the socialization comment...I even got it from family members..

:001_huh:<---This is what I looked like...I have 5 children for Pete's sake!

 

:lol::lol::lol:Don't you know siblings shouldn't socialize with each other. They should each have their own cell and not be let out at the same time.:lol::lol::lol:

[stripe]

I was told that I should arrange "play dates" for my oldest so that he would learn how to share. Personally I think having a younger sibling who wants to touch your stuff twenty-four hours a day is a bigger challenge than an hour with an unrelated child....

 

My husband was told that many people think they want to homeschool but end up putting their kids in school. Funnily enough, the wife of the man who said this, has told me on at least three occasions that she wanted to homeschool and still does!

[Mommyfaithe]

This one wasn't mean or angry...just funny to me. I was at my cousin's wedding and her uncle , who has known me since I was a baby, found out my kids were homeschooled. He said to me, "You have seven kids?" "You homeschool?" Then totally puzzled he asked me "Do you live on a farm??"

:lol::lol::lol:

I laughed about that one for years.

 

Also, my mother went to the senior center with an old coot who was really annoyed that my Mom's grand children were homeschooled. My mother always defended me saying I was smarter than any of those teachers and my kids were better than her grand kids!...LOL:D

So, one day they were off to a senior lunch at the high school and the other biddy asked her why she was coming if we "hated" the high school so much

:001_huh: My mom was just dumbstruck, which if you knew her would say a lot.

 

Faithe

[hsbaby]

I think it's so funny that we all happen to have kids that are exceptions to those weird, unsocialized kids. Where are these freaky homeschooled kids hiding?

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

When we first started homeschooling, a close relative asked me, "How will your children learn to be bored?" She honestly was concerned about how they would be able to sit through boring meetings as adults, if they hadn't been bored for years in school.

 

Apparently, my kids are learning to be bored in Sunday school! :lol:

 

Dh has a law degree and I have a Master's in French literature. I guess that makes us unqualified slackers, too. I, however, actually started out taking education classes in college, but dropped them because I thought they were idiotic and useless. Many of the teachers in my life thought the same thing, but still wanted to be teachers enough to bear with the classes.

 

Actually, I've been pleasantly surprised by a lot of the positive responses I've had when I mention homeschooling. The only place where people are slightly condescending about it is at Cub Scouts. Like I can't possibly understand the intricacies of dealing with the school calendar. Never mind that I just started homeschooling this year and have dealt with the public school system for the past two years. Whatever.

 

I get comments from some of my extended family members like, "Well, at least you are CAPABLE enough to homeschool." Apparently, the rest of the homeschooling community is not CAPABLE! :lol: Since my kids are little, I usually say some smart-aleck comment such as, "Yes. I got all A's in adding and subtracting in graduate school."

[Gratia271]

Don't worry--this isn't unique to homeschoolers. My dh sat through 12 years of PS, 3 years of college, and 2 years of graduate school still has this problem. He's found ways to cope that don't involve detention or angry phone calls home anymore :D.

 

My husband, too LOL!

[Wheres Toto]

My kids are still pretty young so I haven't gotten many comments from strangers - I guess they just assume they aren't in school yet. One of DH's cousins gave me a pretty long lecture about how bad of an idea homeschooling is one Christmas. I don't remember too many specifics since I stopped paying attention but I'm pretty sure there was a bunch in there about socialization, college, etc.

 

MIL always makes comments about disagreeing with us homeschooling. She was okay with it when she thought it was only for preschool and maybe another year or two but when I let slip that we may go through high school....all heck broke loose. Thankfully she mostly talks to DH about it and he's very suppportive of us homeschooling.

 

My most frequent comments are about them needing to be around other kids (besides each other I guess) and learning to listen to adults other than me. Usually I can end the comments quickly by mentioning some of the activities they do (soccer, gymnastics, playgroups, etc.). For comments about if I'm qualified, I just mention that I am certified for Elementary Education. I don't think the EE helps at all but it does get people to shut up.

[Kipling]

Before I had children, I taught at a ps, and my husband still works for the local school district. When people at work ask him about his family (what wife does, where kids go to school, etc), and he shares that we now homeschool, the general response from the educators is "Well, that's OK because your wife is a teacher." :glare:

 

Also, when he gets asked the inevitable question "why do you homeschool?" His favorite answer is "For the socialization." That throws them for a loop.

[Saille]

I'm being homeschooled so my response is a bit different. It's been implied, whether outright or indirectly, that I was using homeschooling as a way of "legally" dropping out.

 

:glare:

 

I think a lot of people who begin being homeschooled in high school or begin homeschooling their children in high school get that from a lot of people.

 

I actually read (and I think posted) a news article about this recently. Schools in at least one state raised the legal hs dropout age from 16 to 18, and it appears that some students register as homeschoolers as a way around that law. The article was about homeschoolers in that state scoring lower on tests than students who dropped out at the legal age (18), which makes total sense if there were a bunch of poser "homeschooled" kids in that group who hadn't had any instruction in two years.

 

Based on your posts here, I'm not worried about your ability to set people straight! :001_smile:

[Saille]

Back-handed comments usually take the form of my friends & family ripping homeschool in general but handing me an exemption because they are just so sure I'm doing a better job than THAT.

 

Really. I could go on forever.

 

Girl, you need new friends. That sounds like "pass the bean dip" boot camp.

[dakarimom5]

I also get the shocked comment, "You're going to hs through high school? How will they learn to drive?" I always answer with, "in a car!"

[MelanieM]

I was having a nice conversation with a former school teacher recently, who was very supportive of the idea of homeschooling. Then she said "of course, you'll want to put them in private high school... that's where they'll make connections to ensure they can get good jobs later."

 

My MIL is not really a fan of homeschooling, but is generally very supportive of us doing whatever we feel is right so doesn't say anything negative to me at all. But when she first learned we would homeschool she was taken aback and managed to squeek out a little criticism before she caught herself. lol! Her main issue is apparently that people who would be involved enough in their kids education to homeschool should be putting that energy into improving the school system.

 

I've also heard the argument that homeschooling opens the door for parents who want to abuse their kids and keep it away from potential reporters. The gentleman was in no way suggesting that this was the case with my family, but seemed pretty concerned that it would be an issue in the homeschooling community in general.

[TXMomof4]

I actually read (and I think posted) a news article about this recently. Schools in at least one state raised the legal hs dropout age from 16 to 18, and it appears that some students register as homeschoolers as a way around that law. The article was about homeschoolers in that state scoring lower on tests than students who dropped out at the legal age (18), which makes total sense if there were a bunch of poser "homeschooled" kids in that group who hadn't had any instruction in two years.

 

Based on your posts here, I'm not worried about your ability to set people straight! :001_smile:

 

My SIL teaches highschool and apparently every homeschooler in their town just *claims* to be a hser so they don't have to do standardized testing.

 

This summer I was having a conversation with this same SIL about a field trip the local newspaper had organized. However, they would only allow 12 people. Period. Well, with me and my 4, and my friend and her 5 we've already gone over that limit. I was wondering if they allowed more than 12 ps students at a time in.

 

Her comment - "Well, you know how homeschoolers are. They have no self-control." :confused: Seriously? Because a class of 30 ps students is always a model of good behavior and self-control? I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

[stripe]

I also get the shocked comment, "You're going to hs through high school? How will they learn to drive?" I always answer with, "in a car!"

Please. I went to high school during a budget crisis and there was no driver's ed driving, only the classroom portion. I think nowadays it's the same deal.

[TravelingChris]

BarryGoldwater said : You're smothering them and they'll go wild on you when they're teenagers." (Yes, he said 'go wild...' Picture the next TV shock reality show "When Homeschoolers ATTACK!!")

 

My girls love the When Animals Attack shows. Maybe they would cooperate for this filming :lol:

[Krista in LA]

My dh's uncle, who happens to be a psychologist and has been indoctrinated into the educational system, told me that homeschooling was the worst possible thing that I could do to dd. Can you imagine, the WORST? I haven't spoken to him since.

[GWOB]

One of the ps teachers (who, at the time, didn't know me from Adam) said "what makes you think you are qualified to teach your son?" in a completely obnoxious and condescending manner.

 

I was so irked by that, my inner Southern girl got her back up right fast. I told her "If I can teach graduate students how to deconstruct Shakespeare, I'm sure I can teach my kindergartner to read." Then I stood up my whole 6 feet (plus heels) and added, "I believe my Ph.D trumps your little ol' B.A."

 

When I think about it, I will always regret that I didn't take the opportunity to toss a "bless your heart" in there, too.

 

 

ETA: I also hear on occasion that homeschoolers don't get "proper public socialization that you only get in school." My standard answer to this is to tell them "Don't worry. (DH) and I have that covered. We make sure we corner him in the bathroom, shove his head in the toilet, call him names and then steal his pocket money at least once a week."

 

 

Geez. When I admit this in writing I really come across like a .... rhymes with witch. :lol:

 

I personally wouldn't want you any other way:lol:.

 

I've had plenty of "What makes you think you're qualified to teach your kids" comments. My oldest is 10:glare:. I usually reply with the highest level of snark I can muster "Well, according to the game show, I AM smarter than a 5th grader, so I think I can manage."

 

One person called me an elitist because I homeschooled.

 

People will randomly quiz my kids in stores if they see us out during normal prison, I mean school, hours.

 

Actually the most annoying comment about homeschooling came from another homeschooler. She called me a "flip-flopper" because I tend to ditch programs that don't work for us. This "lady" has used Sonlight the whole time she has homeschooled.Her kids have all sorts of academic problems, but I'm the bad one for meeting my kids' needs:001_rolleyes::blink:.

[GWOB]

I have a really good one. One day while in the grocery store a lovely, older woman asked my children where they went to school and one of them responded that we homeschool. She straightened up, looked me over and said;

 

"Aren't you afraid they are going to become mentally ill from spending so much time with you?"

 

I am afraid I didn't hold the homeschooling banner terribly high, because I just started laughing. In my defense baby #4 was about ten days old. I may have looked a little spacey, but I promise you we were all fully dressed and wearing our really nice shoes.

 

Amber in SJ

 

:001_huh: I probably would have laughed hysterically, twitched a little, and started talking to the voices in my head.

[Pam Wilhelm]

I was told that my 3 children would be sucking off the teat of society when they grew up because I was such a lousy homeschooler......because my (then) 8 year old son wasn't a fluent reader and didn't want to "perform" in front of a crowd at a restaurant. My brother kept pushing my son to read and he wouldn't (I've always told my kids that they don't have to "perform" for anybody)..... so my brother decided to attack me publicly on my FB account after I had moved out of the area ............ I unfriended him and his wife and stepdaughter..... jerks.

 

Ironically, my son read what Uncle Jeffy had written on my Wall and looked at me with tears in his eyes and the most pitiful voice, "He's talking about me, isn't he?" Uncle Jeff was cool up to that point....... not anymore.

[pdalley]

BarryGoldwater said : You're smothering them and they'll go wild on you when they're teenagers." (Yes, he said 'go wild...' Picture the next TV shock reality show "When Homeschoolers ATTACK!!")

 

My girls love the When Animals Attack shows. Maybe they would cooperate for this filming :lol:

 

 

I have this image of homeschooled kids pummeling others with large vocabularies and talking about historical events and classical literature and stuff.... :tongue_smilie:

 

The worst I got? This lady at church asked me if I wasn't worried my kids would turn out 'weird'. I replied that we'd always been weird - we were genetically programmed to be weird and we would now be keeping our weirdness to ourselves. She totally didn't get it.

 

And no one wants to tangle with me on the 'salt and light' thing. For one thing they need to read the entire verse and think about the implications. For another - the disciples Jesus sent forth were trained grown ups.

[CLHCO]

 

"You're smothering them and they'll go wild on you when they're teenagers." (Yes, he said 'go wild...' Picture the next TV shock reality show "When Homeschoolers ATTACK!!")

 

 

 

Hey, I got that one too. A lot. Have you been hanging out with my siblings? :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, and my teenagers haven't gone wild yet, but maybe I should be worried? Perhaps they're simply late bloomers and will still up and go bonkers on me?

[Halftime Hope]

Several years ago, I was sitting in a doctor's office waiting for a very long time. Another lady and I were talking; come to find out she was a high school math teacher, teaching Alg 1 and 2 for a semi-rural district. She asked what I did and I told her I homeschool. She said that in her experience former homeschoolers either really "got" math or didn't do well at all, with more not doing well than did. I basically hummed. (How do you argue with "someone's experience"?) I was curious about her experience teaching so I asked her the burning question I wanted to know: how in the world did she grade daily math homework assignements for so many students? She said that she didn't assign math homework, rather she assigned 7 - 10 problems in class, the students had a chance to work on them in class, and if they brought three of the problems worked out and showed her their paper as they walked past her desk on their way out of her class, then they didn't have to do any more at home that night. She then went on to bemoan the fact that most of her students came to her without having a proper foundation in math, the schools were so lousy in the lower grades, etc., etc., that it was just terrible how we are sending a generation of math-illiterate kids out into the world, how low the standards are and how many high schoolers just don't get math. (She was especially concerned because she had been an engineer by profession before taking up teaching, but wanted to get back into engineering.)

 

What could I say to her....her "experience with homeschoolers" vs. PSers ?? From her comments I wasn't seeing much difference in outcomes. I was glad when the receptionist called my name so I could quit repressing the urge to snark.

[Rivka]

The one that just made me roll my eyes: a total stranger posted a drive-by comment in my LiveJournal saying that she could tell my daughter wasn't as smart as I thought she was, and therefore she would do just fine in a school environment.

 

The kicker? She claimed to be a homeschooler. I guess her kids are good enough to homeschool, and mine aren't. :001_rolleyes:

 

The one that really hurt: a good friend told me that homeschooling is racist and classist. And that whatever my personal motivations might appear to be, I was racist for homeschooling.

[GWOB]

The one that just made me roll my eyes: a total stranger posted a drive-by comment in my LiveJournal saying that she could tell my daughter wasn't as smart as I thought she was, and therefore she would do just fine in a school environment.

 

The kicker? She claimed to be a homeschooler. I guess her kids are good enough to homeschool, and mine aren't. :001_rolleyes:

 

The one that really hurt: a good friend told me that homeschooling is racist and classist. And that whatever my personal motivations might appear to be, I was racist for homeschooling.

 

What?! I just have no words for that one.

[Supertechmom]

From my own sister (over the course of the last 8 YEARS)

 

You're just too lazy to get up and take them to school. (yea, because staying at home with 4 hurricanes that are non stop needy is a whole lot less work :tongue_smilie:)

 

IF homeschoolers would devote all that energy to fixing the schools, we wouldn't have the problems in school that we do.

 

How do YOU think YOU can homeschool? I know some friends who do but their husbands are dr, lawyers and employed by the University. They really are capable of teaching.

 

Christians need to stay in school and help out the other christian kids from being so alone and under attack every day.

 

From strangers in line at the store

 

Don't you think you should be a better a parent and put them in school (my response - Maybe so because seeing me tell a B@st@ard like you to go to hell isn't good parenting is it?)

 

Really whacked out and very spacey checkout girl who listed all the reasons not to homeschool because of how they wouldn't learn anything and get into college and how would they be productive and so on. When we finally got our groceries finished and she was still talking, I quipped that her public school education and college degree in Check out science had really made her a model to exemplify. She said she didn't know they had a degree in that. I told her to give the local university a call. They would set her straight. (Yea, I am mean)

 

From church

 

There is no way my kids could ever pass the SAT if I didn't send them to school........ When I told them my son's 7th grade SAT score, she said :001_huh::svengo::eek: and that was higher than her 12 th grade score. I said problem solved! maybe he should just go to college now.

 

 

 

And of course this is all said in front of my kids. I think I would be gracious if they didn't do this in FRONT of the kids and make them feel bad. But none of them are as bad as the one made to Daisy. I do believe I would have went postal and bus dad on that one.:D

[Tammyla]

I've had two that were particularly hurtful. One from fil and the other from an acquaintance who had just lost her son to a drug overdose. :confused:

 

The acquaintance (at a breakfast to welcome me:tongue_smilie:) was a verbal tirade on how I was not only going to ruin my children, and by default the local school system. I was was stunned, but opted to pass the bean-dip. I found out after breakfast about her son.

Edited November 9, 2010 by Tammyla

[Starr]

When my kids were 4 and 5 and we were telling people about our decision to homeschool, someone suggested that the only reason I wanted to do it was so I wouldn't have to go and get a job when the kids went to school.

 

I forgot about this one!

[kewb]

My MIL is the only one who ever said anything remotely negative to my face. She was quite appalled that we weren't putting ds into middle school and brought up the socialization issue. I used a variation of Audrey's answer. I told her not to worry. Dh and I make it a point to knock his books out of his hands when he walking, shove him into walls, and call him nasty names at least once a day. She doesn't talk to me about homeschooling anymore.

 

One of my SIL told dh that us choosing to homeschool is an affront to her profession (teacher) and insulting. Guess who doesn't get anymore classroom supplies from me.

[BarbecueMom]

Please. I went to high school during a budget crisis and there was no driver's ed driving, only the classroom portion. I think nowadays it's the same deal.

 

We don't have school-based driver's education here. It's not a requirement in this state for a driver's license. There was a summer school enrichment class for it, but the cap on enrollment was probably around 10 students. I graduated in a class of 500+.

 

The only negative remarks have been behind my back from my dad. I don't think it's so much homeschooling that he's opposed to, as much as the lifestyle of spending quality, creative time with your children. He's a "fun dad", but as long as it's something grown-ups like to do (camping, for instance) or an organized activity that doesn't involve his creative input (little league sports or scouts). I'm sure he'd flip out at the idea that we run in circles with the boys every night around the kitchen table acting like choo-choo trains, zoo animals, and race cars.

 

I am waiting for the day someone asks if my kids will turn out socially awkward. I sure hope they do, because I'd like to have SOMETHING in common with my kids!

[Impish]

One of the ps teachers (who, at the time, didn't know me from Adam) said "what makes you think you are qualified to teach your son?" in a completely obnoxious and condescending manner.

 

I was so irked by that, my inner Southern girl got her back up right fast. I told her "If I can teach graduate students how to deconstruct Shakespeare, I'm sure I can teach my kindergartner to read." Then I stood up my whole 6 feet (plus heels) and added, "I believe my Ph.D trumps your little ol' B.A."

 

When I think about it, I will always regret that I didn't take the opportunity to toss a "bless your heart" in there, too.

 

 

ETA: I also hear on occasion that homeschoolers don't get "proper public socialization that you only get in school." My standard answer to this is to tell them "Don't worry. (DH) and I have that covered. We make sure we corner him in the bathroom, shove his head in the toilet, call him names and then steal his pocket money at least once a week."

 

 

Geez. When I admit this in writing I really come across like a .... rhymes with witch. :lol:

:lol:

This one I hear all the time and it makes my blood boil. Typically it's framed as "if only the homeschooling families would devote the time and energy they spend with their kids on the schools then everybody would benefit". As if parents can actually make a meaningful difference in the way the government-schools are run in this era of state standards and NCLB. :glare:

I've heard comments like that too, and we don't have NCLB in Canada. I can't figure out why I owe the ps both my children and my energy. I asked about that once, and the answer? "We both work." So, I should quit hsing my kids, and go be an indentured servant, working so *your* children benefit. Sure, I'll get right on it!

Unclean! UNCLEEEEEEAN! Ring the leper bell!

 

Do people really think the desire to homeschool is contagious?

Exactly what I thought! :lol: