Annoying things non-home schoolers say

[asmall]

We were at the store waiting in line, and the couple behind us started asking my kids about school, just making conversation. Then my girls said that they don't go to school because they are homeschooled. The first question was "Are you reading at grade level yet?" What kind of stupid question is that!!:rolleyes: But my kids were quick to answer. "We don't go by grade level, we read whatever we want to."

AL

[mom2scouts]

The other day someone said, "But he won't get to ride the bus!" :auto:

 

When I told my mom I was going to homeschool, she called me to say, "But what about lunch?" :lol: I said, "Uh, Mom, I do plan to feed him."

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

This was a comment on my facebook status today (My status was about finally getting my first 4 weeks of school planned)

 

 

"I'm sorry but if you're a stay at home mom, you have it made. I've been there before and from experience I can say is the easiest "job" out there. I love it when moms act like it's just so complicated. Get a real job and add the responsibilities of a parent on top of that then lets talk"

 

Mind you- this is from a woman who does not have custody of either of her children, I don't know why though.

[SorrelZG]

I had a friend, who happens to be a teacher, ask me this question. I tongue in cheek replied, "There is this amazing thing....maybe you have heard of it.....it's a "Teacher Edition" and it has scripts and all the answers.":tongue_smilie:

 

The first question was "Are you reading at grade level yet?" What kind of stupid question is that!!:rolleyes: But my kids were quick to answer. "We don't go by grade level, we read whatever we want to."

AL

 

 

:smilielol5:

 

 

 

 

I only just caught up to the end of this thread and frankly, it hasn't been an edifying read because I've mostly been just stunned by the comments and questions some people feel are completely acceptable to allow out of ones mouth (the s*xual abuse comment?! "Is Mommy smart enough?" - the fact that this was asked of the child!?, the "real world" comments, for a tiny example). If I had no other reason, the desire for my children to have broader minds and true critical thinking skills and basic decency and respect would be reason enough to choose a different educational path.

 

I realize a portion of the people are genuinely curious and perhaps just ill-informed rather than willfully ignorant and are actually - thankfully - the only kind I've enountered (that have spoken to me, at least :)).

[SorrelZG]

This was a comment on my facebook status today (My status was about finally getting my first 4 weeks of school planned)

 

 

"I'm sorry but if you're a stay at home mom, you have it made. I've been there before and from experience I can say is the easiest "job" out there. I love it when moms act like it's just so complicated. Get a real job and add the responsibilities of a parent on top of that then lets talk"

 

Mind you- this is from a woman who does not have custody of either of her children, I don't know why though.

 

 

I'm tempted to make you add me as a friend so I can comment. I won't though because I have nothing nice to say.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I'm tempted to make you add me as a friend so I can comment. I won't though because I have nothing nice to say.

 

 

I am about to delete it because I know this will not end up well once my homeschool friends, and even non homeschool friends see this. :glare: This person is not really a friend, we were friends in high school but obviously things have changed...

 

 

 

ETA: I just went to her wall, she made that as her status last night also. UGH

[SorrelZG]

I am about to delete it because I know this will not end up well once my homeschool friends, and even non homeschool friends see this. :glare: This person is not really a friend, we were friends in high school but obviously things have changed...

 

 

 

ETA: I just went to her wall, she made that as her status last night also. UGH

 

She's making more of a statement about herself than any actual SAHM and so is anyone that empathizes with her sentiments OR perhaps she has a truly odious job that has embittered her over the years along with whatever her personal circumstances with her children - I'm going to presume the latter because it makes me inclined to speak nicer words.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

She's making more of a statement about herself than any actual SAHM and so is anyone that empathizes with her sentiments OR perhaps she has a truly odious job that has embittered her over the years along with whatever her personal circumstances with her children - I'm going to presume the latter because it makes me inclined to speak nicer words.

 

 

 

Oh people on her wall are ripping her apart over that! I didn't have to say anything myself! They are doing it for me :lol:

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

I'm tempted to make you add me as a friend so I can comment. I won't though because I have nothing nice to say.

 

:iagree:

 

Apparently she did something wrong in her parenting to no longer have custody of her own children. Unless she lives in a state where they favor letting the kids live with the dad.

 

Again... Figure out how to raise your own kids before trying to give parenting advice to others...

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

Oh people on her wall are ripping her apart over that! I didn't have to say anything myself! They are doing it for me :lol:

 

Too bad you can't share some of the comments. :D

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Too bad you can't share some of the comments. :D

 

 

LOL ok you asked!!

 

This is my comment- then the rest took over:

We homeschool. There is no going away for 7 hours a day here.. And we are not up 24/7 but my son with autism (7y/o) still wakes up at night because he is deathly afraid of the dark. He was diagnosed with night terrors at 4. So there's no sleeping through the night. He may never I was told <sigh>

 

 

 

Here are the ones I can share (use your imagination on the ones I can not):

 

school?? lol you sooo are not a good parent then, just because they go to school does NOT mean they become somebody elses children! If anything school makes being a parent harder! Pta meetings, sports they sign up for, money they need for fundraisers, band or choir concerts, football games, school dances, other student drama, fights at school, medical treatments if they are on a specific med like one of mine are, homework, oh and the biggest part of school you get to worry about the grades of your children. and that isn't even half of it, you have to deal with all that and do all of the housework, and work a full time job. It is an Extremely hard job that i do on a daily basis.

 

 

Are you serious?! You dont even have custody of your kids full time, do you?

 

 

I would expect something so idiotic from a man (no offense to the few men who understand and respect what being a mother is) or even from a woman who has no kids, but not from a woman who is a mother.... it just shocked me to read this

 

 

 

When I read this, I remembered another post from her complaining about a crying child on an airplane, too. When your a mom you should know that that stuff happens and should be sympathetic to the other mother. I guess not everyone thinks the same way and thats what makes us all diffrent :)

 

 

 

Now- there are 9 comments that I am not posting on here for language reasons

Edited August 17, 2011 by wy_kid_wrangler04

[jewellsmommy]

I couldn't ever do that, I don't have the patience. - For those that use this in a sneering tone, I simply respond and agree with them. They don't like me agreeing with them though......hmm...:rolleyes:

 

I don't have time for that, I actually have things to do during the day. - This was said to me by someone who seemed to be insinuating that the reason I homeschool is because I don't have anything to do. Oh that's right, I only homeschool, cook, clean, laundry and a ton of activities in the community. :blink:

 

I wouldn't do that to my child, she needs to be around other kids. - ya, I guess I should let my child meet another child since she never has.

 

You can't protect them from everything, you need to cut the umbilical cord. - :glare:

As Christians, we should keep our kids in public school so they can save the bad kids. - really!? :confused:

 

 

Yep, I have gotten the "how can they be a light unto the world" one and "no one else can reach these children in school except other children" and "well, my son/grandson has personally invited every kid in his class to church and 3 have come...blah, balh, blah" Yeah, I loathe these guilt/accusation ridden questions!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

"I just don't see how you have the patience!"

 

Said to me by a lovely woman who basically raised her troubled grandson (who at one time was actually LIGHTING FIRES in his bedroom). :001_huh:

 

I hear this one often. It makes me laugh because I am about the most impatient person ever. But I've had to learn to be more patient, more tolerant, and less sarcastic. So I guess in a way, not only are my kids well socialized, but I'm being forced to be a nicer person through homeschooling.

 

I always try to point out that I wasn't gifted with a lot of patience when we chose to homeschool.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

"How will they learn to eat lunch in a cafeteria?" clearly a more important life skill than math :tongue_smilie:.

 

We just ate at a cafeteria at Jamestown. So I guess we've got that covered. Whew.

[SorrelZG]

I hear this one often. It makes me laugh because I am about the most impatient person ever. But I've had to learn to be more patient, more tolerant, and less sarcastic. So I guess in a way, not only are my kids well socialized, but I'm being forced to be a nicer person through homeschooling.

 

I always try to point out that I wasn't gifted with a lot of patience when we chose to homeschool.

 

 

This is me. Homeschooling is a truly sanctifying experience for me. Far more so even than marriage. :tongue_smilie:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

"I didn't know you had a teaching degree!"

 

and my personal favorite was

 

"Your kids are too nice to be at home; they should be at school so they can be normal."

 

Not a chance.

 

There isn't a school out there that would succeed in "normalizing" my kids. Although there are plenty that would do a pretty good job of breaking them.

 

Normal is far over rated.

[momacacia]

Most irritating question from a lady at church. "Do you do it because they're slow? ". Grrrr

 

Bah! :lol:

 

"No, I do it because they're advanced and the other children are slow." :lol:

[ladydusk]

Sometimes it seems there's a new one every week from someone in my family I'm close to. She's a retired teacher and still teaches in a church preschool/Kindergarten:

 

This week's reason is that all of her Kindergartners can jump rope, my first grader can't so I must be a failure. :tongue_smilie:

 

I was public-schooled, pretty sure I learned to jump rope in the neighborhood ... and never did figure out double-dutch ...

 

Let me see if I can think about some of the other ones:

 

*homeschoolers are weird [so were we ... I just went to my 20 year reunion and there were very few people I cared to see or talk with, still on the outside looking in]

 

*they need peer pressure to learn to do some of these (admittedly good) things [but if we let them be pressured for "good" how do we mitigate pressure for "bad"]

 

*we're taking the best kids and best families out of the schools

 

*Ohio requires annual reviews and she did one once, "one of my top-performing Kindergarteners would now be in the lower middle of the class at end of first grade"

 

*I needed my children to see that other grownups required the same things of them.

 

*I couldn't have homeschooled, too much work and too much money.

 

*I think summers should be off [we homeschool year-round because a few hours every day achieves the goals we've set and it is good for my kids to have a schedule and routine ... plus we're creating a culture of learning]

 

Those are the most re-curring ones, I'm sure there were others. I'm pretty sure the main issue is thinking I can't do it ... self-discipline and follow through haven't always been my strength; but now we're talking about my *children.*

[amsunshine]

"Are you a teacher?"

 

This just has all *kinds* of (false) implications. It implies that I should be a "teacher" to homeschool. which implies that a teacher is only someone who has a degree and implies that teachers are doing a great job which implies that if I'm not a teacher I will not do a great job which implies that I should not be homeschooling.

 

There is so much loaded into those four words that I just cannot find the kind, right way to answer...

 

The answer is simply, "Yes, I am."

[johnandtinagilbert]

This was a comment on my facebook status today (My status was about finally getting my first 4 weeks of school planned)

 

 

"I'm sorry but if you're a stay at home mom, you have it made. I've been there before and from experience I can say is the easiest "job" out there. I love it when moms act like it's just so complicated. Get a real job and add the responsibilities of a parent on top of that then lets talk"

 

Mind you- this is from a woman who does not have custody of either of her children, I don't know why though.

 

I'm tempted to make you add me as a friend so I can comment. I won't though because I have nothing nice to say.

:iagree: Wow. That's somebody to unfriend. :)

[amsunshine]

This is the quote from the top of the page:

 

[/color][/b]

Question asked and answered...

 

 

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

The answer is simply, "Yes, I am."

 

:iagree:

 

I'm going to use that one if it ever comes up. :D

[johnandtinagilbert]

:iagree:

 

I'm going to use that one if it ever comes up. :D

I do. When people ask me what I do for a living and I'm don't really know them and I'm sure I don't really care if they know my business, I say, "I teach at a charter school for grades K-12." It works for me.

[PeacefulChaos]

This was a comment on my facebook status today (My status was about finally getting my first 4 weeks of school planned)

 

 

"I'm sorry but if you're a stay at home mom, you have it made. I've been there before and from experience I can say is the easiest "job" out there. I love it when moms act like it's just so complicated. Get a real job and add the responsibilities of a parent on top of that then lets talk"

 

Mind you- this is from a woman who does not have custody of either of her children, I don't know why though.

 

:svengo:

[HistoryMom]

Oh yeah, the "Christian kids need to be in the public schools to witness to them." My children ARE my most important mission field. And it's hardly appropriate to place that sort of expectation on small children.

 

Yep, I have gotten the "how can they be a light unto the world" one and "no one else can reach these children in school except other children" and "well, my son/grandson has personally invited every kid in his class to church and 3 have come...blah, balh, blah" Yeah, I loathe these guilt/accusation ridden questions!

 

The funny thing is that I took DD7 out of PS because she was being preached to, told she was going to hell, and ostracized by her peers. So, yes, I do HS for religious reasons, as it turns out.

[Jenny in Florida]

This week's reason is that all of her Kindergartners can jump rope, my first grader can't so I must be a failure. :tongue_smilie:

 

I was public-schooled, pretty sure I learned to jump rope in the neighborhood ... and never did figure out double-dutch ...

 

 

 

You want to hear something funny?

 

I actually had remedial jump roping lessons in elementary school.

 

Seriously.

 

We moved from one school district to another when I was in second grade. Apparently, the new school was concerned that I didn't jump rope. So, they assigned someone to teach me.

 

This is the same school district who re-tested me for placement in the gifted program, because they got a bonus from the state for "identifying" gifted kids. The fact that I had already been participating in the gifted program at my previous school was probably their first clue. Amazing how they figured it out, huh?

 

When I put those two facts together, it amuses me. Talk about wasted resources, right?

[amsunshine]

The funny thing is that I took DD7 out of PS because she was being preached to, told she was going to hell, and ostracized by her peers. So, yes, I do HS for religious reasons, as it turns out.

 

That's so funny -- my dds got that once at ps when they were there. One of their little friends asked them why they don't believe in Jesus and was very persistent in questioning whether they were afraid they were going to go to hell because of it. (We are Buddhist.)

 

More recently, one of their ballet friends asked one of dds if she believed in God. She replied, "No, we are Buddhist." Her friend responded, with an air of superiority: "Well, I celebrate Christmas and you celebrate Hannukah!":lol: I almost died laughing!

[Rivka]

This is the quote from the top of the page:

 

[/color][/b]

Homeschooling Education- The drastic Change

I know that even before a decade "Homeschooling" wasn't that popular but in recent trend many families prefer to make their children learn from home. What do you thing as reasons behind these?

Question asked and answered...

 

That person posts on this forum all the time, actually. Very similar types of short-question posts. I don't think she's a native English speaker. I'm not sure what she's going for with her posts.

[linguistmama]

My brother was just sure that we were homeschooling so that our children wouldn't be taught evolution. It didn't matter how many times I tried to explain that evolution had nothing to do with our decision to homeschool.

 

I have hg again with this pregnancy and at the end of June people at church were asking DH if we would put oldest dd in school now since I was too sick to homeschool. Are all of their children in school over the summer? No, summer break! Mystery solved :) A friend on this board also asked me how school was going because she knew that I had planned school through the summer. It was nice to hear since she asked because she cares about how I'm doing and about my life, not because I must be failing at homeschooling.

[Homemama2]

When I told my mom I was going to homeschool, she called me to say, "But what about lunch?" :lol: I said, "Uh, Mom, I do plan to feed him."

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

Yes, I love when I get asked things like:

"But what about PROM???" (I was asked this frequently when I had a K-er and a 3 yr. old :confused::001_huh::lol:

[SewLittleTime]

Today in the grocery store I was helping my kids do some comparison shopping. Then some skip counting with ds2 as we counted cans. This lady says to me, "You must be a teacher."

 

Um...well, yeah...but I'm his mom and I'd really like to teach my kids how to be responsible shoppers. Thinking to myself: Shouldn't all parents be doing this...not just teachers?

[Beimao]

One child to another, "do you get to wear pajamas all day?" As If! :001_smile:

[Mommy22alyns]

This was a comment on my facebook status today (My status was about finally getting my first 4 weeks of school planned)

 

 

"I'm sorry but if you're a stay at home mom, you have it made. I've been there before and from experience I can say is the easiest "job" out there. I love it when moms act like it's just so complicated. Get a real job and add the responsibilities of a parent on top of that then lets talk"

 

Mind you- this is from a woman who does not have custody of either of her children, I don't know why though.

 

 

THAT makes me see RED. :cursing: I could spout off my opinions on working moms, but I have more couth than she does.

[johnandtinagilbert]

Today in the grocery store I was helping my kids do some comparison shopping. Then some skip counting with ds2 as we counted cans. This lady says to me, "You must be a teacher."

 

Um...well, yeah...but I'm his mom and I'd really like to teach my kids how to be responsible shoppers. Thinking to myself: Shouldn't all parents be doing this...not just teachers?

I know just what you mean. My church goes on and on about how well my kids read....um, they can read b/c they're supposed to learn how. Of course they can.

[3peasinapod]

Oh people on her wall are ripping her apart over that! I didn't have to say anything myself! They are doing it for me :lol:

 

:hurray:

[~blessedmom~]

My son's best friend asked his mom to homeschool him, and she replied, "I wouldn't do that to you."

 

:001_unsure:

 

I don't know why, but that one still hurts.

[rieshy]

My 16 year old visited friends in Switzerland this summer. She was at a party with a bunch of teenagers and ended up helping translate the Italian and German conversations for a girl who was visiting from Los Angeles.

 

After the girl from L.A. found out my dd was from TN and was homeschooled she asked her, "But how do you make friends?"

 

My daughter said that the really funny part was that the question was sincere and completely unaware of the irony of the situation.

 

I was proud that my dd found it amusing and was gentle with the girl.

[Carrie12345]

A few months ago, I was chatting with a former graduate from my district about the changes the schools have seen in the past decade or two; population, spending, ranking, grad rates, "socialization" issues, etc....

 

The woman next to me (who has two kids in our district) said "I don't even know all of that. Why do you know, when you homeschool?"

 

"I homeschool BECAUSE I know all of that."

[Heidi]

The funny thing is that I took DD7 out of PS because she was being preached to, told she was going to hell, and ostracized by her peers. So, yes, I do HS for religious reasons, as it turns out.

 

You just described the high school I attended. It was super. :glare: Sorry that happened to your daughter.

[....]

I have to add to this...:glare: Two 13 and 14 yros from next door come over almost every day to play with my 9 yro and 8 yro. The 14 yro said, "We'd homeschool, but we want to have friends." Um, Dude, you're over here playing with my 8 yro. ? Sheesh. :smilielol5:

[Love2teach0307]

With the whole socialization thing, I think a lot of us are really afraid that our kids won't be *like* the other kids. They won't fit in and they won't have friends. Many of us carry huge scars from dealing with this in our own childhood and our brain may say one thing but our gut emotions say another. I honestly think some people think a well-behaved child that doesn't have any friends is a fate worse than an ill-behaved child who is popular. Many people just cannot let go of those social games and the dream that their children will come out on top.

 

 

:iagree:This is my town. The local high school is THE place to be and football is the name of their religion. Everything revolves around your place in the social hierarchy and few adults I know have ever left that mentality. Academics are not a priority and sports scores are everything. We are considered odd but harmless by not joining their clique. Even the church leaders believe that not sending your kids to PS deprives the school of the witness they would have if you go. (So, I'm just to overlook the harmful habits my kids would pick up b/c they could be a witness???) They think I'm sheltering my kids, but I'm really sheltering them from being closed-minded.

 

Friend shared a T-shirt caption she saw: "I homeschool because I've seen the village, and they're not raising my child."

[Love2teach0307]

If I had no other reason, the desire for my children to have broader minds and true critical thinking skills and basic decency and respect would be reason enough to choose a different educational path.

 

 

:iagree:LOVE THIS! Take the path less traveled, and you won't regret it.

[swellmomma]

Funniest one yet for me happened last night at Staples. I went in to buy some cheap supplies and a blackboard. Over by the notebooks a man stopped me to ask for help. It was very obvious talking to him that English was his second language. He wanted to know what interlined notebooks were, so I explained them and showed him one from teh shelf. As I start to walk away a woman stops me and asks if I am a teacher. I tell her not in the way she is thinking, that I am a homeschooler. So she gets a completely surprised look on her face and says "oh! How do you know what interlined notebooks are then" :lol: Umm, I have attended school and used them, I have used them with my kids, and oh yeah they say interlined right on the covers.

 

Ds12 was with me and he looked at me with his face :001_huh: looked back at her and started laughing. We went to the front and paid, once back in the van I explained to him why we should not laugh at people who ask stupid questions.

[Angie in VA]

LOLOL! I JUST had this conversation with a friend this morning. Thankfully she is also an (ungrading) homeschool mom so she totally understood when I got a blank look on my face and after a long "Ummmmmmm", started counting on my fingers to figure out what grade they would be in based on their ages!

 

I am very behind on this thread, but I had to post this. The audio is out of sync a bit, but it cracks me up. The whole clip is only 1:47, but listen/watch till the end. Around 1:21 he talks about grades. ROFLOL!

 

 

http://youtu.be/e735f-uwb64

[KerriBerri]

My SIL (who is millitary): Oh, I know all about homeschooling, it is very common in the millitary. I've never seen it be successful

 

This is cr-aaaaaa-zy! I'm a military hs mom, and I know a TON of military hs moms that are amazing! Their kids are doing great. Personally, I can't think of a better fit for military life than homeschooling. With our move this year, dd8 would been in 2 different schools in 2 different countries and would have missed about a month. Instead, we started a few weeks early and will have the first unit done in time to PCS and pick right up when we get there. She'll miss no school at all! Us military homeschoolers will be just fine thank you!;)

[kitten18]

I am very behind on this thread, but I had to post this. The audio is out of sync a bit, but it cracks me up. The whole clip is only 1:47, but listen/watch till the end. Around 1:21 he talks about grades. ROFLOL!

 

 

http://youtu.be/e735f-uwb64

"The kid knows Greek, but he still eats bugs. What grade it that?" :lol::lol::lol:

[....]

I am very behind on this thread, but I had to post this. The audio is out of sync a bit, but it cracks me up. The whole clip is only 1:47, but listen/watch till the end. Around 1:21 he talks about grades. ROFLOL!

 

 

http://youtu.be/e735f-uwb64

 

Oh, that was hilarious. Montessori Emporium bumpersticker...:lol:

[flamommy2mygirls]

Just today I tried to convince my sister to pull my niece (9) out of ps and hs her b/c (a) she has always disliked school, (b) sadly has to repeat the 3rd grade this year and (c...even sadder) has not been eating and making herself sick so she can stay home from school (which just started on Mon). Her response was that she just could not picture her kids not being in school...that is was weird. Thanks sis. :glare:

[Hedgehog]

The first annoying thing was something from my sister: "I think homeschooling is great, as long as you do it properly" Right, so what exactly are you saying?

 

 

A very common one in the UK - "Is it legal?" Do you think I would do something that obvious, which was illegal? And if I did, would I admit it to you?

 

 

"But how do you do science?" Because clearly the only people who can access science materials and resources are PS teachers.

 

 

And the latest - "You should send your kids to school, because it's good for them to practise getting up early" Hmm.. that's news to me.. humans are unable to change their sleep patterns for different life circumstances? Wait.. you're a mom.. ?!

[9763653]

A very common one in the UK - "Is it legal?" Do you think I would do something that obvious, which was illegal? And if I did, would I admit it to you?

 

 

 

I do :001_smile:. Homeschooling is not legal where we live, but I do it anyway.

 

Granted, we're enrolled in an umbrella school in the US, and that should cover is on the "all children must be enrolled in school", but our family is one of a handful of people in this country taking that step.

 

AND, I am dreading having to respond to that very question.