Misconceptions of Home Schooling

Recently I was at the store during the middle of the day. The cashier said "you must home school?" Then she explained that she figured I did since I had so many kids with me and some looked school aged. She had all kinds of questions for me like "Why do I home school?" "What about socialization?" and "Is it hard?"

Well to answer those: I home school for many reasons. Some of the most important reasons I home school are so that I can really incorporate character traits in my kids. I can also give them one on one attention where as in a classroom of 30 kids they may get overlooked if they need help. Also I can incorporate our faith in with there learning. I also think it is important for kids to keep there innocence for as long as possible. Some may argue that this is sheltering them form the real world, but I think there are plenty of years for them to be exposed to the real world. In these young years they just need to focus on their character and when they need to know about life situations, they will be equipped to deal with them. 

What about socialization? Well a friend once told me that in a family they socialize every day with there siblings and with the parents. Who said kids need to socialize with kids there own age? Think about that. I do however have my kids in a home school co-op as well as several extracurricular activities like Dance, Karate, and music. Not because I think they need to be around other kids but because it is fun. And being around other kids is well fun, but not necessary to be considered "socialized."

Is it hard? Well yes! I don't get to send my kids away for a few hours and take a break and do what ever parents do that have those few hours. I think it is so worth all the hard work and for that I am able to take even those hard days and still be joyful at the end of the day. The actual lesson planning does not have to be hard. There are so many curriculum's out there to choose from and even ones that come with scripts on what to say.

I had one friend introduce me like this: "Here is my friend Michelle, she home schools and she actually does stuff with her kids." It make me think that people perceive family's that home school as family's like on little house on the prairie or something like that. Recently home schooling has gained popularity and so many people are choosing this path for there family.

Lastly I have so many people say "I don't have the patience for that." Well all I can say is I don't either. I am very "type A" personality so if you would have told me 6 years ago that I would be home schooling I would have said yeah right. I think it is just one of those things that if you have the desire to do it then you will learn how to be patient.