Don't Blame Homeschooling

NOTE: I don't like the word "weird" as a description of a person, but people seem to use it when they are talking about homeschooling. Because that is the exact word so many use, I am using it in this post.

It is a time for supporting each other and for recognizing the richness different personalities provide. How boring and uninteresting life would be without each other. Being different than everyone else is not a bad thing; it is oh so right. The road of excellence is not one of conformity. It is a quest few are brave enough to go on. May those who are strong and true gather around the table of Love and celebrate the image of Him in us all.

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"Everyone is odd except me and thee, and sometimes I wonder about thee."

For years I have watched family after family whose children could have benefited immensely from the freedoms homeschooling provides place their children in less than ideal educational situations. Without exception, the reason for providing their children with an educational situation that didn't fit them well was the same. They didn't want their children to be "weird".

Children are not weird because they are homeschooled. If a person is weird they will be weird no matter where they receive their education. Attending public school does not prevent or cure "weirdness". Nor will it make a child less shy, less awkward, less loud, less talkative, or less dramatic. I am living proof of this.

Seriously. I went to public school. I was there for 13 years. Every personality under the sun was represented in my K-12 public school. As a matter of fact, some considered me weird because of how quiet I was and how much I liked to read. The fact that I was not an athlete and was more interested in music and art cemented my "nice but weird" status.

During the 23 years I have home educated my children I have seen a thorough representation of every personality among the homeschool community, just as I did during my own public school education. Not only that but there were also many unique personalities in the rural school as well as in the private school my children attended. "Being weird" is not a result of homeschooling; it is how some people view the personality of another.

Family reunions bear witness to the reality of individual personality not being linked to educational experience. There will be one in the family circle who has received an extensive education in public institutions who will be shy and awkward while a cousin who was their classmate when growing up will be loud and dramatic. A braggart can be seen sitting alongside a self-educated scholar. A thoughtful eighth grade graduate will be found sympathetically nodding their head as the master degree holding hypochondriac of the bunch lists their latest medical woes. Obviously personality is not the result of one's educational environment.

If you know any homeschoolers who don't behave in a way that you consider "normal", please quit blaming homeschooling. What you view as "being weird" is simply their unique, individual personality. People are who they are. Where and/or how they are educated doesn't have anything to do with it.

Years ago a family friend shared the quote at the top of this post. The quote is one his mother frequently used. I think it sums things up perfectly. Naturally occurring personality differences are not the result of homeschooling. They are proof of the amazing array of people in the world. No matter what educational choice we make, may we support each other as we celebrate the freedom we have been given to learn in the way that is best for each one of us, weird or not.