I'm a homeschooler, so, am I a abnormal freak?

Question

Sometimes I feel like one. I am in 7th grade and have been homeschooling for 5 years. Soooooo am I missing out on something great by homeschooling and not going to a public school? Will things be better or worse when I do go to public school (next year)? Will I be out of touch and be unable to fit in? Is public schooling harder then homeschooling? People always tell me how lucky I am to homeschool. I sure don't feel that way. Help?

Answer 1

You telling me that you're a homeschooler doesn't tell me anything about whether you are a freak or not.

As a former elementary teacher, married to a junior high teacher, I would say, no, there's nothing really great that you've missed out on, unless you wanted to feel like you had to dress the same as everybody, have the same electronic equipment, have a host of bad attitudes, or at least be around people like that all day.

Whether things will be better or worse (or the same) for you next year depends on YOU. If you want it to be better, then take the steps to make it better. It's not those who are out of touch who don't fit in--it's those who stand off to the side who don't fit in.

Some people don't care about fitting in--I was one of those. (Which is probably why I homeschool my kids--I don't care about fitting in!) Others do. If you care about fitting in, then take reasonable measures to fit in. Ask questions (but not too many), always be aware of how people are reacting (so, be focused more on others than on yourself) and just be interested in others, but not too pushy. Above all, just trust that you are okay and be confident in that. Confidence does far more for a person to fit in than does being like other people.

Public schooling is different. And not knowing how you were homeschooled, hard to say whether it'll be harder or easier.

You are lucky because a lot of kids HATE school. They hate sitting in desks having to listen to teachers babble on and take notes on their babble. They hate the homework. They hate spending so much time on things that don't even interest them. Of course, some of them simply hate it because their friends hate it. ;) Again, they're not confident enough to just be themselves!

Do you already know which school you are going to? If so, see about being able to visit a few times during the rest of the year. (You can call, which would really impress the school, or you can have your parents call.) Ask all the questions you might have. See how everything is set up. Learn about the scheduling and how much time you have between classes and things like that. If you are able to choose schools, then visit the schools in question more than once to get a feel for which one would work better for you.

Answer 2

Don't worry your not a freak!
Your not missing a thing I was in public school for a LONG time and than i was homeschooled and there is NOTHING great about PS. If you go to public school next year it will probly be worse because you'll be dealing with "publicschoolers" nothing like your friendly worldly homeschool friends. I dont know you well enough to say whenther you would fit in, but lets just say its not a place you really want to "fit it." Public school is harder in like sports and popularity than homeschooling but educationly speaking you will probly feel like it a piece of cake. When I was in ur grade I decided to take the 12th grade History TAKS to see what the q? were like and it was so sad how easy the questions where.... I passed with 98% right.
And you are a very lucky guy to be able to have a mother who is willing to stay home with her child!
Good luck to you!!!

Answer 3

No you are not an abnormal freak. I was home schooled for 9 years before I started my sophomore year @ a public highschool. I think that as long as you are involved in any kind of activity in which you interact with other kids of your own age group then you should be fine. However if you are not doing something like this then I would suggest that you try to find something that you can get involved in, maybe even something that involved kids from the school that you plan to go to. And in response to not feeling lucky, you may not feel like that while you are being home schooled, but years later you will look back and thank your parents. I hope I helped...

Answer 4

That's a lot of questions! But, I believe you are probably not an abnormal freak, at least not because of homeschooling. There are now a large number of homeschoolers, so it's become more acceptable than I think it was in the past.

I think some things will be better and some will be worse probably. Well, if you like social events, you may enjoy some aspects of public school, like prom, lunch, seeing your friends each day without having to call and make plans of course. The worse for me was that a great amount of school was boring where with our homeschool at least (I'm the mom) we homeschool around my children's interests so it is not always exciting, but definitely much less boring than public and private school was for me. I tend to try to avoid Melville and Chaucer and those kind of authors and try to study things my children will enjoy. I think learning should be interesting.

You may be a little out of touch I think as a homeschooler, but in a good way. Another poster was saying that most or maybe all homeschoolers don't seem to fit in well. The first homeschooler I ever met was in a graduate school course I was taking in college. She was auditing the course during her high school years, and had just gotten accepted to an Ivy League college that fall. She had a wonderful personality and everyone in our class liked her. She auditioned for a ballet company which was based in New York during the class and they said they would take her, but as a condition they wanted her to lose 10 pounds and she said no way! She was already quite thin and she would have had to become anorexic! And she said no! That is the kind of nonconformist person you can become as a homeschooler. I think that's to be admired myself, I think someone that had been in the public or private school system and been more conformist probably would have said yes and worked on taking off the 10 pounds I think.

Is public schooling harder than homeschooling? That would depend on the teacher(parent). When I first started out I was much tougher than any school. I was so worried about missing out on any subject or topic that I really piled on the work and worksheets on my poor son. Plus I scheduled him for about a dozen classes and activities as well because I was worried I wouldn't have enough socializing and enough activities penciled in for him b/c I was worried about all the socialization hype. And he is special needs so he also had OT (occupational therapy) and speech therapy the first year as well. So basically we just ran around and were exhausted the first year! There is no way any public school teacher was as hard as I was the first year!

So after the first year, I learned to relax though, thank goodness, and now I am an easier teacher. I like to pick out fun and enjoyable topics that the kids want to learn about, or the kids themselves ask to cover different topics so that probably makes learning easier, but on some topics we are slightly ahead of the public school system like History and Science, so I don't think public schooling is that hard, except maybe in the area of math.

Answer 5

No you are not a freak. I prefer homeschooling and most people who are homeschooled end up being a little ahead of everyone. The public school system tries to teach things that your parents should Do Not Tak Contemporary English.....keep telling your parents what you are learning, and question. Always question, your teacher may not always be right. I think you will fit right on in.

Answer 6

I'm home schooled and have been for ten years (since kindergarten.)
You are not an abnormal freak!
I wouldn't ever want to go to school.
No offense to people that do go to school but, alot of public schooled kids, you cannot trust.
They are your friend one day and not the next.
It is very true.
If you do go to school, don't try to fit in, and don't let anyone categorize you.
You don't need to be anyone you're not.
If people don't like you for who you are then, that's there loss!
Friend's will come in time.
Public school can be harder then homeschooling, it depends how the person that is homeschooling you is teaching you.
Your mom or whoever is teaching you might be strict.
Or might not make you even do schoolwork, and could fake it.
So no one can determine which is harder, every family is different.
Good luck with your decision :).

Answer 7

You really are lucky to have been homeschooling. 1) You don't get the bad influence and profanity from classmates, 2) you can concentrate more without disruptions, which leads to a better education. It's always hard to fit in when you're new to a school, so just do your best and don't TRY to act weird. I'm sure you'll find public schooling very easy, considering how low our standards are today. Good luck!

Answer 8

I was home-schooled for all 12 years of my childhood- & then went off & got a 4 year University Degree. I got a quality education- & I never regretted it. Sure, you miss out on some of the socialization that comes with going to school, but you also miss out on much of the grief & hassles that go with it- too. So I really don't think you're missing much. If you have friends & a social life outside of your homeschooling, then you'll have NO PROBLEM adjusting to college- if that's your choice. And by the way; anyone who'd call you a "freak" just because you're homeschooled- obviously is not getting much of an education at the school they ARE going to. So ignore them & get on with your life. Knoledge is a heck of alot more valuable than opinions are. Keep your chin up- & good luck! :)

Answer 9

Every day my daughter comes home from school, (she's a sophomore) and the things she is worried about are not the typical things you would think: math is too hard, or how do I get this work done.

It is: someone called her fat (she is NOT), the noise on the bus is too loud so she couldn't read her book, someone snatched her pen and ran, someone stacked her locker, and basically people are just big bullies with no manners and no common sense.

In her world, people would be polite, read more, have normal conversations, have scholarly debates over great books, and really want to do their homework and get wonderful grades. And they wouldn't care if their stomachs showed and their skirts were up to their butts....

I think you have a good world, with very little stress. If I didn't teach in public schools myself, I would homeschool her so I could alleviate her stress, and she and I could have those great conversations about books....

Good luck next year...

Answer 10

Ok first of all never call your self a freak or put your self down. That sure makes you feel like a freak. I have lots of friends that are homeschooled and they are nothing even close to freaks. I am in seventh grade to and i live in New Jersey where a lot of seventh graders I know are homeschooled. I know 10 people off the top of my head who are homeschooled and they are not freaks becuase of that.....and I highly doubt that you are a freak. I should be thefreak in this story because I have lived in 2 different states and in 7 different towns. Now that's freakish!!!!!!!