“Homeschoolers are weird”

[Anonymous]

The collective trance that America endured across the covid debacle taught me a lot about our society and all our magical thinking.

This much pearl-clutching over homeschooling tells me that homeschooling must have enormous merit.

Sounds like it is perceived as a threat to a dearly loved set of conventional practices that reside on shaky ground. Practices that perhaps used to make sense, but maybe were optimized for a world that has receded.

This much flak usually means one thing: homeschooling is a disruptive approach that is flying directly over the target.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, your original position was that all homeschoolers are poor - and I said we are decidedly UMC by education, middle class by income, live in a not-poor FCPS pyramid, and homeschool by choice. You are moving the goalposts because your argument is flawed and failing, unless your position is that anyone who is not wealthy is poor?

You just said you can’t afford private school…goalposts are the same. You homeschool because you can’t afford a decent private.

There is no UMC by education…it’s literally an economic designation.

Lol exactly. And this person homeschools, which of course.

[Anonymous]

There is no UMC by education…it’s literally an economic designation.

A law degree is UMC by education - but a government lawyer salary, even if one is SL or SES, is not UMC in this area.

And yes, we homeschool. Ask yourself why you have so many problems with it if it has no bearing on you whatsoever.

Have a lovely evening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The collective trance that America endured across the covid debacle taught me a lot about our society and all our magical thinking.

This much pearl-clutching over homeschooling tells me that homeschooling must have enormous merit.

Sounds like it is perceived as a threat to a dearly loved set of conventional practices that reside on shaky ground. Practices that perhaps used to make sense, but maybe were optimized for a world that has receded.

This much flak usually means one thing: homeschooling is a disruptive approach that is flying directly over the target.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. But coming back the OP's original question, covid provides a new reason why homeschoolers are perceived as weird. Once schools reopened, the parents that chose to keep their kids home due to covid tended to have rather unusual beliefs regarding the risks of covid. Others may have pointed to things like bullying or peer pressure as reasons for homeschooling, which is also unorthodox.

But more broadly, a lot of these perceptions start when you're a child yourself. If you went to school, and you interacted with homeschoolers at the time, didn't they seem a little weird? Weird isn't necessarily bad. It basically means different. But homeschooled kids tend to be both a little weird and a little shy/quiet around other kids, which is a tough combination for others.

[Anonymous]

But homeschooled kids tend to be...a little shy/quiet around other kids, which is a tough combination for others.

And those tend to be exactly the kids for whom public school doesn't work. God forbid you are a quiet, well behaved, smart girl - you are basically ignored by overwhelmed teachers in overcrowded classrooms. My daughter was stuck in a corner with a math worksheet for years, including in AAP. It's not like homeschooling made her quiet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But homeschooled kids tend to be...a little shy/quiet around other kids, which is a tough combination for others.

And those tend to be exactly the kids for whom public school doesn't work. God forbid you are a quiet, well behaved, smart girl - you are basically ignored by overwhelmed teachers in overcrowded classrooms. My daughter was stuck in a corner with a math worksheet for years, including in AAP. It's not like homeschooling made her quiet.

Certainly. There's always parental influence and the innate characteristics of a child. Homeschooling doesn't entirely change that, although it does remove some of the opportunities for kids to pick up other behaviors (good and bad).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The collective trance that America endured across the covid debacle taught me a lot about our society and all our magical thinking.

This much pearl-clutching over homeschooling tells me that homeschooling must have enormous merit.

Sounds like it is perceived as a threat to a dearly loved set of conventional practices that reside on shaky ground. Practices that perhaps used to make sense, but maybe were optimized for a world that has receded.

This much flak usually means one thing: homeschooling is a disruptive approach that is flying directly over the target.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. But coming back the OP's original question, covid provides a new reason why homeschoolers are perceived as weird. Once schools reopened, the parents that chose to keep their kids home due to covid tended to have rather unusual beliefs regarding the risks of covid. Others may have pointed to things like bullying or peer pressure as reasons for homeschooling, which is also unorthodox.

But more broadly, a lot of these perceptions start when you're a child yourself. If you went to school, and you interacted with homeschoolers at the time, didn't they seem a little weird? Weird isn't necessarily bad. It basically means different. But homeschooled kids tend to be both a little weird and a little shy/quiet around other kids, which is a tough combination for others.

A lot of parents continued to keep their kids home once schools opened because they realized how little their kids were doing in school. I don’t think homeschooled kids are weird, they are just better mannered. They don’t have the peer influence from the overwhelmingly poorly behaved kids that are unfortunately at most schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where does the “homeschoolers are weird” trope come from? Most of the homeschoolers I have met are intelligent and interesting, and have unique passions.

Your experience clearly does not reflect the larger societal experience. The only homeschooled people (kids) I knew growing up were religious fundies who were absolutely weird, annoying, lacked social skills, talked down to normal kids and were quite far behind in actual intelligence and learning. They seemed to feel superior to others but really had nothing or any justification to back it up.

Your "experiences" back in the 1990s are outdated and irrelevant, Karen.

Not necessarily - the thread is about why there is a ‘homeschoolers are weird’ stereotype; it may very well be that experiences from the 90s have led to the stereotype today. And calling someone a Karen is really a lame way to respond to a relevant point, not to mention misogynistic.

[Anonymous]

Look. Homes schoolers aren't the weird ones necessarily. It's their parents who are weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There is no UMC by education…it’s literally an economic designation.

A law degree is UMC by education - but a government lawyer salary, even if one is SL or SES, is not UMC in this area.

And yes, we homeschool. Ask yourself why you have so many problems with it if it has no bearing on you whatsoever.

Have a lovely evening.

A government lawyer salary is absolutely an UMC salary…again, even in Bethesda (which is higher than the DMV as a whole) the median salary is like $80k and I assume a government lawyer makes much more than that.

However…once more, a law degree doesn’t make you UMC by education considering how many plaintiff’s lawyers there are graduating from terrible law schools.

So, you can be a LMC lawyer or an UMC electrician with no college degree if you earn enough as an electrician.

[Anonymous]

Most homeschoolers I have met are quite intelligent and well behaved. There are a few kids that present a bit differently by the way they choose to dress compared to the typical norms. Some homeschoolers do home school due to school bullying or illness. Some homeschoolers do home school because the parents choose that work with their life style and work schedules. Some homeschoolers do home school because public school system cannot support the needs either below level or above level etc. Well, overall, I see most homeschoolers try to come out to social to a certain extent or attend some social events to get them not isolated from peers.