Feeling At Home

People react in interesting ways when they hear the term “home schooled”. A whole slew of thoughts, assumptions, and stereotypes arise. Honestly, as someone who was home schooled for part of my education, I find it rather interesting to look back at the way different friends of mine reacted to it. I am not denying that there are individuals who give rise to some of these stereotypes; I am simply saying that I think they are exaggerated quite a bit. I am also saying that it is not healthy to assume that every person who was ever home educated fits into a stereotype. Some assumptions I have encountered include, but are not limited to: being the overly sheltered/unprepared child, the overly religious child, the over achiever, the kid with no friends, etc.

When many of my friends heard I was going to, as some of them put it, “try the home school thing”, I was immediately put into a sort of category. I didn’t like that one bit. Who likes anyone, let alone friends, making assumptions about you? They seemed to think I would be changing or disappearing from the face of the Earth. It wasn’t until after some time had passed that they realized I was still…well…me, and then they changed their behavior. I began to see it as a sort of challenge; show them that most home schoolers, myself included, don’t fit stereotypes. I had my studies, my schedule, my friends…I felt perfectly "normal". It was just a matter of helping others understand this. Some argue that I actually became more social once I started home schooling; which is funny considering many think just the opposite will happen.

I was once asked, "So…do you actually see people? Do you have friends?”

Yes, world. Yes I do.

It was the way in which they asked the question that worried me. They sounded terrified! As if they thought I only saw the Sun but once every few weeks.

I hope I was able to show them a glimpse into my world and help them feel at ease. If people could take a step back before jumping to conclusions they just might realize that their life isn't too different from the person standing next to them. :)