Things you only got asked because you were homeschooled
‘Do you ever leave your house?’
Homeschoolers are a mysterious people to outsiders. How is their education possible without a traditional school structure? Sometimes they are stereotyped as sheltered, but whether you know of someone or are/were yourself homeschooled, you know a couple things that come with the gig.
“Do you have any friends?”
Probably the most asked question to homeschoolers. “No, I don’t have any friends,” would be the sarcastic answer.
Yes they do a lot of their school work at home, but a typical homeschooler’s week is not only composed of study, but of multiple social activities. Whether it’s theater, dance, sports, debate team, boy scouts, girl scouts, or church and ministry activities, a homeschooler can remember a time when they were a part of at least four of these activities at a time.
“You don’t sound like you’re homeschooled”
Ah, the stereotype is revealed. There aren’t many of us, so I would also wonder if I were in your place.
Basically, homeschoolers are just normal kids who have had the opportunity to learn at home, spend time with their family, and still gain the social skills that won’t make them awkward in public through their numerous activities.
I also want to point out most people go through an awkward stage in their early teens, and so if you meet anyone at this age, the awkwardness is non-unique.
“Do you ever leave your house?”
No. Not ever.
“Do you get to stay in your pajamas all day?”
Short answer: yes. Why get ready if you don’t have to go out for another couple of hours? Homeschoolers have this option, though getting ready for the day was probably better for our productivity.
“Does your mom teach you?”
Yes. Most of it. But sometimes I’m taught by others.
If you were in a co-op, every parent there taught a class pretty much, and thus all the kids had a variety of parents to learn from. Whether it was biology, finance, or band, we all gained some insight into the subject through different teachers (like traditional school).
“So what happens when you graduate high school?”
Well, after spending a lot of time at home and learning how to manage a house, all while balancing a full schedule of extra curricular activities, homeschoolers have a general reputation of being responsible in multiple aspects. Whether it’s studies, money, or time management. There’s definitely a transition from homeschooled life to college life, but we’ve had practice figuring out and researching things for ourselves. This may also be non-unique, but maybe it was all those days of figuring out how we also would transition into the world as an anomaly, and then researching whatever it was to make sure we knew everything we needed to know for school, jobs, and relationships. Or maybe it was because we were with our parents a lot and asked their advice about our plans, and so they shed light from their experience.