[Eowyn]

I am often out with the kids one place or another during the day and
we get asked A LOT about why the kids aren't in school.

Does this ever happen to you? And what do you say? How do people react?


SOMETIMES I will get a positive response from people when I say we homeschool but generally people look uncomfortable, abruptly change the subject or feel the need to tell me all about the weird homeschooling Amish family they met one time when they were visiting their cousins out of town or something along those lines.


Sometimes they will just ask the kids directly and then I'm thankful because they just proudly belt out " I'M HOMESCHOOLED!" and they're so darn cute when they do it that no one has ever had a negative response to their declaration.

[BensMom]

The only time anyone ever seriously asked me that (not just a passer-by), it was a security officer at the airport when I was taking my son to Colorado. Talk about awkward!! He was rude about it, too, as if he didn't believe me (even though the trip was academic in nature). Sheesh!

I usually say "done for the day", "off today", or "this is our lunch break". I let them assume whether or not he's homeschooled. None of their business. In this area, it's not a big deal anyway. HS'ing is very popular.

[Frackel]

It depends on how it's asked, or where.

Usually it's just a "homeschool", and that's that. I don't get too many awkward looks or anything at that. Though even if I did, I probably wouldn't pay attention long enough to notice. I'm usually busy doing whatever it is we're out of the house doing.

But we've gotten some people who ask in that accusatory manner, or continue asking stupid questions after the first one. Usually the kids pick up on it before I do and their response is typically along the lines of "you mean this isn't school?", "mom, you told me we were here to learn", "I was wondering why our recess required getting in the car", "well, why aren't you in school?", or something stupid that throws the idiot off guard. One time Leo told some annoying lady he was writing a report on the spending habits of nosey old ladies, and he peeked his head into her cart He's a smart *** when someone tries to insult him, and this lady was. Probably because she overheard him answering me when I asked him to read something and he got it wrong. She really was being a royal pain in my butt. We were trying to find everything he needed for a project and she was just irritating me with stupid questions. Leo picked up on my irritation, lol.

Around here, specifically, homeschooling isn't really popular. It's not necessarily taboo, but it is still in that "they're kinda weird, but maybe not a bad weird", stage that HS seems to hit before it becomes more mainstream. But we live in a kind of rural area. It's when we're nowhere near home that we get the few odd comments we've gotten. People in less rural areas around here automatically assume only weirdos or kids with some kind of disability homeschool. Even in areas where there is actually a pretty high percentage of HS families, this happens.

[ady's mommy]

There are a lot of people that homeschool around here and it hasn't been much of an issue. They usually seem impressed or interested in what it means to homeschool. There have been a few negative responses, but I tell them I use to teach and that I would never send my kid to school and this usually shuts them up.

[moonstonemama]

Donovan usually answers that he's homeschooled & the only time we got a comment was when a man got big eyes at Donovan's answer & said, "Way to go, Mom & Dad. Keep up the good work!" lol

[bookworm16_2000]

Since Allison is so young (2 1/2) we don't get too many questions yet. But we get plenty of weird looks when I'll have her count, recite the alphabet, or play I Spy with colors and shapes to keep her busy during a wait or errand.

[~~Que~~]

No one has rudely asked. It's usually in the line at the store when people get bored and start talking to the kids. My 8 year old and 3 year old look amazingly close in age and people are always taken off guard by my three year old because he talks like a 3 yr old but looks like a 5-6 yr old. And my 8 yr old talks like a 10 yr old and looks like a 5-6 yr old, lol. Anyways, my daughter loves to tell everyone she goes to homeschool when people ask her what school she attends. She always gets flustered when they ask what grade she's in. We don't really "do grade levels" and she hasn't figured out an easy and fast way to explain that. She's really good at changing the subject and starts talking about the stuff she enjoys: soccer, guitar, Justin Beiber, etc. No one ever notices when she flips the topics around and avoids questions, haha.

[Irish_Wristwatch]

Originally Posted by bookworm16_2000

Since Allison is so young (2 1/2) we don't get too many questions yet. But we get plenty of weird looks when I'll have her count, recite the alphabet, or play I Spy with colors and shapes to keep her busy during a wait or errand.

my oldest is only 2 so this isnt an issue for us yet either... is it uncommon for kids to know letters and numbers at this age? Ross turned 2 in July and knows all his letters (can recognize them) and counts to 15, we are working on shapes and colours now, hes getting pretty good, I always thought he was typical

[BensMom]

Originally Posted by Irish_Wristwatch

my oldest is only 2 so this isnt an issue for us yet either... is it uncommon for kids to know letters and numbers at this age? Ross turned 2 in July and knows all his letters (can recognize them) and counts to 15, we are working on shapes and colours now, hes getting pretty good, I always thought he was typical

IME, it's normal for kids who are at home (even if all they do is watch PBS all day), but not normal for kids in preschool/daycare (although there are certainly some there who can do it, too). I never got funny looks for that, but did for things like reading box labels at the grocery store. I'd play it down as if "reading" a memorized logo rather than actually sounding out a word.

[Butter]

The kids or I just say we homeschool and people usually just say "Oh, that's neat" or "Do you like it?" That's about it. Never a big deal.

[alwayssmile]

Originally Posted by Irish_Wristwatch

my oldest is only 2 so this isnt an issue for us yet either... is it uncommon for kids to know letters and numbers at this age? Ross turned 2 in July and knows all his letters (can recognize them) and counts to 15, we are working on shapes and colours now, hes getting pretty good, I always thought he was typical

There's such large range of normal! DS is 23 months and I can't even get him to call me mama let alone communicate shapes, colors, etc. I understand him with naming about 20 body parts, but others don't (DH only understands maybe half). Communication is not my son's priority! lol. Instead we work on motor skills with me trying to get him to communicate that way.

[Alison79]

I don't think we've ever been asked that. Usually people are too busy asking if they are "all ours" and that makes them forget that we are out during school hours HSing is very popular here so it's not unusual to see lots of school age kids out during the day.

[alittlelost]

When people ask, we tell them they are homeschooled. If that bothers them . . . well, that's not my problem My kids think it's AWESOME they are homeschooled. They are also happy, friendly kids and doing well for their ages. It might be more accepted where I live because the schools here are such crap. If anything, I get a lot of "I don't blame you" when people hear we homeschool. At the end of the day, it's what's best for our kids. That's all that matters.

[youngwoman]

Now that Leah is 4, we get a lot of, "Has she started school?" Thankfully, when I tell people that we homeschool, we get a lot of positive responses (Good for you, I know so-and-so who homeschools their kids and they're so smart/well-behaved, etc, etc). It's fairly popular in our area, so it hasn't been much of an issue.

[kalis]

Hi ladies! (Do you remember me? I will re-introduce in a new post!)
Anyways, I got this for the first time recently at Wal-Mart for the first time. I was a little surprised since Thea is only 4. But Thea herself told the young lady that she was homeschooled. And the cashier responded really positively. Turns out her best friend was homeschooled and loved it! I always love hearing about other homeschooled kids. We live in a small town and only know a few other homeschool families. The oldest kids are 6 (1st and 2nd grade).
But I know I will get this more as time goes on. One of the things I love about homeschooling the ability to go do things whenever we want. I feel pretty comfortable telling people why we homeschool. Lots of times when people find out (usually when they ask if she is in preschool yet or which one she goes to), they are really interested and have lots of questions mostly. I have been surprised to hear quite a few women say either, "I wish I could do that" or "I wish I would have been able to do that with my kids".

[2pinks&ablue]

I don't get a lot of negative comments generally, we also get a lot of "I wish I had the patience to do that!"

[breathing for two]

I've never really had to deal with that, and probably won't, I live in an area with an excellent homeschooling community, so I don't think it will take many people by surprise.
When I was a homeschooled teenager there was a time someone walked past me muttering "juvenile delinquents in a library!" but I just chuckled and didn't respond.

I've had issues with my inlaws about my desire to homeschool, but I think that's a completely different topic.

[clouise]

I don't really get any questions or looks. Homeschooling is very popular and common here. I do get a lot of questions from friends, or people I meet, who are considering homeschool themselves.

[docsmomma]

I rarely have to answer, since David loves answering this one. In fact, yesterday as we left the school (Joey goes to preschool 3 hrs a day) a teacher stopped David from leaving campus thinking he was a student and he looked at her, got a goofy grin and told her "I'm too cool for school, thats why I am homeschooled." After picking my own jaw up off the floor I was laughing about it... But did have to remind him to be careful how he said things. Lol

[PrettyMommy]

Hi all, new to the thread. Getting some great idea's on how to respond to folks questions though. You ladies handle things well it seems. My daughter is 4 and very smart and we plan to homeschool her and our other 3. Glad I found this thread!