Dear Homeschool Mom Who Faces Controversy

Being a homeschooler has a lot of highs and even a few lows. It can be hard to find homeschool support. If you are a homeschooling Mom I’m sure you know very well about how controversy just seems to find you on a constant basis. At the library, at the grocery store, at the post office, and just about anywhere else your day might take you. Sometimes even among family members. I’m talking about those who think homeschooling is somehow bad.

I understand how you feel! I face it on an almost daily basis and it took me a while to find homeschool support. I have lots of people who oppose what I do and they are not afraid to voice their concerns to me.

I had a lady here in our home that was fixing some things in the kitchen for me (long story). She proceeded to ask questions. This is how it always starts. “Why isn’t he in school?” or sometimes they might say to my son “Oh you should be starting school soon” because he is still pretty young (5 years old). I told her I homeschool and she snorted at me. “Well, he is going to have to go to a real school one day. He’s going to need to learn how to take direction from other adults”. Okay, I admit it’s the first time I ever heard that one….. I just smiled and said, “He takes direction well from other adults.” She proceeded to go on… “Well, the poor thing is going to need friends his own age!” I’m sure you all know where this going.

If you are new to homeschooling…… just give it some time. It will happen. I proceeded to tell her how he is in 2 homeschooling groups and how we go the gym and he plays with kids there…. yada yada. Nothing was going to convince this woman that homeschooling was right for us. So I gave up. I felt defeated. Don’t get me started about what the cashier at Target said to me in front of my child about how I was choosing to raise my son.

When I say I understand you, trust me! I get it!

Then it dawned on me. You know what? None of us needs to defend ourselves or our choices to other people. We just don’t. A friend of mine once said “Just because we homeschool doesn’t mean we have to recruit people. We are homeschoolers, not the homeschool recruiting department!” Ah, that made me laugh. And it is true. We don’t have to try and get people to understand us. You will learn that it will just exhaust you and frustrate you if you try. LOL!

I also understand that most people who question our choice to homeschool are not very well educated on the matter. They just misunderstand the entire concept completely. I don’t really put blame on them anymore. If I wasn’t homeschooling I wouldn’t know much about it either. I wouldn’t go up to people and tell them how to live their lives either, but that’s another story. 😉

I just want you to know that you are good enough to teach your own children. That you do not have to defend yourself to anyone. You made this choice for your family because you know in your heart that it is right. So move forward and be confident in your choice. You are doing an AMAZING job and you have a lot of other homeschoolers (like myself) that stand behind you completely!