Are homeschooled youngsters bizarre? – Easy Homeschool

Are homeschooled youngsters bizarre?
~ Written by Sarah Small

Admit it. Someplace deep in your coronary heart, you’ve puzzled, particularly in the event you’ve ever heard somebody say, “I do know a homeschooling household at my church. These youngsters are bizarre!”

Choose to hear as an alternative? Search for Episode 86 of the podcast!

Haven’t all of us requested ourselves: Are homeschooled youngsters bizarre? Will my youngsters be bizarre?

Bizarre. Regular. All of us have our personal definitions. You would possibly say, “I don’t need my youngsters to be ‘regular’ by in the present day’s requirements!” And you may also say, “I don’t need my child to be labeled as a weirdo!”

However right here’s the factor:

All youngsters are bizarre.

That’s regular. I imply, once I was a child—within the privateness of my own residence—I caught black olives on all my fingers and ate them off, one after the other. That’s bizarre, proper? In fact I didn’t eat black olives at public college, but when I had, I’d not have eaten them off my fingers one after the other.

I’d have identified that was bizarre as a result of some child would have introduced to the complete cafeteria: “THAT GIRL IS EATING OLIVES OFF HER FINGERS LIKE A WEIRDO!” Even these youngsters that had a secret want to emulate me would have shriveled and mocked me. I’d have been ceaselessly generally known as Olive Lady.

Right here’s what’s totally different about homeschoolers. At my homeschooling co-op, if one child have been consuming black olives off his fingers, I can assure that the remainder of them can be doing it inside seconds. As a result of bizarre is nice. Bizarre is regular.

I eat black olives like a “regular” particular person now, though my husband would argue that no “regular” particular person even eats olives. However you understand what? With none teaching from me, I swear, my youngest son does this.

As a result of 99.9% of children (completely made-up statistic) are innately bizarre, artistic, foolish, humorous, uninhibited, and terribly intelligent—if they’re allowed to be.

I keep in mind distinctly a day when my firstborn son was in kindergarten in public college. He wished to put on his kilt and sheepskin vest to highschool. “Sweetie, you may’t put on a kilt to highschool,” I informed him. I hated to inform him why, however I needed to.

“You may solely put on your kilt at dwelling. Youngsters don’t put on kilts to highschool.”

I squashed his weirdness. I had to, for his sake.

Quick ahead a number of years, when this similar child was 13 and had been homeschooled since we pulled him out of public college after first grade. Someday we discovered, stuffed at the back of a closet, a llama-hair poncho that my husband as soon as introduced again from South America.

My son was ecstatic! For months he wore that poncho all over the place, together with our homeschooling co-op. He additionally wore John Lennon-type sun shades and t-shirts with ties.

And yep, I’m positive the youngsters thought he was bizarre. However they didn’t care as a result of they have been bizarre, too.

My son has graduated school now. I requested him not too long ago what a few of the greatest elements about homeschooling have been. One of many issues he mentioned was this:

“I had the possibility to be a unusual, bizarre, and inventive child with out intense ridicule. I used to be then in a position to develop that every one into socially acceptable quirkiness as a university pupil.”

“Socially acceptable quirkiness” often interprets to “outside-the-box” considering. What is among the prime qualities that employers in most fields search for in staff? Innovation and creativity—outside-the-box thinkers.

Childhood weirdos.

Homeschooling permits youngsters to be bizarre when it’s okay to be bizarre.

As your youngsters become old, likelihood is they may study to corral their quirks and grow to be artistic younger adults who refuse to simply accept mediocrity and problem the established order.

I feel we want extra weirdos in our world.

So ‘fess up. Have you ever ever puzzled it, too: Are homeschooled youngsters bizarre? Do you harbor a secret concern that individuals will assume your youngsters are bizarre?

* Learn extra of Sarah’s homeschooling suggestions and tales from through the years

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