Written Dec. 2009 for Christian County Headliner News
I have a gripe. Normally my articles are positive and encouraging. Well, not this month. I don’t know about you, but I am so sick of the prejudices against homeschoolers. You wouldn’t believe all of the strange looks and comments we get from complete strangers as we travel around the country. For a country who is supposedly embracing diversity, it sure is far from it! I am a stay at home mom, I have lots of kids, I home school, I go to church…how can I get much worse? We even had a campground call us back recently and say, “The owner saw you were coming with six kids and decided to start invoking his “No more than two people per campsite” policy”! Can you believe that! It was my grandparent’s generation that had lots of kids. Like my grandma says, “Which one of YOU would not want to have been born?” If my grandma hadn’t of had lots of kids, I wouldn’t be here! And if I hear even one more time, “Homeschoolers don’t know how to socialize” I think I will throw up! I went to public school and remember lots of kids that didn’t know how to socialize. My own husband is very quiet most of the time and extremely loud when he wants to be. He can talk people’s ears off when he feels like it and not say a word other times. Does that make him a social freak? I don’t think so. It just means there are different personalities out there. So if a home schooler is quiet does that make him wrong? No! That just makes him quiet! It never fails, someone knows one or two home school kids that had a bad education so they constantly use them for an example for why homeschooling is bad. Well, I know some students that went to public school and both lied and cheated their way through! I left not knowing lots of things! Does that mean public school is terrible? Absolutely not. I would love to have my kids be taught science by Mr. Jones in the Ozark Middle School. He is awesome! There are lots of kids that excel in public school! There are lots of students who excel in home school! Just because some in each don’t do well, we shouldn’t say none do well! Just because some homeschoolers are quiet doesn’t mean they aren’t socialized. How many country folk do we know that are better at listening than talking? I actually think it is a good trait to be slow to speak and quick to listen. My kids are not perfect. I get so sick of people scrutinizing my life and my children. They watch us because we home school; that we are not allowed to make mistakes! When my kids can’t answer one of their questions, they say we are ignorant and homeschooling is wrong. I love it when someone asks my 8 year old if she can multiply huge numbers. Hello! 8 yr olds don’t do that in public school either! Homeschooling is not perfect. I would like to see one public school that is perfect. That all of their students walk out with a perfect education. Give me a break. I sometimes miss the ladies at Nixa Hardware, Dr. Butterfield’s office, the people in the square during the Farmers Market. They all accept us. They smile when we walk in. I appreciate the open minds in the Ozarks. We are not total freaks there. We are accepted for who we are and not looked down upon, by most. Thank you Christian County Headliner News for letting me write for the last 2 years. Your acceptance of alternative choices in life should be commended. I miss you all.
I have a gripe. Normally my articles are positive and encouraging. Well, not this month. I don’t know about you, but I am so sick of the prejudices against homeschoolers. You wouldn’t believe all of the strange looks and comments we get from complete strangers as we travel around the country. For a country who is supposedly embracing diversity, it sure is far from it! I am a stay at home mom, I have lots of kids, I home school, I go to church…how can I get much worse? We even had a campground call us back recently and say, “The owner saw you were coming with six kids and decided to start invoking his “No more than two people per campsite” policy”! Can you believe that! It was my grandparent’s generation that had lots of kids. Like my grandma says, “Which one of YOU would not want to have been born?” If my grandma hadn’t of had lots of kids, I wouldn’t be here! And if I hear even one more time, “Homeschoolers don’t know how to socialize” I think I will throw up! I went to public school and remember lots of kids that didn’t know how to socialize. My own husband is very quiet most of the time and extremely loud when he wants to be. He can talk people’s ears off when he feels like it and not say a word other times. Does that make him a social freak? I don’t think so. It just means there are different personalities out there. So if a home schooler is quiet does that make him wrong? No! That just makes him quiet! It never fails, someone knows one or two home school kids that had a bad education so they constantly use them for an example for why homeschooling is bad. Well, I know some students that went to public school and both lied and cheated their way through! I left not knowing lots of things! Does that mean public school is terrible? Absolutely not. I would love to have my kids be taught science by Mr. Jones in the Ozark Middle School. He is awesome! There are lots of kids that excel in public school! There are lots of students who excel in home school! Just because some in each don’t do well, we shouldn’t say none do well! Just because some homeschoolers are quiet doesn’t mean they aren’t socialized. How many country folk do we know that are better at listening than talking? I actually think it is a good trait to be slow to speak and quick to listen. My kids are not perfect. I get so sick of people scrutinizing my life and my children. They watch us because we home school; that we are not allowed to make mistakes! When my kids can’t answer one of their questions, they say we are ignorant and homeschooling is wrong. I love it when someone asks my 8 year old if she can multiply huge numbers. Hello! 8 yr olds don’t do that in public school either! Homeschooling is not perfect. I would like to see one public school that is perfect. That all of their students walk out with a perfect education. Give me a break. I sometimes miss the ladies at Nixa Hardware, Dr. Butterfield’s office, the people in the square during the Farmers Market. They all accept us. They smile when we walk in. I appreciate the open minds in the Ozarks. We are not total freaks there. We are accepted for who we are and not looked down upon, by most. Thank you Christian County Headliner News for letting me write for the last 2 years. Your acceptance of alternative choices in life should be commended. I miss you all.
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Sheri