Hello everyone, I am Lexi and I am 15 years old. I will be a regular contributor on teachthemright.me. For my first post I would like to share with you some of my thoughts on homeschooling misconceptions.

There are different stereotypes for parents homeschooling their children and for the child being homeschooled, but many of them are wrong. The stereotypes below are some many kids face for being homeschooled. Most of my life, I have had to combat these stereotypes and prove that they are not always true.

1. We Are Antisocial:

I have had a person tell me that she does not want to homeschool her children because she is afraid they will be antisocial. I have never considered myself antisocial, I have volunteered for many things in the church, and I have joined clubs at the library.  Not all homeschool kids are antisocial, I have met kids who are really social and talk with everyone else, and kids that don’t really talk at all. I also know people who go to school and are not really social and don’t talk much. So not every kid is antisocial, it might just be the way they act.

2. We Are Sheltered:

People have often been surprised when I do not know what is going on in pop culture like the latest app or what is on TV. Most people think homeschoolers are sheltered because we are home all of the time and that we probably stay in our pajamas and never leave the house. This is not true, as I have three other siblings who are homeschooled and we leave the house often. Also, just because we do not know much about social media or shows on TV, does not mean we are sheltered, we might just not be interested or our parents might not allow it.

3. We Have No Friends:

One person said to me that she would never want to be homeschooled because she wouldn’t have any friends. This was directed right at me, and I am not sure she noticed that what she said was kind of offensive. I have friends. Again, not every homeschooled kid is antisocial, but some are just shy and may not have a lot of friends.   

These three stereotypes that people mostly mention to homeschooled kids are not always accurate. The examples I gave make parents scared to homeschool their children or make the kids not want to be homeschooled. So these stereotypes do not apply to all homeschooled kids, certainly none that I know, and it certainly doesn’t apply to me.

Lexi