You Can’t Homeschool Because….. Helping YOU Answer the Homeschool Critics

I can’t believe we are on the LAST post in my You Can’t Homeschool Because….  Series. If you have been homeschooling for any time at all I am sure you have heard many reasons as to why you CAN’T homeschool.

Homeschool critics are EVERYWHERE, and they have an opinion as to why you CAN’T homeschool…  We have taken a look at some of those reasons over the past few weeks. Today we are going to address a few topics that DIDN’T make it into the series, but that many wanted to know how to answer.

You can’t homeschool because…..

Is that even legal?

Yes, yes it is, in all 50 states to be exact. See more on the individual state laws on HSLDA.

Your kids won’t be prepared for the real world.

This one makes me want to scream. I am sorry, but how exactly does sitting in a classroom with 20 kids, the EXACT same age prepare a child for the “real world”? To me, real world preparation comes from actually being IN the world.

Homeschoolers go on errands with their parents; they go to doctor’s offices, nursing homes, field trips and more. Homeschooled children are used to interacting with children AND adults. They complete household chores, cook, clean, and help with younger siblings.  They learn to budget by going to the grocery store and learn where the money comes from by seeing their parents at work. They are living the real world, by not being cooped up in a classroom.

You have too many kids!

I think, the more the merrier! But, really homeschooling does get more difficult the more kids you have. BUT, it can also become easier to keep the younger ones entertained. So, there is a balance there.

Responding to homeschool critics with this question can be done by explaining your homeschool schedule, or by sharing that as the kids get older they become more independent, requiring less teacher involvement. Keeping younger children entertained can be a task for the child NOT doing school, or by using busy bags, hands-on activities, or when all else fails, educational programming. Unit studies are another great way to teach multiple kids together, making homeschooling easier on mom!

Karen Childress shares her thoughts on this question in her blog post, How do you do that?

What about your child’s special needs?

Many, many parent’s homeschool special needs children. This topic was also addressed in my previous series. In addition to that post, some of my blogging friends have written posts about homeschooling their special needs children.

Jennifer shared her post, I Can’t Homeschool Because My Child Has Special Needs.

Sara shared her posts, Ask the Experts: Homeschooling with Autism and Early Homeschooling on the Spectrum

Your kids will be weird!

No offense, but I kind of WANT my kids to be weird. The bible tells us that we are not OF this world. As Christians, we should stand out. That is not always a bad thing.

And as far as “weird” kids go, I have seen MANY in public school as well. A child’s personality and temperament is going to be the same regardless of how they are educated.

My friend Crystal shares more on this topic in her post, I Don’t Want My Boys to Be Socialized

Your kids will hate you

I don’t really know how to respond to this. Other than to say, as a teen, I am sure sometimes I “hated” my mom. Don’t all kids go through that stage? They disagree with their parents, and may not exactly like them. While I will say, I hope my children miss that phase, I also know that there is a good possibility at some point my kids will disagree with my parenting.   Homeschooling is not going to have much bearing on this.

Jamie discusses this in more detail in her blog post, Homeschooled Kids Will Hate Their Moms

And this my friend completes the series You Can’t Homeschool Because…. Thank you for being a part of it!

Which post was your favorite? To see them all again go to the series home page.