Homeschoolers and Stereotypes
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Homeschooling seems to be all over the news nowadays, with the MSM usually seeking to portray us as "other". Weird dress. Weird hobbies. Weird kids.
Dana at Principled Discovery has post on the matter that makes a good point.
We moved this week, and it turns out my neighbor is a school teacher. When she asked if I would be enrolling my children at the local elementary school, I told her that most of them were homeschooled. I didn't entirely expect her reply:
I'll take that as a compliment, I guess, but truthfully, in SC, almost all of the homeschoolers I knew had two children. Maybe three. I did know two Catholic families with 5 children each who homeschooled... TWO other families! (Hi Craig! Hi Sandi!)
What homeschool stereotypes have you encountered (or held)?
I suppose I'm guilty of this myself. When I'm at Sam's Club or Half Priced Books, and I see a 15 passenger van pull up with lots of little heads in the backseat, I get excited. If the mother is wearing a skirt below her knees, my pulse quickens. I want to run over and demand their phone number, then ask what they think of Math-U-See.
Even though I drive a minivan and my children may or may not be wearing clean clothes, let alone handmade matching dresses with pinafores.
Dana at Principled Discovery has post on the matter that makes a good point.
We moved this week, and it turns out my neighbor is a school teacher. When she asked if I would be enrolling my children at the local elementary school, I told her that most of them were homeschooled. I didn't entirely expect her reply:
"Oh, I though you probably homeschooled. You are smart and have lots of kids."
I'll take that as a compliment, I guess, but truthfully, in SC, almost all of the homeschoolers I knew had two children. Maybe three. I did know two Catholic families with 5 children each who homeschooled... TWO other families! (Hi Craig! Hi Sandi!)
What homeschool stereotypes have you encountered (or held)?
I suppose I'm guilty of this myself. When I'm at Sam's Club or Half Priced Books, and I see a 15 passenger van pull up with lots of little heads in the backseat, I get excited. If the mother is wearing a skirt below her knees, my pulse quickens. I want to run over and demand their phone number, then ask what they think of Math-U-See.
Even though I drive a minivan and my children may or may not be wearing clean clothes, let alone handmade matching dresses with pinafores.
Labels: education
posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 6/10/2008 07:00:00 AM | Permalink |
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