Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Top 5 Ways to Ensure That Your Homeschooled Kid is Weird and Unsocialized

Today, I wanted to share with you my Top 5 Ways to Ensure That Your Homeschooled Kid is Weird and Unsocialized because everybody knows that homeschoolers are, in fact, weird and unsocialized.


The problem is, I've met lots of homeschooled kids and it's obvious that we're falling down on our jobs, people!  These kids I've met are perfectly normal and completely socialized!  It's time we get busy and rectify this situation before a few slackers sully the reputation of homeschoolers everywhere.  So here are the top five ways you can get your kids back on the right path to becoming proper homeschoolers:

1.  Quit letting them be around all those people.  For crying out loud!  If you're forever taking them to music class, homeschool P.E., 4-H Club, co-op, ballet class, Lego Club, Chess Club, art class, and all those crazy sports activities how in the world do you expect them to grow up to be unsocialized?  Keep those homeschoolers isolated!

Every time you take them with you to the grocery store, the doctor's office, the art museum, those fast-food places with playgrounds where other kids are playing, or, heaven forbid, an outdoor playground or the movie theater, a play, or a concert -- and let's don't even talk about the mall -- they are observing and participating in human social behaviors.  What are you thinking, homeschool mom?

2.  Quit letting them have friends.  I mean, really.  Friends?  Hello?  Socialization.  If you continue taking special care to ensure that your kids get to hang out with their friends on a regular basis, have sleepovers and play dates, and go to all those homeschool group activities and social events, how do you expect them to remain unsocialized?


3.  Toss out all the computers.  Have you seen all these homeschooled kids with their blogs and their Facebook accounts?  Do you know what they do on those things?  They're expressing themselves.  And, they communicate.  With other people!  They might even experience negative comments or encounter mean people or people with views different than theirs.  Do you know what that means?  You may not be doing an adequate job of isolating and over-protecting them.

4.  Toss out the phone, too.  If you don't, it's highly likely that your homeschooled kid will act just like any other kid and talk on the phone for hours to his or her friends.  And, we all know that homeschooled kids should NOT have friends if we hope to raise them to be weird and unsocialized.

5.  Quit taking them to church.  For the love of all that is holy, do you know what happens to homeschooled kids at church -- besides the growing in their faith and studying God's Word part?  They interact with all manner of people!  I mean, there are old people who would love to chat with and mentor your kids.  There are kids who go to public or private school who might want to be your kids' friends in spite of that whole homeschooling thing.  There are kids who go to public or private school who might pick on your kids because they're homeschooled (and that's way too similar to the real world).

And, then, there are all those classroom-like settings where your kids might have to sit at a table and be quiet while a teacher reads or talks.  They might even have to raise their hand to answer a question or ask to go to the bathroom.  There might even be times when they have to walk in a single file line to go somewhere and you know your homeschooled kid is doomed to normalcy if he learns that skill.



So, homeschool parent, pay attention!  Be vigilant and keep these tips in mind.  Otherwise, your homeschooled kid might be on the path to becoming a normal, well-round, completely socialized individual...and we can't let that happen.  Just some helpful advice from your friendly, neighborhood weird, unsocialized homeschoolers.

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46 comments:

  1. Fantastic! :) Great tips.... :)
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  2. What a great post! I realize that I have been slacking terribly! Time to rein them kids back in...LOL This was really too funny!
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  3. Enjoyed this. Always nice to have a little morning chuckle. :)
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  4. Oh I love it, I need to print this and show it to them whenever someone offers me their unwanted opinion.
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  5. i love it! thanks for all the great tips :)
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  6. Wonderful!! I'm messing my kids up. :)
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  7. Tee hee hee!! You crack me up!
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  8. I am so glad for this reminder - I think I had lost my way there for a bit. . . . Until this week - when we went to the SHHHH (library) to talk to (people) - pink face of embarrasement - and we ran into Miss Oregon doing a promo there - and my Weird Unsocialized kid was the only one in the crowd who ran to the car and back up to get his lego robot built from scratch to show "the president's daughter" what he had done and had a great talk with her.
    He was un impressed when she turned out to only be Miss Oregon. No other kid would look at her or speak. I'm soooo glad for proof that my kid is stil W&U. :)
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  9. Kris this was great! Every homeschool mom needs this on their fridge. I love it!
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  10. Hehe!!! Great post! I would love a few of the folks I've wrangled with to read this!
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  11. I actually laughed out loud at this. Very nicely done. Thanks!
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  12. Thanks for the laugh! I guess I'm not doing a very good job homeschooling! :)
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  13. LOL, Kris! Unfortuately, you described us to a T, so I guess I'm falling down on the job. :-)
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  14. I saw a great shirt saying "Warning Weird Unsocizlized Homeschooler, interact at your own risk."
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  15. HA-hA!!! That's hysterical!! Love your blog by the way, yep, I'm a stalker!!!
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  16. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong, my kids seem so normal. Now I get it! We'll need to drop out of swim team, stop going to church, avoid all field trips or leaving the house at all, stop blogging (both my daughter and I), take away my daughter's phone, cancel the internet, and forbid any future sleep-overs. Thank goodness - now I know what to do to ensure weirdness!

    Thanks for the great post! It made me laugh.

    Samantha
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  17. What??! But I happen to like my friends lol. I am homeschooled!
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  18. Too too funny. Yep. I see this happening to my own kids. One of my sons came in ranting one day because he met a public schooled kid at the skateboard park. After they had chatted for 25-30 minutes, the boy, upon finding out my son was homeschooled, asked my son how he would learn to interact with other people since he's homeschooled. My son stared at him a moment, incredulous at the question, and finally said, "I'm talking to you, aren't I?" LOL
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  19. I need the "rolling on the floor in laughter" smilie! Great post!
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  20. Love it! I took notes cause I'm obviously slacking in this area....
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  21. Ok ~ this post was funny, but thecoolmom's comment cracked me up too! :)
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  22. Great post. Thank you! My children are indecently well socialised since I took them out of school....
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  23. Oh Kris! You totally made my night with this!! LOL!!! How DARE you SOCIALIZE your children! What kind of HOMESCHOOLER are you?? =)
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  24. TOO FUNNY! I was laughing outloud.
    Literally.

    What a wonderful way to address the socialization issue -- with humor.

    People often bring up this concern with me. After they get to know my daughter, they are amazed at how well she interacts with people of all ages and cultures.
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  25. I am still giggling as I write this! A wonderful laugh at the stigmas we homeschoolers are forced to address!
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  26. Love it! I'll have to get right implementing those! ;-)
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  27. haaahaaa! Love it. Another great post that I need to pass on to friends.
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  28. Oh what a great post! I love it! Thanks for submitting it to the C of H!
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  29. you are a psycho!! why in the heck would you want your kids to be
    wierdos??? get a life and be a better parent!
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  30. Apparently you aren't familiar with the literary technique of irony, but thank you for your perspective.
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  31. Love it!  :D  Hilarious!
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  32. Oh my I loved it I had to read it outloud to my husband. I love the Psycho comment don't we actually feel that way sometimes especially with the socialization questions ugh. I loved the skateboard park comment to that was so funny. We should also avoid all penpals my sons have a few around the country and they are only seven and four I'm slacking major over here! Keep it up I love the posts!
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  33. Now that's funny!!! I still get the comments about kids not getting socialization. When someone says this to me I offer to let them drive to 4-H, basketball practice, track practice, etc...that normally gets them quiet.
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  34. roflol thanks for  the great laugh tonight! ;o)....I am so terribly failing at being unsocialized too!
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  35. Love it!!! LOL!  And for the record, I get your sense of humor and you're definitely not "psycho." 
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  36. I was homeschooled and I certainly didn't lack social exposure :P
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  37. Thank you for this Ihave been wanting to homeschool my 8 yr old and was slammed down for the idea by my in- law. she had a family that was homeschoolers and her kids were" not NORMAL" lol they were quiet and didnt run around crazy in her office, whats the word that comes to mind? hmmmm ooooohhh yeah I think her kids were beinging RESPECTFUL.... lol Im moving foward with the idea of home schoolng my my daughers whether she thinks they will be "normal" or not!!!  Love this!!
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  38. Pippi_st GermainDec 6, 2011 08:22 AM
    Sooooo.... obviously my parents were doing it right then, since I wasn't allowed to do any of those things..... Maybe the occasional trip to the grocery store, I suppose, but mostly I babysat so Mom could shop in peace. Pen pals were supposed to be all the friends I needed.
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