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10 Reasons Why Homeschooled Kids Are Weird

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There are lots of reasons why homeschooled kids are weird.

If you’ve ever been part of a discussion about homeschoolers, you’ve probably heard people discussing how weird they are. I mean, have you ever met a homeschooled kid? Maybe you don’t homeschool or you’re considering homeschooling. But you don’t want your kids to weird, do you?

Maybe you already homeschool, and you know your kids are weird. I’m afraid it’s true. Homeschooled kids are weird. Let’s talk about why.

why homeschooled kids are weird

1. It’s weird to be different.

It’s weird to NOT do what everybody else is doing, so being homeschooled is weird just because it’s different. Simply by homeschooling, we’re teaching our kids that it’s ok to be different. To do your own thing. To swim against the current. To just say no. Different is weird.

2. They act their age.

I’ve known many homeschoolers over my 20-something years of homeschooling, and I’ve noticed that homeschooled kids usually don’t mind acting their ages. What does that mean? It means they aren’t in such a hurry to grow up.

For example, they don’t mind playing and enjoying being children. They don’t feel the need to start dating so early or to wear clothing that’s too mature for their ages. They don’t feel pressured to leave childhood behind and be teenagers or grownups before it’s time.

3. They enjoy spending time with their parents and siblings.

Homeschooled kids are weird because, for the most part, they actually enjoy spending time with their parents and siblings. Does that mean homeschooled students and their parents or their siblings never fight? No. They have arguments and disagreements just like other families. But they also generally enjoy the majority of the time they spend together. Weird.

4. They spend free time learning about topics they enjoy and perfecting skills.

Because homeschooling doesn’t usually take aaaaalllll day (There’s no wasted time taking attendance, changing classes, and doing all of the other little things that classroom teachers have to do that take up time.), homeschooled kids generally have time to dive deeper into things they want to learn (or learn more) about.

For example, my youngest child (who is now 19 and has graduated from our homeschool) spent a lot of time during her homeschool years teaching herself sign language and doing art projects. She had time to explore and learn more about those topics, she enjoyed them, and she took advantage of the time to do the things she loved!

But aren’t kids supposed to spend their free time talking to friends, playing video games, and whining about doing jobs around the house? I know. She’s weird.

5. They know how to interact with people of all ages.

I remember when I first started to realize that my kids were socially weird. It was years ago when they were all young children. (They are now 26, 24, and 19.) It was around the holidays, and we were at a holiday party. My kids were chatting and interacting with elderly people, adults, teens, children, toddlers, and even babies. At the same time, I heard several children whining and complaining about the lack of same-age peers to play with.

I realized that homeschoolers are almost always in situations with people of all ages whereas most school children are in a classroom with only same-age peers most of the time. It makes a difference. It’s just so weird that many homeschooled kids actually enjoy interacting with people who aren’t the same age as them!

6. They know how to socialize without assimilating.

What does this even mean? It means they know how to have friends, do things together, enjoy each other’s company, and participate in activities together without trying to be exactly like each other. They know it’s ok to be themselves. It’s ok not to dress exactly like everyone else. It’s ok to have different hobbies and interests. It’s ok to be yourself. And it’s ok to be friends with people who aren’t exactly like you.

7. They enjoy learning and do well on standardized tests.

Most homeschooled kids enjoy learning and score well on standardized tests. I suppose this is at least partly due to not being so rushed in the classroom and not feeling compared to other students all the time. Maybe the lower level of anxiety and the more relaxed pace help homeschooled kids enjoy what they’re learning and be able to soak up information and retain it better. And learning more leads to better standardized test scores.

8. They are civically engaged and have leadership skills.

Homeschoolers are often more civically engaged and have better leadership skills. Why? Because they have more time for community and political involvement and they generally have at least one parent available to help guide them in being involved. They also usually have more time for these kinds of activities (See #4 above.) since school doesn’t take all day and all evening.

9. They are indoctrinated by their parents.

Homeschoolers are indoctrinated by their parents to believe whatever their parents believe. Ya know, it’s a really good thing school children aren’t indoctrinated to believe whatever their instructors teach them, right? (Did you detect that note of sarcasm?)

To be honest, I have to make a note here that it’s just plain weird that many people now believe it’s a bad thing for parents to teach and train their own children. Why is it better for our children to be taught and trained to believe what a classroom teacher believes rather than what their parents believe? It simply makes no sense that the teacher’s beliefs are more important or more “correct” than the parents’ beliefs.

Our children, as they grow up, will take what they’ve learned and make their own decisions about their beliefs. All children do this as they grow up, become more responsible for themselves, and become independent adults.

10. They are often very mature and responsible.

Homeschoolers are often more responsible. Many homeschoolers, especially as they reach middle school and high school ages, are responsible for making sure they get their school work done for themselves. They may also have jobs around the house, in the yard, or even part-time jobs in the community. These kids often have to balance their own schedules and responsibilities and make sure things get done by a certain deadline.

It’s important to keep in mind that not ALL of these points will be true for every single homeschooler (any more than they would all be true for a public schooler, an adult, or any other group of people). But in general, many of these things are true for many homeschoolers.

 

 

IMPORTANT QUESTION/PSA – Have you ever noticed that, when a homeschooled child is socially awkward or doesn’t read well, people automatically assume it’s because the child was (or is) homeschooled? But when a child who goes to public school is socially awkward or can’t read well, most folks believe it has nothing to do with that child being in public school. I guess that’s another weird thing about homeschooling…

Important notes:

There are two things to keep in mind when you read this article. One, it’s important to keep a sense of humor! We all know homeschooled kids who are weird and public school kids who are weird. Let’s face it! Most of us are weird in one way or another. Two, when I refer to homeschoolers in this article, I mean kids who are homeschooled in the traditional way–not kids who are doing public school at home (since that is so common right now).

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12 Comments

  1. Wendy,

    You hit the nail on the head with everything you said in your article about Home-schooled Kids being weird, and that it’s okay for our children to be weird / different. My wife & I have 4 children, all of which have been or are still being homeschooled since the day they became of school age. I couldn’t agree with you any more about how homeschooled kids don’t just hang out with kids their age, and how they enjoy hanging around all ages. My oldest son is 24, and has been serving in the Navy, as an aircraft mechanic who works on the fighter jets, my 2nd oldest is 20, and just graduated last year, and is now attending Tech School to become an ASE certified automotive mechanic, a daughter who is 17, and because she was born with Hydrocephalus, is developmentally delayed, but is still extremely smart, and my youngest son who is 14, and is still being homeschooled. All of them have been able to carry on adult conversations since they were very young. My children are also better behaved when it comes to children who are products of the public school system. My wife & I have enjoyed every single second of every day of raising our children, and educating them at home. I get so angry when I hear parents say that they wouldn’t have the patience to homeschool their children, or when the topic of socialization comes up, I really get set-off. With the crazy world that we live in today being as screwed up as it is, there is NO WAY that I would ever send my kids off to the PUBLIC SCHOOL PRISON system to be indoctrinated with all of the liberal crap. Thanks again for this wonderful article, I plan on sharing it with friends of ours that also HOMESCHOOL.

  2. Yes!!!!!

    I love it and agree with everything. That said, #2 spoke so loudly to me. My husband and I were taking around Christmas about our children. How compared to the same-aged peers as each of our children, Our’s seem “immature”. But then we realized that no… it’s perfectly normal for a 2nd grader to still play with dolls, legos and her play kitchen. It’s society that trains the “child” out of children and in its place, becomes this hybridized, adult-simulation, semi-sexualized drone/replica. Now multiply that for each and every child in every classroom.

    If this is the normal, I’ll take weird and unsocialized anyday.

  3. Good article. I hear every now and then how homeschooled kids don’t know how to socialize. Mostly I just ignore the comment. Most won’t hear what I have to say anyway. Sometimes though I say really, so then why was I, and public school kid, not social as a kid. I was so shy, I wouldn’t talk. So it has nothing to do with homeschooling. That is just how some kids are, shy. They out grow it. I’m very very extroverted now. I know homeschooled kids that have gone thru this to, just as I know public school kids who have too.

    1. Yes! For some reason, people tend to think our personalities depend on whether we were homeschooled or public schooled, and that’s just not the case. The environment can definitely support or hinder traits we already possess, but it doesn’t make us who we are (or aren’t).

      1. I am naturally an ambitious and talkative person, but when I was a teen and would leave the house I wouldn’t talk, because I didn’t know WHAT to talk about. Over time I learned that other teens mostly talked about school, clothes, other teens, and media. Nothing theological, not a lot of dark humor, and nobody talked about their families! It was super weird for me, coming from a large home-schooled family that didn’t usually talk about those things.

  4. Great article, Wendy. I’ve heard all of these complaints about homeschoolers before. They are so far from the truth it’s laughable. I love your sense of humour and am sure others will too.

    P.S. Your bio mentions your 17 yr old, but I think you spoke of her as 18 in the article 😉 Time flies!!

  5. Great article, Wendy. I’ve heard all of these complaints about homeschoolers before. They are so far from the truth it’s laughable. I love your sense of humour and am sure others will too.

  6. I made the mistake of putting my son in public school and now he’s behind in math and has social anxiety. It turns out that he has ADHD and the teachers didn’t know how to teach him without him being medicated. I took him out and I actually had to skip him two grades except math because he’s so smart that wouldn’t have happened in public school. He’s starting to get over his anxiety. He’s the type of kid that will talk to anyone at a party as long as he feels comfortable. He likes to talk to seniors because he knows they have the best stories. If he notices that there’s a veteran he will thank them for their service. He’s so responsible and respectful of other people. He’s only 13 and figured out how to make money coding so he can buy video games himself. His friends in public school are always asking their parents or him for money for games.

  7. This is great! My daughter is really shy, and I’m constantly being told it’s because we homeschool. I also happen to have an extremely extroverted son (a tough thing sometimes for an introverted mom!), so I’m not sure how they explain that one! I’m so glad you mentioned that homeschooled kids act like kids. It’s something I’ve observed, but I’ve never heard it articulated like that before. For me, that’s a huge benefit to homeschooling- let them be kids!

  8. I would say like anything else it depends on the family. Everything you mentioned applies to any kid that went to daycare. My brother has five kids that we’re all homeschooled and they’re all introverted. They’re all very shy and awkward in social situations. Some of them did good on standardized tests others didn’t. None of them went to college for more than a few semesters.

    1. This is exactly my point. 🙂 Homeschooling does not make kids weird. There are kids who are “weird” who were homeschooled. There are kids who are “weird” who went to public or private schools. This tongue-in-cheek article is simply poking fun at the fact that people think homeschooling will make your kids weird and unsocialized. The fact is, though, that kids are pretty much going to be whoever they are (introverted, extroverted, etc.) no matter how they are schooled. I’ve known lots and lots of kids who went to public or private schools who are weird and unsocialized. The way in which a child was educated doesn’t have a lot to do with a child’s personality. We need to stop blaming homeschooling for making kids introverted and awkward.

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