You’ve heard them – they’re those lies people believe about homeschooling families. Okay, so they’re probably not lies so much as misconceptions. Or propaganda.
Yeah, propaganda. You know, those “facts” that a few homeschooling families try to convince people are universal for all homeschooling families.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s the fact that some of the following statements will sometimes be true for some homeschooling families, but nothing is ever true of all homeschooling families.

1. All homeschool moms wear denim jumpers.
Um, no. Some homeschooling moms wear denim jumpers, but I don’t recall ever seeing any of my homeschool mom friends in one. Well, maybe one friend once upon a time way back in the day.
Denim? Yes. Jumpers? Not so much.
Yoga pants and a tank top make up my wardrobe in the winter. In the summer, it’s Capri pants (yes, they’re denim) and a t-shirt. There are no jumpers of any fabric in my closet.
Three words: chunky thighs and friction.
I’ll take pants, thank you very much.
2. All homeschool moms wear Birkenstocks with their denim jumpers.
Okay, are you ready for complete transparency? In my early years of homeschooling, I bought a pair of Birkenstocks, based purely on that image.
Yes, seriously.
I totally gave in to imagined peer pressure and the quintessential image of a homeschooling mom. (And I needed a new pair of sandals.)
Those are the most uncomfortable shoes ever. I still have them. They sat beside my door and served the role of slip-on shoes for going outside to get the mail or take the dogs out for many years. Then a funny thing happened. They came back in style!
You know who claimed them? Megan! Those shoes are suddenly fashionable again. I try not to cringe every time she refers to them as vintage. {ahem} Thankfully, she finally bought her own new, fancy, not-vintage pair, so I got my going-outside shoes back!
3. All homeschool moms rise before the sun to go milk the cows and gather the eggs in their Birkenstocks and denim jumpers.
I know homeschooling moms who have cows, chickens, goats, and various and sundry other livestock.
I know homeschooling moms who get up while it’s still {gasp} dark outside.
Most of the homeschooling moms I know, however, do not own livestock. They may be like me and look a bit enviously on that self-sustaining lifestyle. Not too enviously, though, because I see how much work it is. I’m happy to support my local farming homeschooling families by buying their fresh eggs, free-range pork, and grass-fed beef.
And, as far as that getting up before the sun part, y’all know that’s not true of all of us. Some of us are blissfully unaware that 6:00 happens more than once a day.
4. All homeschool moms have a herd of children who follow them out to milk the cows and gather the eggs, all dressed in their Birkenstocks and denim jumpers.
I’m pretty sure that most homeschooling families with more than the national average of 1.83 children really prefer to just call them “children,” rather than “herd.”
They are all aware of “what’s causing that” and are probably tired of rude, insensitive comments about their family size.
There are also lots of homeschooling families with only one, two or three children. Really. I have honestly had people say to me, “But I thought all homeschooling families have lots of kids.”
Nope.
5. All homeschool moms, followed by their herd of children, come inside from milking the cows and gathering the eggs to bake loaves of fresh bread while wearing their Birkenstocks and denim jumpers.
I used to bake bread sometimes. In my bread machine. I got lazy, though, and now my bread machine is gathering dust.
If you’re a homeschooling mom who gets up late in the morning and pops some store-bought bread into the toaster for your one or two kids to eat with their bowl of processed cereal, all while dressed in your yoga pants and tank top, you are not alone my friend.

6. That herd of kids all considers each of their siblings their BFF.
There it is! That’s the homeschool propaganda I bought into.
My kids do love each other, but they are not BFFs. When they were younger and all home together, they were perfectly capable of picking on each other mercilessly.
Thankfully, they would also circle the wagons and stand up for one another if someone outside the family tried to pick on one of them.
Some homeschooled kids are very close with their siblings. A lot of them probably do consider their siblings to be their best friends.
But the fact is, homeschooled kids bicker with their siblings as much as public-schooled kids. Homeschooling does offer the opportunity to foster closer relationships, but it’s not a guarantee of sibling harmony.
7. That herd of kids gathers happily around the kitchen table, big happy smiles on their bright, shiny faces, eager to learn because they’ve all had a love of learning instilled in their hearts.
There’s the other one. Homeschooling does allow us to tailor our curriculum to what best suits each of the kids.
However, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that most days they could come up with a laundry list of things they’d rather do than school. (I can, too!)
8. All homeschooling families are conservative Christians.
Yes, mine is one of those conservative Christian families. I must be doing it right because I’m too conservative for some and not conservative enough for others.
I live in the Bible belt, so the vast majority of homeschooling families I know are conservative Christians, too.
However, as far as homeschoolers in general go, families of other faiths and secular families are represented just as much as they are in the general population.
9. All homeschooled kids are shy, socially awkward geniuses.
Once, when I took the kids to the doctor, the physician’s assistant, after finding out that we homeschooled, commented something to the effect of, “Oh, you homeschool. Your kids must be so smart!”
I did appreciate that much more than some negative comments I’ve heard, but it’s still a misconception that all homeschooled kids are child prodigies.
Homeschooled kids reflect the same spectrum of skills, talents, strengths, and weaknesses that traditionally-educated kids do.
Not all homeschooled kids are strong academically.
I don’t have any National Spelling Bee champs over here, but my kids are talented in the areas in which God has gifted them.
And they are so not shy.
10. Homeschooled kids aren’t prepared for the real world.
Because, you know, we’re all living in the fake world.
I don’t know about you, but my kids leave the house. They go to church. They go to work. They hang out with friends (yes, they have those) at the mall. My kids have {gasp} social media accounts.
It’s not just our family of five, hanging out at home, diagramming sentences and playing checkers by candlelight.
I have graduated one student (with another graduating in May {snifff}). My friends have graduated kids. People I know online have graduated their kids. I have loved watching all these homeschool grads move on to successful lives after homeschool.
Some have gone on to do well in college. Others have moved into the workforce and are supporting themselves. All were just as prepared for life after graduation as the traditionally-educated kids I know.
We’re not a bunch of stereotypes, y’all. We’re people. And we’re really not any weirder than the rest of this crazy world.
What homeschooling lies (or misconceptions) have you heard over the years?
updated from an article originally published January 22, 2013