11 Common Questions About Homeschooling

Photo by Susy Morris

Homeschooling has come along way from the underground movement of the 60s and 70s. Homeschooling children of all ages is now a mainstream activity. As more people are coming to contact the homeschooled children, they have a lot of questions. This article will address 11 of the most common questions asked of homeschooled children and their families.

Question #1: Do homeschooled middle school students have friends?

Homeschooled children do not live in a world of isolation. Like children who attend regular public schools, they have friends from many different backgrounds. Middle school children are often involved in sports, dance lessons, choir, community theater, church activities, or other clubs such as Boy Scouts or American Heritage Girls. In general, homeschooled middle school students are equally as well socialized as a public school peers.

Question #2: How homeschool students meet people?

Homeschool students meet other kids just like any other kids too. Instead of meeting a lot of them at school however, they meet them by playing in the neighborhood or at other activities. Many homeschool families find church activities to be a perfect place for their children to meet other children. Volunteering and other community activities are another way that homeschool and middle school children meet other friends. Scouting activities, such as the Boy and Girl Scouts are another way that middle school students meet friends. A homeschool student's ability to make friends with limited only by their imagination.

Question #3: Are homeschool students socially challenged?

Many parents considering homeschooling their children are concerned that their students will not be properly socialize. Nothing could be further from the truth. Often times, Hey homeschooled child will be much better able to communicate with grown-ups than their public school peers. Homeschooled middle school students interact with a variety of different people and ages are able to have conversations across the spectrum instead of with just their same age peers. At the beginning, socialization is an important concern of many parents. After homeschooling for a while, the concerns disappear as they realize that homeschooling is not hindering the social development of their child.

Question #4: Do homeschool students get to eat whenever and wherever you want?

Instead of eating lunch during the assigned. At a public school, homeschool students eat when they are hungry and are able to eat healthy meals at home. The food in my kitchen is much more appetizing than any public school's cafeteria. It seems odd, but this is an common question that we frequently get is a homeschool family. As a result of eating at home, homeschool students have better supervision over their nutritional choices which may lead to healthier life choices down the road.

Question #5: Do homeschooled children get to sleep late?

The answer to this question depends on the family. Many families keep a fairly rigid schedule and start school at the same time that you'd expect a public school to start. However, homeschooling is much more flexible to the particular sleep needs of your children. You can schedule subjects Monday when your child has the most natural energy and leave other subjects too when their energies a little bit lower. For example, we scheduled map in the morning when her students of the freshest and let them do other subjects little bit later in the afternoon to take a little less brainpower.

Question #6: Do homeschoolers do school in their pajamas?

Yes! Absolutely! Since you aren't attending a brick-and-mortar school, a homeschooler can work however he or she is most comfortable. If that involves wearing your pajamas to school, that is totally acceptable. You can teach and learn and they homeschool environment wearing whatever makes you comfortable. And unlike middle school in the public school system, there's no peer pressure to where the latest brands, or the trendiest fashions, or to have young girls try to look "sexy" before they are mature.

Question #7: Do you have homework, grades, and tests?

Homeschool is just like regular school in this regard. Homeschooled middle school students have homework, grades, tests, assessments, and all those other instruments of education. The only real difference is that the instruction and assessment is delivered at home.

Question #8. Do homeschooled middle school students have formal dances?

Tell homeschoolers belong to groups or co-ops that have formal activities for students of different ages. It's not uncommon for some of these groups to offer dances for middle school students. As your middle school student graduates to high school there are even homeschool groups that offer homeschool problems. Being homeschooled does not mean that students have to miss out on some of the formal social events that typically occur in adolescence.

Question #9: How homeschool students graduate?

Homeschool students advance through grades just like public school students to you. Their progression depends on how fast they worked through the school work and I'm the type of curriculum or program that they belong to. For my middle school daughter, she attends a virtual Academy and progresses through the work at her pace which generally keeps pace with the public school calendar.
As my middle school daughter progresses through high school, she will have the ability to graduate with a high school diploma just like public school kids do. The exact mechanics of the system depend on the curriculum that you're attending or if you want to virtual Academy of another sort of formal Academy. These diplomas are recognized by colleges, the military, and employers As real high school diplomas. Lee Binz at the The Home Scholar has a quick video that explains how to get a real diploma.

Question #10: Do homeschool students get to go to college?

Absolutely! Homeschool students are well prepared for the rigors of college. Some elite private universities are actively seeking out homeschoolers because they perform well academically and socially an Ivy League environments. Don't worry that if you homeschool your child, they will not be able to attend a high-quality university. In fact, an article from the Journal of College Admissions Reported that homeschool students have a higher GPA and higher likelihood of graduating college in four years in private school students, or public school students.

Question #11: Who teaches homeschooled middle school students?

When homeschooling a middle school student, the primary instructional leader is the parent. But, that doesn't mean the parent is the only teacher. Depending on the curriculum you choose, the student may get instructions online, through video courses, or in a homeschool co-op environment. Many homeschool families or programs blend all three types of instruction delivery. If you're a parent and afraid that you're going to have to be the only teacher your child has, there are lots of options to help you. For example, my daughter attends a virtual Academy. Much of the instructions delivered online through course modules and traditional textbooks. We also help her with her work and help address questions that she may have, but she also has a teacher assigned for each subject. My middle school student is able to attend online classes where there's online chats and also my voice interaction over the Internet to facilitate instruction. There are many options for teaching and learning in homeschool.

Homeschool Question & Answer Bonus

Well surfing YouTube the other day, I came across this very dynamic video that explains the answer to several common questions people have about homeschooling.