People “quiz” my kids…
It’s so annoying….but here is a mindset shift I use.
Homeschooling is different. There’s no way around it. Only 11% of children in grades K-12 are homeschooled in the United States. That makes homeschoolers a minority, and by default “different”.
I remember telling my mom I was going to stay home and homeschool in 2004 after my son was born. The look on her face spoke volumes.
In fact, the look on her face told me more than the words that came out of her mouth. (There went all that money she spent on my college education down the drain!)
My mom would have been an amazing homeschool mom, but in the 1970s the risk was just too great. The “difference” was just too DIFFERENT.
I’m not entirely sure if homeschooling is socially acceptable even now. That’s where the quizzer mentality comes in.
Do you have “Quizzers” in your life?
You know those people who subtly, or not so subtly, test your kids to make sure they are learning. My Mom was a quizzer. Every visit began with a quiz. I decided to tell the kids she was the school superintendent. They were too young to know what that was, but it soothed my frazzled nerves. It was like she was testing MY ABILITY to teach my own children!
I still get funny looks when I tell people I homeschooled my children. Strangers still try to engage them in lengthy conversations to double-check and make sure my kids aren’t weird. To make sure they know basic things like when the Constitution was signed. How to multiply 6 * 7, and who the 16th President of the United States was.
These Jeopardy-like questions often make me laugh because frankly, – – – we’re not auditioning to be on Jeopardy.
The Mindset Shift
Hold the Quizzers in your life, those questioning your decision to homeschool in your mind.
Consider this: Perhaps on some level, they’re jealous. Likely they don’t even realize these feelings exist.
Now, before you go stringing them up by their little piggy toes or conducting your own version of the Salem witch trials…look at them from a compassionate standpoint.
Shift your mindset. Jealousy helps us identify the things we do/do not want in life. Let that sit for a minute.
You are doing what they are not. You are silently making them question their own decisions.
They’re simply looking at what you’re doing through a lens of desire, wishing they were brave enough to do it too. Their questions, concerns, and annoying rants are simply their misguided way of expressing what they don’t quite understand themselves.
I know my mom didn’t fully understand my homeschooling.
Somehow because I didn’t make the same choice she did, her choice was the wrong one. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.
My mom made the perfect choice in putting us in school and being the most epic room parent & PTA mom that ever existed.
My decision to homeschool was not a reflection of her decision.
Just as your decision to homeschool is not a reflection of the decisions of the quizzers around you.
So the next time your kids are being quizzed as if they are auditioning for Jeopardy, choose your mindset, and help spread awareness for how wonderful homeschooling is and how we need all forms of education to make the system work.
Be sure to thank them for their interest in your children and for choosing whichever method of education they chose for theirs.
P.S. What is the craziest “quiz” question you/your kids have gotten from family, friends, or strangers? Let me know. I’d love to hear from you!
Content on Happy Hive Homeschooling is shared for educational and inspirational purposes. There’s no wrong way to homeschool. Please use your own judgment and provide appropriate supervision when adapting ideas for your family or classroom.