by Brooke Lorren

Created on: September 20, 2009   Last Updated: August 27, 2010

Homeschooling is growing as an alternative to public schools for educating children.  Approximately two million children are educated at home, and that number is growing.  Even though homeschooling is becoming more mainstream, there are still many misconceptions that non-homeschooling families have about homeschoolers..

Misconception #1:  Homeschooled Children Become Socially Awkward

If you ask the typical person about the drawbacks to homeschooling, many will mistakenly say that homeschooled children don’t learn proper social skills.  They might point out a homeschooled adult that they once knew that was socially backward and couldn’t get along with other people.  Never mind that there are students who go to public schools that grow up and have difficulty getting along socially with others as well.  The truth is, there are plenty of opportunities for homeschooled children to spend time with others.

In traditional schooling, children spend all day in a classroom with children that are their own age.  This usually teaches them to get along with their peers, but it is also an artificial environment.  In real life, you are expected to be able to get along with people that vary in ages.  In the real world, you are not expected to have to tolerate bullies.  Homeschool socialization is more like the real world.  They do have friends that are close in age to them, but they meet them through activities, sports, church, and hobbies.  Often, they have more time for extracurricular activities than traditionally-schooled children do, because school time is concentrated, and they don’t have to spend time doing busywork.  This frees up time in the afternoon to do other things.

Misconception #2:  Parents are not Qualified to Teach Their Children

Teachers need a teaching degree to teach, and one misconception that many people have is that parents should have a teaching degree to teach their children.  They misunderstand the reasons why teachers need a teaching degree.  Teachers get a teaching degree in order to learn how to manage a classroom full of children.  Parents have a much smaller group of children to teach, and don’t need to learn about classroom management.  They also do not have to deal with angry parents.

With the proper tools, a parent does not have to be an expert on a subject it to teach their child.  Curriculum publishers sell textbooks

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