Are homeschooled kids weird?
Are homeschooled kids weird?
~ Written by Sarah Small
Admit it. Somewhere deep in your heart, you’ve wondered, especially if you’ve ever heard someone say, “I know a homeschooling family at my church. Those kids are weird!”
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Haven’t we all asked ourselves: Are homeschooled kids weird? Will my kids be weird?
Weird. Normal. We all have our own definitions. You might say, “I don’t want my kids to be ‘normal’ by today’s standards!” And you might also say, “I don’t want my kid to be labeled as a weirdo!”
But here’s the thing:
All kids are weird.
That’s normal. I mean, when I was a kid—in the privacy of my own home—I stuck black olives on all my fingers and ate them off, one by one. That’s weird, right? Of course I didn’t eat black olives at public school, but if I had, I would not have eaten them off my fingers one by one.
I would have known that was weird because some kid would have announced to the entire cafeteria: “THAT GIRL IS EATING OLIVES OFF HER FINGERS LIKE A WEIRDO!” Even those kids that had a secret desire to emulate me would have shriveled and mocked me. I would have been forever known as Olive Girl.
Here’s what’s different about homeschoolers. At my homeschooling co-op, if one kid were eating black olives off his fingers, I can guarantee that the rest of them would be doing it within seconds. Because weird is good. Weird is normal.
I eat black olives like a “normal” person now, although my husband would argue that no “normal” person even eats olives. But you know what? Without any coaching from me, I swear, my youngest son does this.
Because 99.9% of kids (totally made-up statistic) are innately weird, creative, silly, funny, uninhibited, and terribly clever—if they are allowed to be.
I remember distinctly a day when my firstborn son was in kindergarten in public school. He wanted to wear his kilt and sheepskin vest to school. “Sweetie, you can’t wear a kilt to school,” I told him. I hated to tell him why, but I had to.
“You can only wear your kilt at home. Kids don’t wear kilts to school.”
I squashed his weirdness. I had to, for his sake.
Fast forward several years, when this same kid was 13 and had been homeschooled since we pulled him out of public school after first grade. One day we found, stuffed in the back of a closet, a llama-hair poncho that my husband once brought back from South America.
My son was ecstatic! For months he wore that poncho everywhere, including our homeschooling co-op. He also wore John Lennon-type sunglasses and t-shirts with ties.
And yep, I’m sure the kids thought he was weird. But they didn’t care because they were weird, too.
My son has graduated college now. I asked him recently what some of the best aspects about homeschooling were. One of the things he said was this:
“I had the chance to be a quirky, weird, and creative kid without intense ridicule. I was then able to develop that all into socially acceptable quirkiness as a college student.”
“Socially acceptable quirkiness” usually translates to “outside-the-box” thinking. What is one of the top qualities that employers in most fields look for in employees? Innovation and creativity—outside-the-box thinkers.
Childhood weirdos.
Homeschooling allows kids to be weird when it’s okay to be weird.
As your kids get older, chances are they will learn to corral their quirks and develop into creative young adults who refuse to accept mediocrity and challenge the status quo.
I think we need more weirdos in our world.
So ‘fess up. Have you ever wondered it, too: Are homeschooled kids weird? Do you harbor a secret fear that people will think your kids are weird?
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Hey, I eat olives all types and other pickled things. My homeschool boys are wired but I find it endearing.
I love this. My oldest son, now 12, is a normal funny quirky kid at home but he is often awkward and socially unaware of some things when we are out and about. Homeschooling has allowed him to have friends, to be interested in reading, and to have a childhood. I am constantly amazed at how some of the kids at our co-ops relate to each other. More civilized and accepting than a lot of other social situations where kids and peer pressure are involved. Because really, how cool can you be with your mom sitting a few feet away?
Oh what a fun post…. I am sure there is a blog out there writing a: “The extremely weird and funny things my homeschooled kids do that they would never do if they were in public school”… I love the creative freedom my kids have because they homeschool, they can be their own weird selves and we can applaud them. Honestly, my kids will never be able to say that “I embarrass them” when they are teens, because they have so put me through quite a bit already… Weeks hanging in a tree at the gate like a bat, years of strange clothes, but really it is the things they say: The weird little factoids that homeschool kids spout out to engage folk, where other kids are talking about what was in their lunch bag!!!
Absolutely excellent post!
I can’t resist; here’s a post from my blog of a similar ilk:
http://taytayhser.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/homeschoolers-are-weird.html
My daughter wrote the blog post and it is entitled “Homeschoolers are Weird”.
Thanks SO much for this post…I love it!
In the absence of a better vocabulary, homeschoolers will always be called “weird” when what is really meant is unique, quirky, and fun!
Emma,
Just curious, why are you on a homeschool website if you have such disdain?
Wow, Emma, did you give them all assessment test when you met them?! Did they want to talk to you while you interrogated them?
Most of the homeschooled kids I’ve met & know, are completely *independent*, it’s their public schooled peers that co-depend upon peers of the same age when out in public.
My son is *weird* and *quiry* and incredibly bright. His intelligence is one of the main reasons we choos homeschool over conventional schooling.
Doesn’t everyone eat black olives off their fingers? 🙂
I love this! We will be sharing it on our weird homeschool facebook page, lol
Wonderful post! Thanks.
I totally have that fear- but at the same time, I find myself thankful for their weirdness- that they aren’t consumed with trying to fit in. I hope they’ll be weird forever!
It’s not a secret fear in my house, I know my kids are weird. With a statistician for a father and a biologist for a mother, they were doomed to be weird from day one. That’s one of the reasons why we’re homeschooling – we don’t need to worry that the weird will lead to bullying. Instead, we can celebrate the weirdness, and continue to spout of random facts about the periodic table of the elements at an age when most kids have never even heard of it.
My kids are weird – heck, our whole family is weird – and we are perfectly ok with it. All the things that made me a social outcast as a public school student are what make my own kids cool to their friends. Go figure.
Agreed! I have told my husband many times when the socialization issue arises that no matter what our kids are weird, and they will always be weird because we are weird! BTW…they eat olives off their fingers too. 🙂
It’s fabulous the way you connected childhood weirdness with adult creative thinking. Very encouraging!
No, I don’t worry that my kids are weird, but I know that our family is weird, culturally speaking. Our natural lifestyle is decidedly foreign in these parts.
Excellent post! I agree with many of the comments; our kids are weird and we know it. I was considered weird when I was in school, but I was okay with it. It did not damage me it made me feel special. Going against the cultural flow has always come naturally to me, and I think it’s been easier to pass that on to my kids. Now, my poor hubby was a popular kid in school so this has taken a bit more adjustment for him. 🙂
Well, I was homeschooled K-12 and I don’t think people think I am weird now, so… 🙂 I do admit that I have thought about this for my own children though.
I love this article! My friends – homeschooling and not talk about how weird kids, in general, are. I do think homeschooled kids get way more room to try out different quirks and experiment with who they are and what they like – I totally love it!
Um… sometimes I still put black olives on the ends of my fingers and do the whole “scary finger waving” before eating the olives right off the tips of my fingers. Shh. Don’t tell anyone.
Thank you for this! I am just starting home school with my 5 and 3 year olds. You have put my fears to rest about weirdness and you have also reinforced why I decided to home school in the first place! Couldn’t have said it better!
When we first started talking about homeschooling our friends said this to us out of true concern. As if having “weird” kids were the worst thing in the world. And that’s the thing — coming from traditional schooling being labeled weird was a pretty horrible experience. Happy to have my kids have the freedom to be authentic without the judgement of the herd. Interestingly enough, my eight year old is very involved in the homeschool community and attends a variety of activities and classes and while kids will be kids it’s amazing to see how open minded and tolerant the group is.
I actually like that my son is different. Quirky, if you will 🙂 It’s one of the best parts about homeschooling – giving him the chance to be HIMSELF without fear of reprisal.
As I tell my 7 year old when she says that her brother is weird, “Everyone is weird in their own special way. That’s what makes us all different. If we were all the same, the world would be a very very boring place.”
So, all in all – normal is boring. I’d rather me and my kids be “weird” – it makes life for interesting! LOL
Thank you for saying it out loud, “All kids are weird!” We need more weirdos, kids and adults.
I tell my kids to not be normal! LOL I tell them we are soo different from others around and it is okay. The only one they need to worry about impressing is God and the only one who they need to worry about what is thought of them. They know there are boundaries and they know most of the social ‘norms’ but we choose to not follow them and it is cool. I have one child who I think would be most influenced and she is the one I stress to be her own person and think about who it is she is trying to impress and do they really matter in the end.
Hold the phone. You aren’t SUPPOSED to eat olives that way? lol
As I read this article, my quirky six year old was wrapping his two year old brother in our retractable table tennis net… yeah… we love homeschooling! 😉
I was enjoying the article and then got to the picture of the two girls in the yellow pants together and BURST out laughing. My sister and I (products of homeschooling our entire lives) TOTALLY did that when we were about 14 and 16 with my dad’s sweat pants…. and yep… took a picture too 🙂
And now we’re both encouraging weirdness in our children as we are both homeschooling our children. I could totally see my kids eating olives off their finger tips and I’m ecstatic that they will get to embrace their unique design by God 🙂