I'M TIRED OF ALL THE EMAIL NOTIFICATION SAYING YOU MOTHER F*CKERS ARE MENTIONING ME IN HERE SO I CAME TO SPEAK MY MIND.

As someone that was homeschooled, along with my brother and sister, I find it hilarious that all of you people are making these judgments because you've met some socially awkward homeschoolers and are all of the sudden experts. Here's what you don't realize.....you've also met a lot of normal homeschooled kids. You just don't know it, because those of us that are normal usually don't tell people we were homeschooled, because the second you tell someone you were homeschooled they're all ZOMG ARE YOUR PARENTS CRAZY OMG I BET THAT WAS SO WEIRD and treat you differently. And make obnoxious jokes.

Homeschooling, if done correctly, involves socialization. I had a co-op group with other families that homeschooled their kids. I did my homework every day like normal kids.... but also (on a weekly basis) went horseback riding, took pottery classes, played organized sports every season, took swimming lessons and gymnastics, went skiing in the winters every week, went on educational field trips........ we even put on plays sometimes. It was fun. I had a very good experience homeschooling my kids. And, contrary to what most people think, homeschooling involves the parents very little. I taught myself almost everything. Every text book teaches you how to do stuff very well. All you had to do is read it. When I'd get stuck, my mom would help me. You don't need a teaching degree to homeschool your kids.

You might think homeschooling is bad, but that's because a lot of the people that homeschool their kids are doing it for the wrong reasons. They're doing it because they're afraid of their kids being exposed to the "real world" so they shelter them. THAT is what creates a f*cked up kid. Normal parents who want their kids to have a good education and do what's best for them while they're homeschooled by getting them involved in sports and activities and make sure they see their friends regularly.... those kids turn out just fine. You just don't know it, because we won't talk about it much. I personally was homeschooled because my parents were poor, and the public schools I would've gone to were some of the worst in the country, and my parents didn't want that for me. THANK. GOD. I am so glad that they kept me at home.

With that said, here's a video of my homeschooled brother (suspenders), and my homeschooler sister (bride), doing the dougie.



Oh yeah, and this is a picture of us on one of our awesome zoo trips. I'm pretty sure this is the time when I tried to feed goats at the petting zoo and I thought the pebble size turds on the ground were food and fed them to the goats and then cried when my mom told me it was poop because I was embarrassed. And yeah, my brother's chain is awesome, don't be jealous.

Hahahaha, homeschooled.
I wondered if you had turned off notifications, or were away from the intertubes without any idea what was flooding your inbox.

//Hehe, inbox.

armageddonbound: I've met more than 50 homeschooled kids. Not one of them was able to function in society at a high level. NOT ONE. Anecdote? Yes, but a powerful one.

I'vw met thousands of people and I consider very few of them competent to function in society. You just happen to notice one flavor of dysfunction while turning a blind eye to the lost potential in everyone you consider normal.

Fun fact, the most powerful influences on a child's intelligence (if you accept the notion of unitary intelligence, which I personally find to be an artificial convention used out of laziness) are nutrition, nurturing and an enriched environment. Schools can only provide nutrition. Enriched environments are provided in early elementary school but a typical classroom environment is far from "enriched" simply because of the discipline required for one teacher to control 40+ students. And nurturing (which includes comforting affiliative behavior) is generally prohibited by policy.

I only have met two adults I know were homeschooled. One described her father as a cultist who believed Bush II to be the antichrist and Cheney the Beast and strongly supported them as they had to rule on earth to trigger the Second Coming. This lady was so fascinated by geology and deep time she was working on a graduate degree in the subject.

The other owns a couple of convenience stores and is one of the most sociable people I know. His parents also did the whole quasi-Christian cult thing.

I've met lots of kids who were being homeschooled. But the indoctrination falls away pretty quick once they are in the general population. If it doesn't they'd probably be the type to self radicalize later on in life anyway.

One of the most socially awkward people I've met was an engineer. As a student at Rose Hulman he cleaned septic tanks to avoid human interaction. He was a product of public education, not homeschooled.

Once I learned how to read in grade 1, I pretty much taught myself everything else by reading. I was reading at college level in grade 3 and nobody gave a damn. "Oh, these tests show you're gifted. Why don't you sit in class and read novels when you get bored?"

School isn't so much about learning but about socialization. You don't want to end up with kids who smell like oatmeal and can't figure out what personal space is.

Jarhead_h: You know what's really farking hysterical? Most of us are going to live to the see the day when all schools close for good......

"Imagine you can insert a memory card in your brain and go all Keanu Wow, I know Jiu-Jitsu! Reeves. It's actually not that far away: Scientists have created a chip that allows rats to instantly know things. It's amazing. "



Yeah but all the chip will teach us is the best way to find cheese and how to make a better hole in the wall.