If you are a home - educated person, you have probably at some point in time gotten funny, questioning looks; asked if you do school in your pajamas and have friends; or just had someone ask "how does that work?". This has been an interesting paper to write, for my Education 220 class. My paper answers some of these questions.
In summary, yes we do get the occasional curious glance; no we don't (always!) wear pajamas while we do school; yes we do have friends, and learning at home works great! If anyone ever says that they don't know any home schooled people, they probably do and aren't aware of the fact. Almost everyone (at least in the United States of America) knows someone who is or has been homeschooled. Some famous homeschooled people include Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Jonas Brothers, Mozart, Abraham Lincoln, C.S. Lewis, Sean O'Casey, Mark Twain, Booker T. Washington, and Frankie Muniz. How cool is that?
The bottom line is this: home-educated people are not under-par. Though some associations (such as the NEA) would like to see home schooling basically abolished in the US, homeschooling is a constitutional right, defended under the first and fourteenth ammendments. And no, homeschooled people are quite obviously not lacking a good education. Just for clarification purposes, I am not drawing a prejudice here betwixt any particular educational preferences! Home schooling is a really popular choice right now for a variety of reasons, and there are still people out there who don't understand it.
So for anyone out there who may be thinking about homeschooling, here is some food for thought! Also, feel free to laugh along with this hilarious youtube video, explaining the difference between "being homeschooled" and being "a homeschooler". Enjoy!
