I'm a Homeschooler and I Really Don't Mind If You Want To Make Fun of Me

Okay, let's face facts, people. In this life, when you know you are 100% right about something, you can relax and back down a little bit. There's no need to get up on the edge of your seat, hostile and intense, when you have certainty in your back pocket. Quite the opposite, having the moral high ground gives you the freedom to back down, ease off, and let those on the other side of the fence carry on. After all, you're exactly where you want to be, so you can afford to live and let live.

That's how I feel about being a homeschooling parent. I am so sure that homeschooling works that I feel no need to accuse, attack or argue with those who see things differently.

But that does not seem to be the mindset of the authors of this visual graphic on homeschooling.

Take a scroll through this colorful bit of eye candy, and meet me at the bottom to compare notes.

Created by: College At Home

Really, I don't mean to be smug. But the truth is that anyone who has given homeschooling a decent chance knows that it is an approach to learning and to life that beats the pants off more traditional forms of schooling. We believers have no need to argue our cause with the magnitude of aggression and sass that this document unleashes.

Let's just take a look at the first gray box, way back up at the top, that reveals the title, subtitle and presumably the thesis statement of the entire document:

HOMESCHOOL DOMINATION
Uh oh. That seems a little threatening, doesn't it? Most homeschoolers have got their hands full living their own lives; I don't know of anyone who is trying to conquer the world.

WHY THESE KIDS WILL TAKE YOU DOWN
My daughters may occasionally run as wild as a pack of lionesses on the hunt, but I really don't think they are looking to take anyone down (except for possibly me). Like most homeschooled students, they live their own interesting, passion-filled lives and devote little if any time to worrying about what everyone else is doing.

With America's public school system in a decline...
It's a widely held opinion that our country's schools are in trouble and there is plenty of data to support that claim. But to lead into a discussion about the merits of homeschooling by slamming the nation's traditional schools comes across as a unnecessary cheap shot. Rather than make this a heated debate about which educational system is better, let's acknowledge that both philosophies have strengths and weaknesses, and expand the conversation from there.

When it comes time to perform, homeschoolers are blowing everyone else out of the water.
It's great news that homeschooled students do well on tests. But homeschooled students have been scoring competitively on standardized tests and other quantitative measures of performance for decades. Remember the Colfax family? Back in the eighties, three of these four homeschooled boys were accepted into Harvard; the fourth one ended up at Yale. And while, for a time, this family was admired as the royalty of the homeschooling world, their favorable results were replicated by many homeschooling families over the years, including mine. So, for anyone knowledgeable about the measurable results of homeschooled students' performance, this statement is factually stale and emotionally inflammatory.

Now don't get me wrong. There is a lot that I like about this visual. It's artistically appealing, well-designed, and chock full of interesting data:

• The breakdown of homeschooling fathers' professions fascinates me, especially since my husband's work as an accountant puts us in the biggest demographic. That surprises me. But I'm not sure how that data advances the thesis, except maybe to say that smart people homeschool their kids.
• I like the facts that demonstrate that homeschooling success is not linked to money, whether measured by family income or spending per student. That data sheds some light on the popular political presumption that more money equals better learning. 
• Attempting to quantify the social skills of homeschooled students is a great idea. I'm all for any effort to break down the ridiculous yet culturally popular notion that homeschoolers are unsocialized dorks. 

I really appreciate the authors' efforts to demonstrate that homeschooling is a remarkably successful approach to education. And maybe some of their bold posturing is a response to the fact that our society often appears to misunderstand and belittle the homeschooling movement.

But that's okay with me. We homeschoolers know that we've got a very good thing going. And as long as our culture underestimates or chooses to poke fun at our way of life, I have an excuse to keep posting this video. Amen.