Countering Objections

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It seems like anytime you make a choice to lead your life outside of the ‘norm’, you’ll be questioned over that decision.

In the age of epidurals, why would a sane woman choose to have an unmedicated childbirth experience?  With the availability of formula, why would you breastfeed?  And, with the availability of public schools where your child will be given a ‘good education’ for ‘free’ why on earth would you homeschool?

That’s just a sampling of the kinds of questions I’ve encountered over the years.  Sometimes it has been family members who think my brain cells are just wired differently and therefore I walk to the beat of a different drummer.  Other times, it has been well meaning friends that wonder why our family would make a choice to buck the trend.

All that leads us to the TOS Blog Cruise question of the week, “How do you respond to family/friends that don’t support your decision to homeschool?”

The flip response I may be tempted to give is that it’s really none of their business HOW we decide to raise our children.  And, since parents are considered the first and primary educators of their children, our choice to homeschool the boys is a sound one.

But, the reality is that at times I am much more of a people pleaser.  So, if the objections come from someone close to me, then I am more apt to ask why they are concerned.  Then I do my best to address their concerns. (I had experience with this when D was born as it was a homebirth.)  After all, the majority of the time those concerns are really an expression of love from the concerned family member in their desire to see the kids be successful OR possibly worry that the you are sacrificing yourself for the kids.

What has come out over the past 4+ years since our decision was made to embark on this learning journey is two major concerns.  First, how will I provide the academic stimulation that they would receive in a school environment.  Secondly, how will they learn to get along with others (also known as the dreaded socialization issue.)

Truthfully, either one has been relatively easy to explain to the individual expressing concern.  I don’t mind having the boys show off what they are learning.  For a younger child, it could be reading TO the interested party.  An older child might talk about a book read or something learned in history or science.

Socialization issues could have their own post.  Actually, one of the first TOS Blog Cruises last spring had that as a topic.  Click here to read my previous thoughts on socialization.  What I will say is that all the compliments I get about the boys from people we meet while out and about tells me that they are able to interact just fine with others of ALL ages.

Maybe now that we’re slightly seasoned and in our 5th year of homeschooling I can get a bit more flip with my responses.  Growing up we heard the phrase “As long as you live in MY house….” plenty.  So, I could just start saying “As long as I’m responsible for raising these kids, I’ll be making the choices that best fit our family.”

Who knows…. the day might come when homeschooling is not the right choice for our family.  But, for now it is the right choice and we do our best to communicate that to concerned individuals.