10 Questions My Kids Get Asked About Being Homeschooled

Do you ever want to know what other kids that are in school are thinking, when it comes to homeschooling?  My kids attend karate with lots of public and private schooled kids twice a week and they get many questions from them.  Most of the time, the other kids are trying to tell them why public school is better.  They always stick to their guns though and share why they like being homeschooled!  We did a little talking about the questions that they get asked the most and then I interviewed each of them without the others present.  I didn’t want them copying any answers.  Of course, some of them are copied anyway…..but that’s because they agree with each other.   The answers are listed by age.

1.  Do you get to go to school in your pajamas?

6 year old:  Yes, I do.
10  year old:  Yes, it’s fun because if you don’t go anywhere in the day, you don’t have to change into pajamas at night.

12 year old:   Sometimes, depends if I choose to or not.

14 year old:  Yeah, if I want.

Mom:  What can I say?  I’m a bit laid back in the “get dressed” part of school.  Some days I require it, most days I don’t.  It depends if the clothes are making them lazy or not.  If they’re acting lazy, they go and get dressed!  If we have somewhere to go that day, I generally have them get dressed, too.

2.  Is your school work really easy?

6 year old:  No

10 year old:  Not Always

12 year old:  No, I mean it’s not really easy.  Some subjects can be easy.

14 year old:  No (as he’s laughing under his breath)

Mom:  It depends on what you consider easy.  I’d say some of it is super easy for them and some of it is a challenge.  Math would probably be the most challenging followed by high school science for my 14 year old!

3.  What about socialization?

6 year old:  What does that mean?

10 year old:  What’s that again?

12 year old:  We get to have friends over and we have field trips and stuff like that.

14 year old:  I always answer it, “What am I doing right now?”  (shrugging shoulders in disbelief)  If I’m at karate, I tell them that I get to socialize while I’m doing this.

Mom:  This is a question that us homeschool moms get all the time.  Personally, I don’t believe that my child needs to sit in a classroom full of kids the same age as him/her to be socialized.  I think that they do better being exposed to all sorts of different ages and types of people throughout the day.

4.  Will you miss out on sports?

6 year old:  No, I’m doing T-ball!

10 year old:  No, you can just do it somewhere else or at home.

12 year old:  No, we play for our city rec program.

14 year old:  No, I play football for a small private school close to us.

Mom:  Yes, and no.  No, we can’t go and play at our local school system.  They do not allow homeschooled kids to play even though they do allow private schooled kids to.  I’m not sure why that is.  But…we do have access to city recreation teams as well as private school teams.  It’s enough for us!

5.  Do you get recess?

6 year old:  Yes, we play outside.

10 year old:  Sometimes.  Sometimes we even skip a day of school and go outside.

12 year old:  Not exactly.  Kind of.  We take breaks when we need to, but normally I try to get it all done  before lunch so I can have free time in the afternoon.

14 year old:  Yeah, I did, like 5 times a day if I wanted.  Between every subject.

Mom:  We don’t call it recess, but we allow for time to take breaks, go outside, run around, etc.  They get to do the equivalent to recess.

6.  Are you sad that you’ll miss out on  school dances and prom?

6 year old:  No, I don’t want to.

10 year old:  Not really.

12 year old:  Not really.

14 year old:  Not really.  I don’t need any of that stuff.

Mom:  I missed out on it, too.  I’m doing OK.  Nothing traumatic happened to me.  I was homeschooled for 10th-12th grade.

7.  Do you get to sleep in?

6 year old:  Yes, sometimes.

10 year old:  Sometimes

12 year old:  Sometimes

14 year old:  Yes, sometimes.

Mom:  Totally depends on the day.  I do tend to let them sleep until they wake up because I’m a night owl and enjoy doing the same.  I also have one daughter on epilepsy meds and that makes her more tired, so I always let her sleep in to be sure she’s functioning well with her meds.

8.  What’s your favorite part about homeschooling?

6 year old:  That we get to sometimes do less school if we’re going somewhere.

10 year old:  Going on field trips with our homeschool group.

12 year old:  We can work ahead in school so we don’t have as much to do throughout the week.

14 year old:  If I want to, I can get my school done a lot faster than other people and I can do it on my own time.

Mom:  Getting to hang out with my cool kids all day!

9.  Do you get to eat while you’re doing school?

6 year old:  Y es, sometimes.

10 year old:  Yes, sometimes.

12 year old:  Sometimes

14 year old:  Um….yeah

Mom:  Of course!  We get snacks any time we feel like it!

10.  Do you have very many friends?  How do you make friends if you’re not at school?

6 year old:  I do have a lot of friends.  I do AWANA and we have friends in our homeschool group.

10 year old:  Yes.  Homeschool Group

12 year old:  Yes.  Homeschool Group, Karate and other activities.

14 year old:  Yeah.  Karate, football, and other activities that I do.

Mom:  Yes, they have lots of friends.  They make friends so easily.  There’s church, karate, homeschool group, etc., etc.