Top 5 Ways to Ensure That Your Homeschooled Kid Is Weird and Unsocialized
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Today, I am sharing with you my Top 5 Ways to Ensure That Your Homeschooled Kid Is Weird and Unsocialized. Because everybody knows that homeschoolers are, in fact, weird and unsocialized. We can’t risk having well-adjusted, well-socialized kids in our homeschools. So pay close attention to this important information.
The problem is, I’ve met lots of homeschooled kids, and it’s obvious that we’re falling down on our jobs, people! These kids I’ve met are perfectly normal and completely socialized! It’s time we get busy and rectify this situation before a few slackers sully the reputation of homeschoolers everywhere. So here are the top five ways you can get your kids back on the right path to becoming proper homeschoolers.
Top 5 Ways to Ensure That Your Homeschooled Kid Is Weird and Unsocialized
1. Quit letting them be around all those people.
For crying out loud! If you’re forever taking them to music class, book club, ballet class, homeschool P.E., 4-H Club, co-op, Lego Club, Chess Club, art class, and all those crazy sports activities, how in the world do you expect them to grow up to be unsocialized? Keep those homeschoolers isolated!
Every time you take them with you to the grocery store, the doctor’s office, the art museum, those fast-food places with playgrounds where other kids are playing, or, heaven forbid, an outdoor playground or the movie theater, a play, or a concert — and let’s don’t even talk about the mall — they are observing and participating in human social behaviors. What are you thinking, homeschool mom?
2. Quit letting them have friends.
I mean, really. Friends? Hello? Socialization. If you continue taking special care to ensure that your kids get to hang out with their friends on a regular basis, have sleepovers and play dates, and go to all those homeschool group activities and social events, how do you expect them to remain unsocialized?
3. Toss out all the computers.
Have you seen all these homeschooled kids with their blogs and their Facebook accounts? Do you know what they do on those things? They’re expressing themselves. And, they communicate. With other people! They might even experience negative comments or encounter mean people or people with views different than theirs. Do you know what that means? You may not be doing an adequate job of isolating and over-protecting them.
4. Toss out the phone, too.
If you don’t, it’s highly likely that your homeschooled kid will act just like any other kid and talk on the phone for hours to his or her friends. And, we all know that homeschooled kids should NOT have friends if we hope to raise them to be weird and unsocialized.
5. Quit taking them to church.
For the love of all that is holy, do you know what happens to homeschooled kids at church — besides the growing in their faith and studying God’s Word part? They interact with all manner of people! I mean, there are old people who would love to chat with and mentor your kids. There are kids who go to public or private school who might want to be your kids’ friends in spite of that whole homeschooling thing. There are kids who go to public or private school who might pick on your kids because they’re homeschooled (and that’s way too similar to the real world).
And, then, there are all those classroom-like settings where your kids might have to sit at a table and be quiet while a teacher reads or talks. They might even have to raise their hand to answer a question or ask to go to the bathroom. There might even be times when they have to walk in a single file line to go somewhere, and you know your homeschooled kid is doomed to normalcy if he learns that skill.
So, homeschool parent, pay attention! Be vigilant and keep these tips in mind. Otherwise, your homeschooled kid might be on the path to becoming a normal, well-round, completely socialized individual…and we can’t let that happen. Just some helpful advice from your friendly neighborhood weird, unsocialized homeschoolers.
Did you enjoy this post? Be sure to like us on Facebook so you don’t miss any more homeschool encouragement…or silliness. And please share this article on your social media so others can find us too!
NOTE: This article was originally written by Kris–the former owner of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. It was updated and republished in 2021 by Wendy–one of the new owners of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
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Wendy is one of the owners of Hip Homeschool Moms, Only Passionate Curiosity, Homeschool Road Trips, Love These Recipes, and Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She married her high school sweetheart, Scott, 31 years ago, and they live in the South. They have three adult children. Hannah, age 27, has autism and was the first homeschool graduate in the family. Noah, age 25, was the second homeschool graduate and the first to leave the nest. Mary Grace, age 19, was the last homeschool graduate. Wendy loves working out and teaching Training for Warriors classes at her local gym. She also enjoys learning along with her family, educational travel, reading, and writing, and she attempts to grow a garden every summer with limited success. (But she's learning!)
Fantastic! 🙂 Great tips…. 🙂
Love it! Nicely done!
I love it!!
What a great post! I realize that I have been slacking terribly! Time to rein them kids back in…LOL This was really too funny!
Enjoyed this. Always nice to have a little morning chuckle. 🙂
Oh I love it, I need to print this and show it to them whenever someone offers me their unwanted opinion.
i love it! thanks for all the great tips 🙂
Wonderful!! I'm messing my kids up. 🙂
Tee hee hee!! You crack me up!
I am so glad for this reminder – I think I had lost my way there for a bit. . . . Until this week – when we went to the SHHHH (library) to talk to (people) – pink face of embarrasement – and we ran into Miss Oregon doing a promo there – and my Weird Unsocialized kid was the only one in the crowd who ran to the car and back up to get his lego robot built from scratch to show "the president's daughter" what he had done and had a great talk with her.
He was un impressed when she turned out to only be Miss Oregon. No other kid would look at her or speak. I'm soooo glad for proof that my kid is stil W&U. 🙂
Kris this was great! Every homeschool mom needs this on their fridge. I love it!
Hehe!!! Great post! I would love a few of the folks I've wrangled with to read this!
I actually laughed out loud at this. Very nicely done. Thanks!
Thanks for the laugh! I guess I'm not doing a very good job homeschooling! 🙂
LOL, Kris! Unfortuately, you described us to a T, so I guess I'm falling down on the job. 🙂
I saw a great shirt saying "Warning Weird Unsocizlized Homeschooler, interact at your own risk."
HA-hA!!! That's hysterical!! Love your blog by the way, yep, I'm a stalker!!!
[smile]
~Luke
I kept wondering what I was doing wrong, my kids seem so normal. Now I get it! We'll need to drop out of swim team, stop going to church, avoid all field trips or leaving the house at all, stop blogging (both my daughter and I), take away my daughter's phone, cancel the internet, and forbid any future sleep-overs. Thank goodness – now I know what to do to ensure weirdness!
Thanks for the great post! It made me laugh.
Samantha
What??! But I happen to like my friends lol. I am homeschooled!
Bahahahaha! Love it!
Too too funny. Yep. I see this happening to my own kids. One of my sons came in ranting one day because he met a public schooled kid at the skateboard park. After they had chatted for 25-30 minutes, the boy, upon finding out my son was homeschooled, asked my son how he would learn to interact with other people since he's homeschooled. My son stared at him a moment, incredulous at the question, and finally said, "I'm talking to you, aren't I?" LOL
I need the "rolling on the floor in laughter" smilie! Great post!
Too, too funny!
Ha!! LOVE IT!
Love it! I took notes cause I'm obviously slacking in this area….
Ok ~ this post was funny, but thecoolmom's comment cracked me up too! 🙂
Great post. Thank you! My children are indecently well socialised since I took them out of school….
Oh Kris! You totally made my night with this!! LOL!!! How DARE you SOCIALIZE your children! What kind of HOMESCHOOLER are you?? =)
TOO FUNNY! I was laughing outloud.
Literally.
What a wonderful way to address the socialization issue — with humor.
People often bring up this concern with me. After they get to know my daughter, they are amazed at how well she interacts with people of all ages and cultures.
I am still giggling as I write this! A wonderful laugh at the stigmas we homeschoolers are forced to address!
Love it! I'll have to get right implementing those! 😉
Hehe, love it;)
haaahaaa! Love it. Another great post that I need to pass on to friends.
Oh what a great post! I love it! Thanks for submitting it to the C of H!
you are a psycho!! why in the heck would you want your kids to be
wierdos??? get a life and be a better parent!
Apparently you aren't familiar with the literary technique of irony, but thank you for your perspective.
Loved this!! LOL
Love it! 😀 Hilarious!
Oh my I loved it I had to read it outloud to my husband. I love the Psycho comment don't we actually feel that way sometimes especially with the socialization questions ugh. I loved the skateboard park comment to that was so funny. We should also avoid all penpals my sons have a few around the country and they are only seven and four I'm slacking major over here! Keep it up I love the posts!
Now that's funny!!! I still get the comments about kids not getting socialization. When someone says this to me I offer to let them drive to 4-H, basketball practice, track practice, etc…that normally gets them quiet.
roflol thanks for the great laugh tonight! ;o)….I am so terribly failing at being unsocialized too!
Love it!!! LOL! And for the record, I get your sense of humor and you're definitely not "psycho."
I was homeschooled and I certainly didn't lack social exposure 😛
Thank you for this Ihave been wanting to homeschool my 8 yr old and was slammed down for the idea by my in- law. she had a family that was homeschoolers and her kids were" not NORMAL" lol they were quiet and didnt run around crazy in her office, whats the word that comes to mind? hmmmm ooooohhh yeah I think her kids were beinging RESPECTFUL…. lol Im moving foward with the idea of home schoolng my my daughers whether she thinks they will be "normal" or not!!! Love this!!
My in laws were the same way but we are on homeschool graduate number 2 over here and they have seen that homeschooling doesn’t have to be the weirdos. Unfortunately, although this piece is ironic there really are some strange homeschooled kids and their parents really are following this advice of keeping their kids isolated and strange. Plus, there are a few that could use a hygiene lesson or two. Some still do homeschool with the “isolation” mentality. Just not as many as there used to be when it was illegal to homeschool. My in laws knew a family that lived down the street from them that homeschooled back in the 80’s in a state where homeschooling was still illegal. They homeschooled because they had mentally impaired children and they didn’t want them to be made fun of in school so of course they were different but here it was adults who were making fun of them. They truly believed if they would have sent them to school they would have learned to mimic “the normal” kids and that would have been good for them. I don’t agree and I never did. I taught in traditional schools and there are plenty of weird, unsocialized kids there too. Lol
Sooooo…. obviously my parents were doing it right then, since I wasn't allowed to do any of those things….. Maybe the occasional trip to the grocery store, I suppose, but mostly I babysat so Mom could shop in peace. Pen pals were supposed to be all the friends I needed.
too funny. I had to send it to my family. They think that we are unsocialized homeschoolers. I think this can prove them wrong as we do all of the above.
This made me chuckle. 🙂 We've just begun our homeschooling journey (our son is an early preschooler) and we've already been asked 18 gazillion times if we're worried about socializing. Really? My kid plays better, shares better, and communicates better than 75% of the "daycare and preschool" kids he knows. Hmmmmm. Something must be wrong with what I'm doing. 😉 Thanks for the laugh!
So love this! Gonna link to this post when I inform my family and friends that I am homeschooling next year! Thanks!
Ever heard of sarcasm?….
Hheee heeeeee heeeeee !!!
I want that T-shirt!
Oh man! Please forgive me…..I have been one of those slackers! I will cut off all outside influence immediately!!! LOL!
https://www.shopgreatproducts.com/
I think it's disgusting the way you let your kids play with other kids and speak and stuff. I homeschool b/c I WANT my kids to appear strange. I like to keep them isolated. We sit around doing nothing. If you'd like proof of this fact, check out my blog, https://thekerrieshow.com … maybe I can help you (haha!!!!).
Love it! Growing up I only knew one family who was homescooled and they were a bit unsocialized. But their parents were a bit odd and they didn't do much outside the home. However, today many of my friends have chosen homeschooling and their children are some of the most well behave, bright, and social kids I know!!! So people need to stop judging! I believe all forms of schooling are good and some are better for some kids than others- it's whatever works best for your family and your children! Whatever gives your child The best learning environment!!!
I love it! Going to make sure to get them out of those activities and church events stat! Heavens knows I do not want my children normal and socialized! hahaha
oh my goodness, I've been taking my kids to playgroup, parks, libraries, farmers' markets, playgrounds, playcentres, parties, friends' homes, they're going to be so socialised!!!!! Sorry for ruining other homeschoolers' reputation…. 😉
great post, absolutely hilarious!
Be careful or you'll ruin it for all of us! 😉
Love this!! Love your blog! I’m a stalker! 🙂
This is AWESOME!!!! Thank you for such a funny, witty, true post! It made my year!
Beth =-)
I love it! Thanks for the laugh. I see a new “class” idea forming for the next school year. 🙂
I read this out loud to my Manlings…and everyone died laughing!
We’ve homeschooled for going on eight years now, and I lost count years ago of the number of people who asked about “socialization”. I’m NOT the world’s most outgoing mother–I really prefer the quiet of my own house. But I made it a point to get out of MY comfort zone to take the guys on field trips,etc. whenever we had the chance. Other than that, they do all the “normal” stuff.
*sigh* Here I was working so hard to make sure they were Normal, and I totally screwed up anyway! Time to lock them in the house again. Can’t have people thinking homeschoolers aren’t social rejects! *WINK*
We’re seeking out the Cruelty to Others course, How to Smoke in the Bathroom, Ditching Class, But the first course is Lets pass Drugs in the Hall, Bullying others. The big hit last year was a favorite course for 5th graders Language Arts. (Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing at your teacher, foul speech, strong language, dirty words, cussing, bad words, bad language, adult language, or simply language, The kid thinks they wants to retake this class).
Love it! I’m afraid that we have been failing down on the job. Thanks for setting us straight ;).
Hilarious…and yet, so true!
GOOD POST!
SO funny!
This was cute…I shared it and I love it!
Wow. The homeschool topic. I’m glad I stumbled across this. I’m probably not the first to say this but I attended public school K-12. To my parents that’s just what you did. (I had teachers that taught my dad.) I was painfully awkward, shy and backward…public school didn’t fix that. 15 years later these things still haunt me. I am a product of the public school and I still have moments when I genuinely feel weird and unsocialized.
Now I have a five year old and the decision is on my shoulders. My mom is almost in a panic that I might actually go through with this homeschooling thing. I have to admit I have my hesitations! But I want to. I think homeschooling provides a lot of opportunities. Perhaps I should use the word ‘luxuries’ for a student to get a great core education and also pursue special interests. “You like this stuff, well, lets take a rabbit trail for a bit, because, dang it, we can.” I love the fact that it could be tailored for a student whose subjects vary by grade level. (It looks like my son might take that path.)
Thank you for creating a community for homeschoolers. 🙂
You make me want to homeschool.
🙂
I can tell that this article was written in jest, but for me, it was reality, K-12. Please remember the importance of socializing your children. I struggled as a young adult because I wasn’t, and vowed not to ever homeschool my children because of it. Right now my son is struggling in kindergarten because he needs alternative teaching approaches. I am terrified of homeschooling him because of the experience that I had, but it is something that I will consider for him. I wouldn’t be as anxious as I am if I had had a different experience. So please, don’t diminish the importance of socialization.
If you knew my children, you would know that no one is making light of the importance of socialization. I’m making light of the battle cry against homeschooling – one that, in my home and the homes of the vast majority of homeschooling families I know, is unfounded. It seems clear to me that, based on your experience, you would do everything in your power to ensure that your son has a different experience if you decide to homeschool him. Please don’t write homeschooling off for your son based on a bad experience if it’s clear that he would thrive in that environment. You have the power to ensure that the experience is much more positive for him than it was for you. There are so many opportunities for homeschooled kids right now.
So how do I fix it if my stepsons literally ARE the weird unsocialized kids who of those five things… are living 4 of them. They go sporadically to church (but have no ongoing friendships there either, plus no way to interact with a friend if they could…) It’s incredibly sad… Dad is superdevoted and is their primary playmate, but without context of having other kids in their lives (like classmates) he doesn’t even see how inept they are at relationships..even with each other…but of course my schooled kids are viewed as the problem bc they don’t enjoy being around the two boys who act much younger than they are. No interests/hobbies/goals/ friends…. just video games when at our house and zero conversations about anything thought provoking or substantive. They are 10 & 13. My kids are 13, 16, & 19….but my 13 ye d stepson literally thought MY 13 yr old son was “a couple years older” than he is. I struggle to relate to them and have tremendous concern for their future, as well as how it is impacting our family dynamic. Help!!!
It is sad that there are some children (both homeschoolers and public schoolers) who don’t have friends and who don’t have (or take) opportunities to interact, go places, join clubs or church activities, etc. I know you are very concerned both about them and about how it affects your own children. I’m afraid, though, that there’s really no way to offer you much help for the situation without knowing much more about the details of their lives. It sounds to me like you might need to seek professional help in your area. Also, it’s impossible for you to change somebody else. In other words, if their mom and dad don’t see the situation clearly and don’t understand that something needs to change, you can’t force that to happen. You can try to talk with them about it and offer suggestions, but there’s no way for you to cause the kinds of changes you want to see without the help of the parents. It’s good that you care about them enough to want to help, but you have to realize it simply may not be possible for you to change this situation unless the parents are willing to work with you.