For most of my life I was public schooled, and for most of the audience reading this article, you could probably say the same thing. When I was entering the 10th grade that all changed and I was entered into what seemed like a whole new world, homeschool. Now I don’t know about you but when I was growing up homeschooled kids were kind of looked at as “weird” or “sheltered.” They weren’t of course, but when you’re a teenager you’ll believe just about anything that the other kids are saying. If you haven’t experienced it at some point kids can be pretty mean especially to someone they think differs from them and their version of “popular.” Now I won't say I was considered a popular kid but I wasn’t by society's definition a “loser” either. I was always just that middle kid who got along with everyone but if I was home schooled would those things even matter? There would be no bullying except for me picking at my younger brothers and it wouldn’t matter if I was cool or not. I could just be me, no pressure. How would I make friends? Some, not all of the kids I've ever met that were homeschooled all of their lives admit to being socially awkward at some point and say that if they had more interactions with kids their own age they wouldn’t have had such a hard time fitting in. I realize now they have programs and even field trips that homeschooled kids can attend because my brother attends them but there wasn’t really much I could sign up for being in 10th grade.

Another thought that seems to cross people's minds quite often when the subject of homeschool comes up is how will I learn? It's been how many years since my parents were in high school themselves? Learning strategies change and how can someone with a degree in teaching teach me in public school and then someone with a degree in being my mom or dad teach me? My mom could tell you first hand it's not an easy job; you basically are re-learning everything at some point. It could be said that trying to learn a curriculum from home is harder than facing it in public school. Now I'm not hating on the public school systems, in fact, I enjoyed being public and home schooled, I do think that it was beneficial to me to have experienced both aspects of learning but maybe it really isn't for everyone.

So now I guess the question is this, do you think that homeschooling has a different effect on a child than if they were public schooled and if so do you think it's really that significant of a difference? I personally feel like it tends to be more of a convenience to the parent to have their child in public school if they already had other obligations with their career before having a child. For the first few years of learning, is it important to be there to make sure you child is developing and learning what you think is important or is the interaction with other kids their own age and letting them grow at their own pace play a factor in their education? The main thing I can get from this is that every kid learns differently just like how every parent raises their child differently. Maybe one day we can live with an educational system that allows us to mix the two worlds together. Until then maybe we could try a little harder to learn and accept our differences. Home or Public school is still school.