Ev

Like usual, I did things backwards - my son's were public school educated *until* high school, rather than vice versa. About the 10th grade, we pulled our oldest out and let him take the GED, which he aced first time because he was well beyond what the system could and would teach him. My younger son we pulled because of too much socializing and not enough educating! He was on a constant social whirl at school, juggling different cliques, trying to fit into different groups weekly while still centered around some core 'friends.' He spent so *much* time worrying about the social interactions that he completely neglected the education side - at the encouragement of ALL the different cliques he rotated to!

Sad, but almost every one of the friends he met all had some form of prejudice against being "a brain." They had an almost universal derision for anyone who "showed off" by answering questions correctly or getting good grades on tests. The absolute minority were the "nerds", the "brains" and the peer pressure was unbelievably high.

My oldest *was* one of the "brains" and we allowed him to test out because high school was, well, it was absolute hell for him. He's extremely centered, comfortably self assured, and now making very good money in a position of authority in a technical industry he's been fascinated with since he was 12. He's just turned 21 and has a very bright future ahead of him. If he had been left in highschool for two more years of boredom and constant harrasment, things may have been very different for him.

When I realized I spent as much time 'un'teaching a lot of what they'd been taught, and that we had a rich and deep collection of knowledge and self-education that we'd already been sharing, homeschooling my youngest became obvious for us. I already *had* been homeschooling for years!

Yes, I ran across people who seemed to take offense at my decisions, but I once finally explained it this way to a particularly persistent objector. The public school teachers are so overloaded and underpaid right now that my taking _my_ sons out increases the odds of _your_ child getting more personal attention. What could they say, "over crowed classrooms are good" ? Anyway, they dropped the subject from then on. ;)

Mainly, though, I learned to just let their opinions and comments slide. I wasn't raising my sons to be what those people wanted, I was raising them to be the best themselves they could be. My priorities were my sons, not public opinion. Once I settled that in my heart, those other opinions really didn't matter to me and it was very easy to just let their disapproval slide.

However, I also met a LOT of very supportive people and many, MANY other homeschooling parents. Once you set your feet on the path, it's amazing how many fellow travellers you find. =)