For some reason friends and family members are often more critical of our choices than strangers. You will notice that as soon as you have a child friends and family members will comment on his name, instruct you how to raise him, and criticize your choice of diaper brand and whether or not you are breastfeeding. It seems that once you have a kid you cant please your friends and family. Then, when you decide to homeschool things get even worse. These people who are the closest to you start judging you and questioning your judgment. They think you must be crazy and wonder how you could possibly put your child at risk and make him suffer because of some whim of yours.

Now, relax, you know homeschooling is very beneficial and will actually help your child and not hurt him. But your family and friends dont know this and they are reacting the way they are out of love and care for you and your child although it might not seem that way. So, how do you defend your homeschool choice to friends and family?

Some individuals choose not to defend their choice at all. They simply say they are homeschooling their child and that is that. Friends and family members can complain, judge, or say what they want, but these individuals dont care and they stand firm. Then, there are the other folks out there who want the support of their friends and family members and need to defend their choice and make their loved ones understand.

In this situation you should provide websites, books, and percentages regarding homeschool to your loved ones so they can educate themselves a bit on the subject. If you dont address their fears and let them know that their fears are unfounded you will never be able to get them to come around. But, if you give them cold hard facts on homeschooling and let them know how this will help your child it is more than likely they will come around eventually.

Remember that sometimes you simply cant win all the battles. Some of your loved ones might support you, others might talk behind your back, and others might want to join you. After you have done all you can to defend your decision you will just have to take comfort knowing you are doing what is best for your child even if your family and friends think you are nuts.

Posted in Homeschool

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