Episode Details

News from the government and public schools has been disturbing recently, and homeschool organizations are reporting an increase in inquiries from families who are now considering moving away from the public school option. There are always questions though – is this legal here? Will my kids be able to get into college or a job one day? Will my family turn out weird?

This episode, we’ll share some of our own observations from over twenty years of homeschooling our own family – and maybe encourage you to take a serious look at homeschooling your own!

Thinking About Homeschooling? Every Question You’re Afraid to Ask (Sweet 13 Replay)

Thirteen years of this network, and some questions never change. Hal and Melanie Young sat down in 2015 to answer the four things every parent asks before they pull the trigger on homeschooling: Is this legal? Will my kids turn out weird? Will they get into college? And the quiet one underneath all of them — am I qualified to do this? Their answers have held up. We’re replaying it for the network’s 13th birthday.

Show notes

The question behind the question (01:10)

Families start asking about homeschooling when something in the headlines unsettles them. That was true in 2015 and it is true now. Hal and Melanie’s point: whatever drives you to look, the questions you ask next are the same ones every homeschool parent has asked.

“Is it even legal?” 

Legal in all fifty states and most countries. Every state recognizes home education under some structure, and nobody is being asked to take a constitutional stand anymore — HSLDA’s attorneys already fought those cases. hslda.org → click your state → read exactly what your law requires.

“Will my kids turn out weird?”

 Hal on what twelve years of classroom conformity did to him — the teasing, the pressure to not lift your head above the crowd, and how long it took in adult life to shake off. Melanie’s counter: homeschooled kids don’t get told that the way God made them is wrong.

The socialization answer

“The best kind of socialization is socialization for the adult world.”

Followed by the line that reframes the whole argument: you are preparing a young person for the grown-up world by sitting them in a room with twenty-five fourth graders exactly like themselves — and hoping they pick it up by osmosis. Homeschooled kids learn it the natural way, standing beside you at the town office and in the neighbor’s driveway.

“Will they get into college?”

The question dads ask when their child is three. The answer from the Youngs’ own house: three graduated, all admitted, all on academic scholarships. Many of the colleges they visited have an admissions officer specifically assigned to recruit homeschoolers.

“Am I qualified to teach?”

Teaching twenty unrelated fifth graders