What Are Homeschoolers?

Today I decided to address the topic of homeschooling misconceptions.

I feel like there’s two main misconceptions, there’s probably more but these are the two I’m aware of.
1) Homeschoolers are super smart. Like, you graduated when you were five years old because you’re a genius child.
2) Homeschoolers have no friends because we’re totally hermits.

So first of all, this is just my opinion on the matters at hand, every homeschooler is different.

1) Homeschoolers are super smart.
We wish.
I mean, I’m not saying we’re totally dumb but just because you’re homeschooled does not mean you’re the next Einstein. (Besides, if that was true, there’d be a lot of Einsteins out there.)
For me, I’m just like every other person out there. I excel at some subjects and I struggle in others.
I’m not a human Athena. I wish but I’m not.

2) Homeschoolers have no friends.
Yeah, because we live in the woods and don’t socialize. We live on farms, make all our own food, and have never heard of a tv or McDonald’s.
Wrong!
Some homeschoolers live on farms. So do some public schoolers. It’s not that weird...or whatever you want to call it.
I’ve also heard that homeschoolers don’t socialize. That’s right. We don’t. We just huddle in our huts and do school all day and then are expected to go to college at age 14 and no talk to anyone.
Yeah. That’s right.
Also wrong!
We do socialize. In fact, I homeschooled with a few different families and different groups over my schooling expereince. If that’s not socializing and making friends then I don’t know what is.

These are two expert videos about homeschooling. Or making fun of it but in a way that is homeschooler a proved so it’s fine.

This one is a song.

There are a lot of misconceptions about homeschoolers but in the end we’re basically just like everyone else.

We can also be super funny. For example:
100 Hilarious Homeschool Manners

A Special Thank You Letter

I've been meaning to write this for ages and only now have I finally sat down to do it.
I'm doing it here because I don't have these people's addresses and it would be crazy trying to send a copy to everyone on the planet.

To cleaners,
Thank you for being so great at your jobs.
I first realized just how important your job is a few months ago when I was staying at a hotel. I realized that while the front desk staff is great and all, the big people who sell a hotel, are the people behind the scenes, the cleaners. (I'm sorry if this is not how you identify yourselves, I don't have another word for it.)
I mean, I wouldn't want to stay in a hotel if the room where messy and disgusting, no matter how nice and hospitable the staff is.
But this is to more than just the hotel/motel cleaners, I would also like to include the dish cleaners. I'm at college now and it's really great that there are staff and students willing to clean up after me. (Of course, they're getting paid but still.) Without them, we'd be eating off the tables, napkins, our hands; it'd be pretty disgusting.
To cleaners around the world, whether you be working at a hotel, in a cafeteria, as a garbage worker, parent, whatever, thank you so much. I think we sometimes take your work for granted which is really sad because we'd all be in trouble without your services.
You are truly heroes in a modern world.
Thank you.
Beryl Brame

And that's it.
It's not long or particularly eloquent but I really don't care.
I do think it's unfortunate though how much we (or, al least, I) take these people for granted. We just look at clean hotel rooms and pick up the clean silverware in the cafeteria and think, "I just want to sleep" or "What are we eating today?"
Where would be be without these cleaning superheroes?
In a dirty, disgusting world, that's where.
We are so lucky to have these people and whether or not they do it because they want to or because it pays the bills, I applaud them. It's not easy, I'm sure.

"When something does not insist on being noticed, when we aren't grabbed by the collar or struck on the skull by a presence or an event, we take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."

- Cynthia Ozick

Recognize All The Gifts Around You

So a while ago (I guess it was more like a few months ago), I saw this video And I thought, "wow, I take a lot of stuff for granted. Like a lot of stuff."
It's like when you get a paper cut on your thumb and it's tender so you avoid using it and you suddenly realize just how important your thumb is.
Or when the internet isn't connecting and you realize just how much you use the internet on a daily basis. (It's also kind of nice too though, you know, a little time to unplug.)

I'm not the best person at this but I'm trying to be.
And I think it's pretty important too. I mean, there are people out there who do not have what we have and whether they're perfectly fine without it or struggling, we should be super grateful for what we have.
Just looking around me right now, I'm so grateful for bathrooms (those are insanely vital things, you know), toothbrushes and toothpaste, pictures, technology, chapstick, planners, books, post-it notes, the list could go on and on.
And I really don't need all of those things, I mean, I could totally live without post-it notes but life is so much better with them for me, at least, I don't know about you all.

There is so much to be thankful for in this world. There may be so much hate and violence and sorrow and loss but there's also so much light and goodness and smiles and love.
Despite all the tragic and crazy things happening all over the globe, we live in a pretty wonderful world.

Are You Seeing Or Are You Only Looking?

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." - Helen Keller.

            What does that mean? How can you have sight but no vision? How does that even work?

            Maybe it's like wearing a pair of sunglasses.

            Yes, I know, sunglasses have a purpose; they protect our eyes from the death rays of the sun (…sort of). But there's something else that sunglasses do; they impair our vision. When we wear our shades, we don't see the world in the same way that we would without them. With them on, everything is tinted grey. We can still see just fine (unless your sunglasses are dirty) but we don't see things in their entirety.

            Are we looking but not seeing? Do we look around us at the people, the places, the things, but without truly seeing them?

            Do we, as they say, stop to smell the roses? Do we really see the people in our lives or do we just look at them?

            It's easy to go through life just going through the motions and not really seeing the wonderful world around us; there's just so much to do, so many challenges to overcome, and lots of pursuits to follow. Life can be crazy hectic and everyone knows it.

            But if you just took even one minute, only 60 seconds out of your day, to stop and really see the world around us for what it really is, you'd find something incredible. Maybe that means being out in nature for a minute or spending quality time with someone; seeing is different for everyone.

            I'm not saying I'm perfect, I'm busy just like everyone else on the planet, but I know that when I take the time to really see the world around me, I'm greatly rewarded.

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 www.marveloptics.com

Put Down the Umbrella - Don't Be Afraid To Get Wet!

I love this video. I think it sums up life pretty well. We all see ourselves as the woman in the yellow jacket and while we are having fun in the rain, we don't want to stand out and be so different from the numerous umbrella wielding crowd.
However, as said in the video, by taking down our umbrella, we can receive the blessings and guidance we desire.
Blessings are all around us; that kind man who held the door open for you at the store, the kind woman who just smiled and brightened your day, the text from a friend wishing you luck on an upcoming text, the green light when you were late for work or a class, the list can go on and on.
We are showered we blessings, we just need to let down our umbrellas and open our eyes and really see them.

Phones

Phones are a way of communication.
However, they can also be a time-sucking tool. I mean, look around. You might be surprised at how many people have phones and are on them. It's like watching a movie; your eyes are glued to the screen.

One thing David Lubar is known for is his Weenies Stories series which are kind of like horror/what-if? stories.
For example (spoilers!), in the story Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies, a kid at school looks around and everyone, including the teacher, is on their phones. Well, along comes this alien or something (I don't really remember) and everyone but this one kid who is phone-less, gets eaten by it because they're too busy trying to find a solution to their problem on their phones.

Now, that's taking it a little to the extreme, obviously, but you get the idea. And I'm sure you've seen this, people at restaurants or at the store or whatever and all they seem to do is look down at their phone.
Well, I think it's time we all take a stand against this war with screen time. And, yes, I get it, phones and the endless things you can do on them are fun but they're not all necessary. Seriously, just turn off your phone for a little while each day. I mean, is it really going to be that hard?
And yes, some people do have reasons for having their phones on, for example if a family member was int he hospital or you're a first responder or something but I think we can all try taking some time off the screen.

(The ironic thing is you're probably reading this on a computer or mobile device.)