Homeschool Myths: Homeschool Parents Are Just Lazy

As the concept of homeschooling continues to ease back into the mainstream, where it began, more and more questions and myths seem to follow. There is a great deal of controversy and confusion surrounding what exactly homeschool is, where it originated, what motivates people to choose homeschooling, and what may or may not be involved in the daily activities of a home school. In this, and other articles on the myths of homeschool, I plan to explore and help shed some light on some of these myths surrounding homeschool. My findings will come from personal experience and sometimes be combined with research studies or other evidence.

A common myth that seems to follow many parents who decide to homeschool their kids is the concept of laziness. It has been my experience that strangers often perceive parents who homeschool as being too lazy to bring their children to school. I say strangers because in my experience, even when people who are close to homeschooling families have questions, they usually don't center around laziness.

I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but the first time I heard this question, I had to stifle a laugh. Well, at least I tried to anyway. Eventually, it did accidentally come out. How could taking on the responsibility of a teacher, in addition to normal parenting duties, be seen as lazy? Still, I listened to the misinformed woman express her concerns.

In a friendly disagreement with my actions, she was concerned that because I wanted to homeschool my children, that meant I really was just tired of transporting them back and forth from school, as if teaching them was somehow easier than that. I sincerely hope that she doesn't treat the difficult tasks her child's teachers face every day with the same disregard.