Things Homeschoolers Don't Do as Well as Public Schoolers

 I am a pretty strong proponent of Homeschooling. Obviously, I wouldn't put all this time, effort, and money into it if I didn't think it was worth it, right? I have to admit that there are things Homeschoolers DON'T do as well as Public Schoolers though.

1) Carry heavy backpacks. One of the things Devon has complained most about being in school is lugging a heavy back pack everywhere. My kids have never had to carry all of their learning materials around all day before.

2) Walk in a line. Now, if you have more than the average 2-3 kids they might actually be good at this. In general,however, homeschoolers are horrible at walking in a line. We've had to teach this (with mixed results) to our scout troops before field trips.

3) Sit in a circle. Homeschoolers are notoriously bad at sitting in a circle. They usually are very good at sitting quietly and attentively, but not in a nice circle. We used to just give up and ask our girl Scouts to sit in an amoeba since that's how the circle always looked anyway.

4) Raising their hands. Raising your hand before talking in a group is something most homeschooled children have never experienced. I didn't even think to explain this concept to my kids. Then, we attended a lecture and my children were blurting out questions and answers. They were good at taking turns, but it didn't occur to them to raise their hands first.

5) Packing lunches. We do this once in a while for field trips and scout events, but often I just pack one lunch for all of us. Part of this is my problem since I don't buy all those cute little "lunch" packages.

6) Putting their name and date on their papers. Obviously I am aware of which work belongs to each child. I have a lot of kids, but not so many I can't tell whose paper is whose. In a group of scouts it gets a little harder. In a school classroom it's a necessity.

 Due to the individualized nature of homeschooling and the fact that most families are somewhat smaller than the average classroom, I find that many of the "classroom management" type actions just don't get taught. Most of the time that isn't a problem and some of the time it's actually beneficial. There are a few of these skills I'm actively trying to teach my kids though. They might not need any of them until they start college (although walking in a nice, straight line makes going out in public easier for me) but it can't hurt to teach some of them now.