What do you say to people.

Hubby and I are very strongly considering HE. well - i am decided, and i nearly have him fully round to my thinking!!!
I went out for drinks with some girls a week or so ago, and my bestie was over from indonesia. I casually mentioned that we were thinking of Home educating H.... and my god you would of thought i was talking about the end of the world.....
Now - what do you lovely and experienced HE mumma's say to those who are completely flummoxed/enraged/disbelieving....
my best friend did say that she thinks i'm doing it coz im a bit of a control freak (i am ) but that to do it would be really selfish..... apparently H needs to have other important figures in her life - like teachers... and me wanting to be the one to teach her stuff is selfish. I argued that is how it is now, and until she is 5... so why can't i carry on? It was then mentioned that i use a childminder... so how do i cope with that, but i see my CM as 'caring' for H - not being her primary 'teacher' and she only does 2 days a week. also - i chose the CM. whereas in school you have no say over teachers etc, and class sizes is a whole other ball game.

my main irk is the selfish comment.... is it selfish? is that a bad thing for H? Reassure me!!!!!!!

But it's not just you teaching her. It's her being able to 'teach' herself and learning from loads of people, from her grandparents to people you interact with in the street/park/group etc. Much better than a teacher she might not like in a potentially boring, repetitive classroom environment xx

thanks sarah!
I just wish i could think straight when put on the spot!!
do you/have you encountered much opposition to HE?
It upsets me that just because it isn't the 'norm' it must be wrong/scary/stupid...

Oh yes! The most upsetting/annoying one was sil saying how we were ruining our kids and they won't be sociable. Even after all the facts I gave she was still adamant school was best for everyone and our kids were going to be deprived. *sigh* the next day she apologized but still!!! I get alot of 'you're mad/mental/rod for your own back' comments but I just shrug them off now with a reply like 'why, because I want to better my children, with 1 on 1 support and keep learning fun? Or because I like to make my life as hard as possible?'

A good end of conversation line I use is 'thank you for your input, but we've researched HE and made an informed choice, if it all goes to pot you can say 'I told you so'' usually shuts them up lol

A good end of conversation line I use is 'thank you for your input, but we've researched HE and made an informed choice, if it all goes to pot you can say 'I told you so'' usually shuts them up lol

i like this - shall try to memorise!!! xxx

I don't really know much about HE, I don't plan to do it and I don't know anyone who does, but I don't think it is selfish if you are doing it for H's benefit and not your own. I think every parent should be able to decide what they want for their child/children without being judged especially by people who know nothing about it. I would probably just say you are doing what you feel is best for H and there are lots of benefits to it etc.

Did she mean selfish or was she trying to say indoctrinate? Just reading between the lines a bit about her comments on needing input from other people and her saying you're a control freak. 'Cause I think that's a more common objection to HE. (May have completely mis-read it though!)

Send her this

Can't see this video on your phone? Tap here to watch zDZFcDGpL4U in your Youtube player

You child, your choices x

Did she mean selfish or was she trying to say indoctrinate? Just reading between the lines a bit about her comments on needing input from other people and her saying you're a control freak. 'Cause I think that's a more common objection to HE. (May have completely mis-read it though!)

hmm...yeah... actually i think you're right.

thanks for the link - LOVE it!!! xxx