As someone who was homeschooled through a good portion of my grade school, I understand many of the benefits and struggles of being THAT kid during high school. A lot of people on the outside don't understand everything we have to do. I figured I would put this list of five (5) things I and most homeschool families hate to hear, and why we hate them when engaging in our "limited" social interaction.

1. You need to go to public school to get the full experience.

Honestly, sometimes I did wish that I could go to public school. Mainly because there were more people, and public school had band. However, I had the opportunity to be in an outstanding choir. Because we were homeschooled, I actually had a big first because of it. Our group was one of the first homeschool choirs to compete at a state level as well as send students to both All-state and Honor Choir.

2. Wait you're homeschooled, but you are so social.

This is so frustrating. While yes, there are many students who are anti-social, many or even most of us are extremely outgoing social butterflies. Myself being one of them. If I am not mistaken, there are quite of few anti-social students in public as well as private school.

3. I bet you do barely any actual schoolwork.

Actually, no. When you are homeschooled, most of the time you do at least four (4) hours of school work. However, to anyone who has been homeschooled or is in a homeschool family knows that any time can end up becoming a time for education. A trip to the park can turn into science, cooking dinner can become part of home ec., and buying groceries can turn into math or money management. Also, homeschoolers don't normally get to take breaks during holidays, snow days, or weekends. Sometimes we do, but not always.

4. You must not have any group involvement.

Well, again some do not, but many of us are involved in many organizations. Anyone who knows me knows that I am always involved in something. In high school, I was in a drama club, choir, Boy Scouts, swim team, and much more. I was very involved, and most homeschool kids are as well.

5. What are you doing here, shouldn't you be in school.

Getting the confused looks from retail employees was classic. Sometimes I would be followed by the employees. Because of the fact that most school kids don't finish school till around three in the afternoon, seeing me wander around a store I guess was concerning for them. Referring back to point number 3, anytime can be a time for education. Don't be concerned about if I am in school, be concerned that I am stuck learning. Just kidding. No, but really save the children from the continuous learning.

As you can see, we aren't as secluded and sheltered as you might think. When you get to know us, we are also pretty cool people so don't let the fact that we are or were homeschooled get in the way of being awesome friends.