#37 Bashing schoolteachers...
Sometimes there is a tense relationship between homeschoolers and professional teachers. Some teachers see homeschooling as an insult to their profession or have had bad experiences with homeschooled kids who return to school and are, in their opinion, "behind". Some homeschoolers became homeschoolers because of bad experiences with specific teachers. However, slamming teachers in general isn't fair, and we should avoid it.
We as a society need teachers. Even if you believe that every family could homeschool, not every family wants to, and their kids need someone to teach them and a safe place to be during the day. There are lots of good teachers in the world, and they can make a huge difference for kids in school, especially kids with difficult homelives. In a lot of ways, we as homeschoolers have a huge advantage in teaching over professional teachers. We get to choose all of our own curriculum, set our own schedules, and change things at will if they aren't working. As a homeschooler, I've always hesitated to call myself a teacher because I see homeschooling as an extension of parenting, and in many ways quite different from teaching a classroom of other people's kids.
Even if you aren't a fan of the institution of school, its important to remember that some kids really do love school and thrive there. And lots of homeschooling families have kids in school and kids at home, or put their kids in school and then take them out again depending on what seems like the best fit for a given school year. So criticizing teachers, and schools by extension, may make for some awkward conversation at your homeschool group.
We can't make every schoolteacher support homeschooling, but we can open the door to better relations by treating schoolteachers and their profession with respect.
