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| Facing Downright Hostility |  You have to understand that a whole lot of homeschoolers started homeschooling after an extremely trying time with a single public school teacher. This makes them a wary lot in general: they never again want to put their child in such a situation again. Some may get downright harsh toward you. Can you face it?
If you say you have children, you're sure to be asked, "Why don't you homeschool?" Think about the answer on this question. You may say something like this, "I feel we are doing what is best for our family and child and his learning styles and needs at this time."
What homeschoolers are trying to know about you is: do you really understand what "natural learning" is? Will you cope with children who have been allowed this kind of free spirited learning for a good deal of their lives? These children are usually quite capable of accepting a "give and take, hands-on" kind of learning experience, but often rebel at "top down" instruction. Imagine yourself in a grad school seminar, only the students are 8 years old, and you get the idea of what a homeschool "class" may be like. These children are used to being treated with the same respect as grad students, maybe a little more.
All the homeschoolers talk a lot about "deschooling" or "decompression" when they first leave the school system. You'll have to go through this as well. It is a lot like detoxing an alcoholic. You've been addicted to an unnatural form of learning, and though you now sense there is a better way, you may need to take some time to actually be able to let yourself "get with the flow," as the New Agers among us might say. Old homeschoolers know you are in this stage and may be sort of laughing behind your back. It is advised to ask them for help deschooling. It will throw them off that you know the lingo.
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