Today My Son Got Quizzed by a Random Person in the Post Office When They Found Out We Homeschool

My homeschooled son was randomly quizzed (yes, quizzed) while in line at the post office today by a random, middle-aged man who was standing in line behind us after he found out my son is homeschooled.

Man to my son: "Shouldn't you be in school today?"

Son: "No, homeschool."

Man: "Oh. Do you know your times tables?" (Note: My son is 6 and working on addition and subtraction.)

Son: "Um, what's that mean?"

Man: "What's 6 times 6?"

Son: "I don't know."

Man: "Who's the president of the United States?"

Son: "I don't know."

Me: "Who was the first president of the United States?"

Son: "George Washington!"

The older lady in front of us turns around and looks at me with a big smile.

Man: "Oh, well that's probably more important to know anyways."

Man to me: "What grade is he in?"

Me: "Kindergarten."

Man: "Oh." (You could tell he thought my son was a few grades older.) "Which school would your son be zoned for?"

Me: "-Told him the name of school.-"  (Writers note: This is one of the worst schools in the area with a Great School rating of 3 out of 10 which is based on test scores.)

Man: "Oh, I would send him."

Me: "Oh."

Man: "For the socialization, they need that."

Me: "He's in Cub Scouts and goes to library story time."

Man: "They get burned out of that."

Post Office Clerk: "Next!"

That would be me, so end of conversation.

Thinking back I wished I had smart-aleky replied, "And they don't get burnt out of public school?" Or also (after the socialization question): "I went to public school, I know all about its socialization. That's precisley why I'm not sending him."

Or: "We just left library storytime, we're at the post office and he's socializing with you right now and soon the post office clerk, plus he's in Cub Scouts and plays with kids at the park, in the neighborhood, etc. And not just age-segretated kids, but people of all ages in real life places."

The man even saw my son talking with the older man in a wheelchair in front of us about how he used to love getting packages in the mail with his mom when he was a kid as they both loved to pop the bubbles in the bubble wrap. I guess that doesn't count as "socialization" since the man wasn't calling him names, or telling him he's terrible at coloring, or that he's not cool enough to play with him.

I'll be better prepared next time, this was the first time I (or my son) has ever been quizzed like that about homeschooling. We've had a few questions but it usually ends at "Oh, you homeschool."