Did I write it on their foreheads?

Last week a woman commented to my son and husband, "Wow, you two look a lot alike."   

Oscar replied, "That’s because we have the same genes."

She said, "You’re homeschooled, aren’t you?"

Huh?  What gave it away?  I told her, surprised, that he was, and she explained, "One of my children is homeschooled."  I suppose if one of her children is homeschooled, she may be able to see some difference that I can’t… 

This isn’t the first time that’s happened, maybe the second or third.  I told Hannah about it this week.  She speculated that homeschooled kids stand out, not because they are smarter, not because they have a larger vocabulary, not because they are more articulate, but because they are more comfortable talking to adults. 

They expect that an adult who asks them a question is requesting a meaningful answer; they expect that an adult who addresses them directly is initiating a genuine conversation.  After all, homeschooled children are socialized primarily by adults, not primarily by other children their own age.

I would expect that some homeschooled kids would have a fairly tough time, conversely, engaging in conversations and other social activity with institutionally-schooled children their own age.   Of course, so do plenty of institutionally-schooled children!