If you missed it: at an Oct. 17 town hall in Caro, Michigan, a guy calling himself “Tommy” stood up and demanded that Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (who is Muslim) disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed said “absolutely,” then flipped it on him and walked him through the Constitution and religious freedom.

Tommy, who said he was Christian, wouldn’t disavow putting religious doctrine into law, and the crowd sent him off chanting “Bye, Tommy.”

Turns out he’s Thomas Teepell, a former Josh Hawley staffer. And his dad is Timmy Teepell, who was homeschooled in Baton Rouge by a family active in the local homeschool movement. As a teen, Timmy met Michael Farris (HSLDA founder in case you don't know) and went to work for Farris’s lobbying group in D.C., then ran Farris’s Madison Project PAC. From there he became Bobby Jindal’s campaign manager, then his chief of staff as Louisiana governor, and later ran Jindal’s 2016 presidential campaign.

ML Greynolds wrote a great Substack piece on this called “The Indoctrination Long Game,” and the title says it all...Mike Farris and the HSLDA never hid the plan: raise a generation of homeschooled kids, train them up, and send them into politics. Timmy is that plan succeeding. He went from Farris’s lobbying shop to running a governor’s office, and now his son is standing up at a town hall telling a Muslim candidate he’d keep religious doctrine in the law. That’s two generations of indoctrination, and it’s the long game paying off exactly as designed.

Greynolds also writes about growing up in that culture and slowly becoming a skeptic of it, which a lot of us here will recognize.

Jindal’s group America Next reportedly offered college Republicans money to go heckle El-Sayed events. No proof Tommy was paid or sent, but still I wouldn't be surprised...

Greynolds says Tommy was homeschooled too, but I haven’t found another source confirming it. Anyone know?

Link to the substack piece: https://mlgreynolds.substack.com/p/the-indoctrination-long-game

I was homeschooled literally my entire life. Until I went to college at age 18, I never spoke to someone within twenty years of my age (aside from my brother). When I finally went to college, my social skills were so garbage I literally couldn’t interact with anyone around me. I made friends and routinely fucked everything up with them because I was essentially a toddler in the body of an 18 year old. Now I’m 22 and graduated and I’ve learned a lot. My social skills, I believe, are much better now but now I am back to never being around anyone my age, just like my entire life before college. How do you meet people? I went to meet up groups but they’re mostly people in their 30s-40s who think I’m weird for not having friends at my age. I joined local classes but it’s the same. I go to the bar by my house and it’s the same. My coworkers are all men in their 40s-50s and don’t want to hang out with a 22 year old woman unless sex comes with it, ditto for guys I meet at the comic store (sucks because I love comic books). Where do 20-something’s….. go. What do they do. Why am I always just out of step with everyone my age, once I finally catch up they’ve moved on. How does anyone live being this lonely?

Hello all- I don’t normally post on Reddit but I am struggling with how to deal with the ramifications of my high school experience as a homeschooler.

I am 24 years old and I have wanted to go to college since I was a kid. I have a great relationship with my parents, but I find myself at a loss often with how unprepared they left me for a potential further education. Neither of them attended college, and I am the oldest, so I don’t think they really considered what I would need in the future to pursue a further education past high school.

The struggle I am having is that I basically have no legal proof of my high school education. My transcript is written up in a Google doc, my high school diploma was printed through a random website and signed by my mother, and I have no signed superintendent letter. I have tried to get one from the board of education in the state I grew up in but they were never able to validate it.

I am at a loss and feeling so discouraged that I am rejected from every college I apply to because my transcript is not considered valid and I have no other choice then to pursue my GED. I guess I am just wondering if this is a unique experience or if other ex-homeschoolers have felt this kind of experience.

Thanks for reading my rant, I just signed up for GED classes. 🙃

So I got my learners permit in early 2024 and so far I’ve only got 3 drivers lessons from parents. I live in dc so they only last 2 years but because of this apathy to be taught nearly 2 years later and I’m nowhere near ready to take my road test. Side note that in dc after age 21 (I’m 23) there is no minimum driving time before taking the test. I don’t know how to drive on a highway are barely know how to navigate streets.

Before anyone mentions driving school. It’s extremely, extremely expensive ($500 for 8 hours I think) I can’t afford it, I am in between jobs rn. I don’t know what to do I really don’t. I’m already embarrassed because I know I’m a huge loser (no I don’t wanna hear “you’re not a loser” in the comments) because I don’t have my GED or diploma either and all of my peers have both. My parents have just been apathetic and not very supportive of me since 6th grade after deciding to throw me into online school which wasn’t for me.

I seriously need a drivers license because I need independence

I know this might be a stupid question, but like HOW do you make friends in your 20’s?? For a little bit of context, I was homeschooled since middle school, so I grew up having literally no friends and was completely isolated for the majority of my life. I’m now a 21 year old college freshman and I literally know nobody, and I mean LITERALLY nobody. My socials look so odd because I don’t have any followers and my contacts consist literally only of my immediate family and my local Mexican restaurant. It’s starting to get really embarrassing and pretty depressing being a grown woman without anyone to talk to and hangout with that’s around my age.

I was kinda under the impression that when I started college that I’d naturally make friends just by being around people, but last semester proved that wasn’t the case and I still don’t really know anyone. This semester I tried joining my club’s LGBTQ club (I’m a lesbian) thinking that might help since it’s a social setting, but unfortunately it wasn’t available to join, and none of the other clubs my college has really seem like something I’d enjoy or would be good for socializing with people. People in my classes have talked with me before, but it never went past surface level conversations and we’ve never spoken again. Since I’m a 21 year old freshmen, it just seems weird for me to try to make friends with people I’m assuming are younger than me, so I’m not actively trying to talk to people for that reason.

It really doesn’t help my situation that I have extreme social anxiety that I developed from growing up so isolated. I literally can’t have a single conversation with someone without feeling like I’m gonna have an anxiety attack. My heart will start beating out of my chest and I’ll start feeling like I’m burning up to the point my face will turn apple red, even if the conversation only lasts like 5 seconds. I’m just so scared that since I’m homeschooled and lack social skills that I come off as weird or off-putting to people. I’m terrified that people are going to think I’m weird and every time I talk to someone it feels like I’m desperately trying to seem likable and normal, but I’ll always find something I did or said to overthink and torture myself over for weeks, even if it’s something small and insignificant like the way I was standing. It literally feels like I’m an alien that knows absolutely nothing about humans and is trying to blend in with the human race.

My two main questions are how could I go about making friends as a 21 year old woman and how do I cope with my social anxiety? I live in a pretty small town, so there really aren’t many social events/spaces to go to even if I was brave enough to go. I’d prefer to have in-person friends to physically go hangout with, but at this point I’d be fine with a way to make virtual friends as well. I’m actually really anxious to post this since I never really post anything publicly and I’ve never shared anything this personal to anyone before. I apologize if this post is kinda long, I just want to fully explain my situation and kinda vent too. This is also my first time posting on Reddit, so yippee.

It’s happened several times now?? I think it’s cause there’s technically a lot of overlap between online school and homeschool and some people consider them to be the same. I personally don’t for myself because I was unschooled and am now in online school as an adult by my own choice, trying very hard to pull myself out of it and get an education. Ik some of my teachers just have their kids in online school too? But that is like… potentially also bad with the social isolation. (If you’re here and were put in online school and negatively affected by it you’re absolutely valid still dw. I am just coming from different circumstances.) But I don’t even know if they just mention homeschooling their kids offhandedly without any details what they mean by that. Dude my geometry teacher just said this and I just felt this sinking in my chest like… oh, I cannot trust this man. I thought he was nice!! Man fuck this I hate that homeschooling is considered socially acceptable. I just heard “I am hurting my own children in the exact same way that you were hurt. Anyway angles…” I can’t pay attention to angles anymore I am so sorry. And it adds to the imposter syndrome that I was really ever hurt at all when the way I was is NOT EVEN WIDELY CONSIDERED TO BE A BAD THING. This man mentioned it casually without a second thought. You wouldn’t be like “oh I hit my children. Anyway angles.” You would get reported or something! Oh my god I hate that the way I was abused is legal. My stupid ass state doesn’t even have like, required government testing like some do. My parents were allowed to just take me out of school and not give me ANY education, with zero repercussions. Nobody would have like… cared if they knew. My relatives all knew and didn’t care. They didn’t know I wasn’t taught ANYTHING but still. I just didn’t have friends for my entire childhood and they didn’t care. So it just feels like I am going insane and this was never a real bad thing that happened to me at all

Hellooo, I'm posting this here cause I'm struggling to make friends that I can relate to anywhere else and feeling pretty isolated :') I have a few other online friends but no irl. I was 'unschooled' my whole life, have never been in school and was also diagnosed with Autism this year which adds to the social struggle chaos!

I love Doctor Who, Good Omens, David Tennants work (current fave actor), Loads of music (I'm really obsessed with music >:)). I also love space, although I don't know much about it it's very exciting to me. I am pretty quiet and introverted but if I'm talking about my interests or comfortable with you I can be pretty talkative :>

Pms are open if you vibe!! I'd really like to have more people to speak about my silly problems and happy things with 🙃

20 days clean that's almost 3 weeks!

Saw in another sub but couldn't crosspost.

Hi everyone, I was homeschooled all 12 years by my white supremacist dad. I know absolutely no science and only addition and subtraction in math. I have also been realizing lately that all the history I was taught is wrong and incredibly white washed. My question is how do you guys deal with this? I technically have my high school diploma because my parents forged my transcripts so it’s not like I need a diploma. But every day I’m realizing more and more how little I know. I want to learn what I don’t know but because of how I was schooled I don’t even know how to study or really learn things the way other people do. I’m just really tired of feeling dumb and behind and I have no idea how to fix it.

I haven't seen it yet, but am excited to see it. For those that don't know, it apparently includes a big homeschooling narrative, with Carrie having been homeschooled and the problems arising when she goes to high school.

This is something I struggled with and I know many others here have also. For anyone who has seen it already, is this ok? Is it generally in support of us and anti-homeschooling or do you think I might be angry at seeing it?

I am familiar with the OG Carrie movie and love the idea of framing it as a homeschool victim, but am worried it won't do us justice.

Can anyone say it's ok for us without spoiling it please?

I'm currently in grade 11. I just often feel like school and life are too easy for me compared to my friends, and when they tell me about their horrible experiences suffering through assignments, deadlines, and the school being inconsiderate of their students, I feel so guilty. I never know what to say, especially since they know I can't truly understand them, being homeschooled.

This has also been affecting my self esteem. I'm not especially diligent in school and I often cheat. I just don't feel normal, I feel immature for my age, like there are many things I should already be worrying about concerning my future. but I have not looked into any universities and I'm not sure what I want to work as.

thank you for reading this, God bless.

I'm seventeen and I've been through a lot of educational neglect. My family is on the poorer side, and I've been growing up in really squalid conditions. I often don't have access to running water or basic hygiene supplies like soap or toothpaste.

When I was younger my parents never really made sure that I was taking care of myself properly. That combined with the dirtiness of everything, social isolation, and depression just completely kills my drive to take care of myself consistently.

I frequently go weeks to months without showering or brushing my teeth, and my lack of bathing even lead to a life-threatening infection once that required me to be hospitalized and spend some time in a psych ward.

Poor hygiene has always been an issue for me and I've been fighting hard to try and get better at it 😓

Does anyone else have issues with hygiene?

t4l is what I’m homeschooled with, and I hate it. recently I learned that the person that reviews my work isn’t a person, but an ai, a clanker. I was going to submit my art work as an artist, but now I refuse. I also refuse to put any other creative works there, such as my short stories. recently it told me to come up with one. I absolutely refused. first image is what it told me to do, 2nd is my defiance, 3rd is proof that i submitted it. I actually feel so proud of myself.

I am a grown woman, who went to a 4 year university and graduated with a bachelor's degree, has worked, is married and a mom to 3 kids and I still wonder if I come across weird, if I come across like I was homeschooled.

I was homeschooled in the early 2000's from 6th-12th grade. It was uncommon compared to now and I always kept it a secret at college because I never wanted anyone to know. I still hesitate to mention it, and I always worry when I do if people are like oh yeah.... that's why she's weird.

Anyone else?

Its hard but its so worth it to show myself I'm not stupid and there is hope for me. Memorizing them better than ever now that my dad isn't slamming a piece of paper in front of me and making me repeat them for hours for days at a time.

Ok now for my question; if I do all of the first picture does that mean I can basically skip all of the second picture so it won't take as long to do? I mean I think I'm doing well with my reading, grammar, and vocab so I feel like for me I don't have to do all that.

Also I'm using Khan academy as well as cheap school books off Amazon if that means anything.

So i need to get my GED. Unfortunately I was homeschooled all of my life, educationally neglected. Im 18 now and trying hard to get my shit together so I wont be stuck at an entry level job for the rest of my life. There's no way a homeschool High-school diploma actually means anything, especially when I have nothing to show for it. So im getting a GED.

And i looked it up online for some tips on how to study for it. But all I literally got was people repeatedly saying its not going to go anywhere. Where i "statistically" will drop out of college, wont get a degree, wont get paid as much as those with a diploma. But i literally dont have a choice in this. So is it as bad? Will i less likely get accepted into colleges because of this and other jobs? Because they wont think im as qualified as someone with a diploma.​ Could someone tell me your experience with this?

EDIT: I didn't think my post would get this many comments but im so grateful for it! All of you people have shown me there is hope for a better future for someone like me. Thank you❤️

Before anything, yes I know this is my own fault. I should’ve been prioritizing this. But I’ve always suffered from depression and never had motivation to do anything. I started online highschool in 2024. Like an idiot I decide to waste my life away, procrastinating, thinking well I have lots of time, because my deadline is February 19 2027. I only have ONE credit done because I believed I could rush and do everything last minute. Am I able to do this if I work hard enough? Is it possible? If not am I able to call Penn foster and extend my deadline till the end of the 2027 somehow?? Please help.

So I was wondering if this would help anybody in my area if I uploaded the whole thing not the answer key obviously but like the questions themselves so people know exactly what they need to study is a vaguely being told a grade level because they don't test all the math skills you learn in a grade.

For instance they are testing coordinates when you learn other stuff like operations alongside coordinates but they're only testing simple coordinates instead of complex so you could spend all your time learning complex coordinates and in the process completely missing how to simplify them quickly enough to pass a test.

Meaning even if you're given hours upon hours upon hours you'll still fail not because you don't know the material just because you don't know how to simplify and yes studying how to simplify math equations is its own beast.

Barely knew basic grammar and didn’t know multiplication. Signed up for in person GED classes and finally feel like a functioning adult at age 28.

I’ve been wanting this for years after thinking my whole life I was stupid. Turns out with the right support you can accomplish more than you think. If I can do it you can too! Now to study for my SAT.

EDIT:

Since some of you guys were asking tips here’s what I did.

I used Getsummath on YouTube/ his website plus help from my professors at GED classes. Getsummath pretty much covered every single GED subject, including step by step on how to solve math problems.

https://www.getsummath.com/

If you were behind like me in multiplication you can buy flash cards from Amazon/online. However, since most of the GED math section allows calculator I was able to learn algebra and stuff without having my entire multiplication table learned (still learning, but I still passed my exam).

If you can sign up for GED classes. Most GED classes are do at your own pace (like mine) so you’re not stressed out/pressured to finish in a certain timeline. I finished my GED in 3 months. I had an option of either in person classes, online, or mixed. I chose in person because I learn better face to face. If you’re in the USA GED classes are sometimes free, mine was.

I feel like for me it has been. And it wasn’t working out. last year I enrolled into an adult education program at a community college and just the way things were set up I didn’t understand anything. ( been homeschooled and unschooled)

They made me take a test to see where I was at so that they could kind of put me in what class and from what I took math has always been the worst. And they said they didn’t really know where to put me so they just let me work on things to see if I progress.

I kind of gave up after. Since I wasn’t progressing and I only did it because my parents wanted me to get my GED after homeschooling/unschooling me...

It feels like a big slap in the face. Why do if I have to do that?

And since it didn’t really work with me they had something called IXL that helped a lot! But I kind of gave up being in the adult education program and I don’t think I’m in it anymore. I just use khan academy and study.com. I do admit, I procrastinate a lot. My main focus is to relearn my math because that’s really all I have and maybe English. But a part of me just doesn’t wanna live because I just feel too old to even enter college anymore to even have a degree. I feel too old that I shouldn’t even feel like I’m deserving of one because of how much educational neglect I’ve endure. But now it’s my fault since I’m an adult and just keep procrastinating. I just feel really alone in this process and time is only getting worse. 

But my goal is to create my own homeschool transcript and hopefully enroll in community college to build credit and then transfer to a 4 year uni. It’s just been very har. my parents still think I am in the GED program but I don’t think I am. The cc accepts homeschool transcripts so maybe it won’t be too hard to make my own. The GED seems hard or maybe I’m dumb