The disapproving glances. The unsolicited advice. The warning by unhappy family members and friends that you're going to ruin your child if you try to teach him yourself.

Homeschooling parents sometimes have to contend with family, friends, and neighbors who feel justified in expressing their disapproval.

I had a neighbor who was like this. He thought my children should go to public school, so they could be “socialized.” The irony is that he would have easily won the “most-awful-neighbor” award if we had had one.

He was precisely the kind of person I did not want my children to become, rude and ill-mannered.

“A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.”

— George Santayana

The good news is, however, that other people’s disapproval of your education choice is not your problem; it’s theirs.

And here's four strategies you can use to keep them where they belong:

1) Ignore them

People who openly disrespect your choices, even after you’ve set boundaries with them, are people you probably want to phase out of your life. If they're family, however, you’re best approach is to limit your time with them as much as possible.

If you don’t, they'll undermine your confidence in your ability to teach your children, and you can’t afford to have your morale chipped at when you’re homeschooling.

You also don't want your children to over hear people disrespecting your choice to homeschool. It will not set the right example for your children if they see that you aren’t standing up for yourself, and if they see someone behaving in an ill-mannered way towards you, especially if it’s a family member.

As long as you and your spouse agree on homeschooling, and you don't have disapproving in-laws living with you, you should do your best to avoid the naysayers.

2) Educate the Ignorant

Many people are ignorant about the benefits to homeschooling, so if you find yourself defending your choice with people who are open to learning more, than I would work on educating them. Look for articles or videos online about the value and benefits of homeschooling and share these with the questioners.

Anything you share should be short and to the point. Make it easy for them to learn more.

If you think they’d be open to reading a short book on what’s wrong with public school, then I would buy them a copy of John Taylor Gatto’s Dumbing Us Down.

Be prepared to discuss the book and make sure you can counter any objections they might have. You’re on a mission to convince them that homeschooling is a wise choice, so you will need to prepare yourself.

And you never know, they could decide to homeschool too. Your efforts may rescue one more child from spending 12-years in a broken school system.

3) Find like-minded homeschoolers

Find like-minded families to spend time with because you’ll motivate each other and feel supported by one another. When people do express disapproval about homeschooling, they’ll be easier to ignore if you feel supported by other homeschoolers.

4) Be patient

When your children are young is when the disapprovers howl the most. Once your children are older, the proof of homeschooling will be evident, and there will be nothing to question.

“When training beats education, civilization dies.”

— C. S. Lewis

When your eldest is around age nine, people will begin to comment on how your child seems “different” but it’s a good sort of different they’ll notice. Compared to schooled children, your child will probably be more knowledgeable, interested in learning, and better mannered than his peers in school.

So be patient. If your naysayers have an ounce of humility, at some point they'll apologize and acknowledge the wise decision you made.

If not, who cares.