The Socialization Issue in Homeschooling

The Socialization Issue

by: Natasha  Wunderlich

When I tell people I am homeschooling my children the thing most people respond with is, “But what about socialization?”

This is the question every homeschooling parent gets asked a lot. It is also the question that homeschooling parents get tired of answering. However, it is important that we, as a homeschool community, know how to answer this question and how to address worries about the issue.

My short answer is this, “My son goes to activities and has friends and spends more time out of the house than in it. He’s doing fine socially.” This answer lets people

Socialization Benefits of Homeschooling

Hello! Socialization IS a Benefit of Home Schooling
Guest article by Chris Nesmith

Whenever the topic of family education faces, a question is raised to be sure - that of socialization. While even the most cynical skeptics can't deny that there are several advantages of home schooling (such as children at home have better results in all areas than their public school or private) They seem to dwell on the social aspects of family education, standing by the mistaken belief that home schooling stifles a child's ability to socialize.

It's actually easy to see things from their point of view and to understand why they came to such hasty conclusions. The style of home schooling implies a lower teacher-student ratio (an aspect many regard as one of the best advantages of home schooling), which means that a home-schooler has more interaction with children his or her age compared to a child who goes to school, where the interaction is virtually inevitable in a classroom.

But while skeptics argue that keeping children away from a predominantly social setting stunt their socialization, the public school supporters insist that confining children to the school will allow them to better develop their social skills. In fact, these adherents believe that improving the socialization is yet another advantage of home schooling, even though it is often overlooked.

How is this so? To begin with, home-schooled children have their parents as their main influence, and not a peer group that could childhood (and probably more) distorts their values and perspectives, significantly delaying their willingness to confront the real world. Children from the school may allow more time to interact with their peers, but to confine socialization within a certain age group (and not very mature as that in).

The style of home schooling, on the other hand, gives children the chance to be influenced by people who know what they are like in the real world and whose priorities are passing on a good set of values, as opposed to Impose misconceptions of what's "cool" and what's not. What's more, these kids get to interact with people of different ages, simply by staying in their parents' protective wing, teaching them to socialize outside of their age group and allow for a broader, more mature point of view.

And indeed, to be educated at home doesn't mean that a child can interact with his peers at all. There's a lot of time to do that when the school and most of the day lessons were made. Concerns naturally come to the socialization of those who have never had any experience of home schooling to begin with. But those who are lucky enough to have dared to try knowing that socialization isn't a problem have come to the realization that home schooling is just as effective social as the surrounding public and private schools.

For more information please take a look at my blog: http://socialhomeschooling.blogspot.com/

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Social Outlets for Homeschooled Kids

How much is enough?

The biggest criticism or concern I hear from non-homeschooling families when I mention our own homeschool, is the potential for isolation from other children. I often wonder how much social time it takes to produce a well rounded individual, but seriously doubt it takes a classroom full of children.

There are countless ways for the homeschooling family to insure their kids have the means of developing deep friendships with other children their own age, and have continued opportunities to make new friends along the way. One of the perks to being a homeschooling mom, is I have the privilege to choose those avenues and consequently have a great deal of influence over who my kids hang out with and I’m usually there when they do.

Just a few suggestions for getting your kids involved in communities of children:

1. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, and other similar organizations

2. Gymnastics, dance, karate, swim lessons, soccer teams, little league

3. Homeschooling groups, associations, clubs, field trips, homeschooling coops

4. Church groups, Sunday School, Mid-week programs, MOPS, Mom’s Day Out programs, etc.

5. Library activities, often available to young children.

6. Art classes and workshops hosted by area retailers

7. Here’s a revolutionary idea… host your own homeschooling playgroup, art or craft workshop, pizza party, day at the park, day at the museum… whatever suits you. If it’s a hit, make it a regular monthly event. If you’re purchasing supplies, most homeschoolers won’t blink an eye at covering the expense. Charging a couple dollars per child, isn’t usually a problem.

8. Play dates, at any age. When you’re kids aren’t small any longer, you might choose a more mature name, but getting together with friends for nothing but fun, is a very important part of growing up healthy.

So, just how much is enough? How many times a week? This is such a personal choice, every child should be considered on an individual basis. We all have different needs when it comes to the amount of quality time shared with peers. Some kids are naturally more extroverted than others, I think what it really comes down to is assuring that the time spent with other kids is high in value, rather than frequency. If you’re kids seem lonely, you should find more outlets. If they seem to be overly distracted or are having a hard time balancing all the activities you’ve scheduled for them, you should consider tweaking the schedule a bit, possibly removing an outlet or two. Never discard the outlets where deep friendships are most likely to develop, or where they already have.

Our own experience with getting that ever so important social time, is currently somewhat limited to Sunday School, mid-week church activities, weekly gymnastics or karate, and play dates. As our kids get older, we’ll be doing scouts, possibly 4-H, and hosting our own homeschooling group activities.

Do my kids seem deprived? Not at all. Are my kids shy? Not at all. In fact, when my kids are around other children, of any age, they’re usually the most talkative of the bunch. They interact at a level that neither myself or my husband did at their age, and we were not homeschooled. Additionally, my kids seem to be more comfortable associating with people of all ages, including adults, as opposed to only kids their age.