Shattering the Biggest Objection to Homeschooling

Socialization. The kids have to be socialized? Socialization is the standard fallback, when all else fails, concern your relatives and friends are likely to put up.

I say, no way, no how!

That socialization thing is the biggest reason my kids are NOT going to public schools. (Or, private ones for that matter.) And I’ve met plenty of (former) public school teachers that agree with me.

Kids model what’s available in their environment. In school, that is primarily other kids. Which means that my kids would be modeling, for 6-8 hours a day, the behaviour of other people’s kids.

I came to this conclusion after going on ALL the field trips with my daughter and visiting her classrooms for grades K-2. I can say without any qualms, I do not want my kids learning their social skills at school. Either from the other kids or (at least some) of their parents. (And, believe me, this has nothing to do with religious beliefs, on my part.)

As far as I’m concerned they would be better off wandering the country side with a pack of wolves.(Hmm. Now, THAT, sounds fun!) Luckily, there’s no need to go to such extremes.

Around here we have many other homeschoolers to get together with and play.

Plus, most people don’t consider how important it is for kids to learn how to socialize in the adult world. And the first way to do that is to watch their parents functioning in the adult world. Which my kids do everyday.

Checkout The Continuum Concept for more info. Great book. Once you get past the extreme feelings of depression and guilt over how Western culture raises it’s young.

If you’re thinking about homeschooling, you can find groups nearby that get together regularly.

Feel free to leave a comment announcing your weekly get together. Time and location. According to my server logs. These homeschool posts are very popular. If there’s enough interest, I’ll post a resource page or wiki for you to make the announcements.