We are all too familiar with arguments on the negative effects of homeschooling on a child’s socialization. But rather than defending (yet again) why homeschooling doesn’t harm socialization (you can read the countless defending arguments on the ‘Net), I want to get pass that and discuss how homeschooling can actually improve your child’s socialization skills.
First, let’s agree on the definition of “socialization”.
As an outsider looking into the window of homeschooling, this term is used in reference to homeschooled students’ interaction with their peers. I agree that interacting with peers is important, but I also believe that interacting with people outside a child’s own age group is just as important - interacting well with both groups really defines a well-rounded sociable person. So socialization should include the ability to interact with ALL people, regardless of age. After all, isn’t that what we do in everyday life?
Now, with that definition of socialization in mind, here’s a typical day in the life of the homeschooled child - you try to pick out where there are issues with socialization in the child’s schedule:
Mid-Morning – 15 minute break.
Mid-Morning thru Noon – Complete core lessons and supplement with activities. These activities may include: 1) Math - visiting the supermarket to have the child add up the groceries and interact with the cashier to complete the transaction, 2) Social Studies - visiting the local fire station to go on a tour and ask questions, or 3) Science - going on a nature walk to learn about plant life which concludes with a visit with the park authority in which the child interviews the park authority.
Noon – Lunch. If lunch is at a restaurant, have the child order and interact with waiter/waitress. Lunch can also be with other homeschooled kids.
Afternoon – Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, team sports, dance, charities, whatever activity the child wants to be involved in with her peers.
So based on the above, where are the gaps in socialization? The only time the child is isolated from the outside world is during core lessons in the morning, but that’s in the context of a custom-fitted curriculum, which inherently requires a one-on-one approach, and is preferable to the one-to-many teaching approach in typical school classrooms.
So based on our definition of socialization, does the homeschooled child interact with her peers and those outside the child’s age? Sure sounds like it.
In fact, in today’s world of cyberspace and cell phones, it would be hard NOT to find any homeschool activities in your neighborhood. Prove it to yourself. Go to the Internet and type in a search for homeschool communities or groups near your neighborhood and, unless you live in a very remote area of the country, you will be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Most likely, you will find a homeschooling community near you that gets together regularly during the week with other homeschool kids for activities. Join those groups that you feel fits your child’s interests and you will have started off on the right foot.
Now, this may REALLY sound foreign to some folks, but it’s also a fact that homeschooling affords even more opportunities for constructive socialization than those offered at public schools, and it has to do with the schedule I outlined above.
If you noticed from the schedule, core lessons typically get done by noon, leaving all of the afternoon to interact with team sports, community groups, non-profit organizations, or whatever worthy social interests the student wants to pursue.
This gives the student opportunities to really build some notable accomplishments that would be tougher to achieve in a public school environment (You can just imagine this exchange from a public school student talking on the phone with her favorite charity, “What? A once-in-a-life-time series of charity events that starts at 1 PM and lasts for the next 4 days? Sorry, but I don’t get out of school until 2:30PM”. Bummer).
So you see, social interaction in homeschooling is more fluid – the parent and child can choose who to interact with, when to interact, and to what extent.
In fact, if the social environment is designed right, parents can BETTER prepare their students for college in this respect because college is all about interacting well with people across ALL age groups (like the real world) instead of being confined to interact 99% of the time with people within 1-4 years of the child’s actual age for 12 years under a traditional public school environment.
Copyright © 2009 Sun Kyu Bae. All rights reserved.
Sun Bae is the father of twins and has been homeschooling ever since they could talk.
He is also the creator of ProntoLessons, a website that offers a homeschool curriculum in American history for kids ages 6-8.
Specifically, his website includes 37 lessons that cover the immigration history of the American people; why they left their homes, what challenges they faced when they arrived to the U.S., and the contributions that they gave to our great nation.
The lessons are 100% scripted, which are perfect for homeschool educators who may not have had too much experience teaching in a more "formal" setting. Also, the lessons, intended as a 37-week full school year curriculum, is offered free to families who choose to use them.
Contact Sun by visiting ProntoLessons at http://www.prontolessons.com.
