Mom x 4 asked: After reading so many well-thought out responses from the homeschool opponents about homeschool kids being unsocialized (including the one that directed us to the very informative South Park episode about homeschoolers), I’m now asking those well-informed individuals to heIp me brainstorm how I can socialize my kids without putting them in the institutionalized setting of public school.
…Or were people not “socialized” before the last two or three generations. One-room schoolhouses were much more similar to homeschool than modern public schools.
So here’s my dilemma:
With Awana, team gymnastics, soccer, basketball, dance, church, church activities, kids’ choir, homeschool co-op, traveling to France and China with other kids and their families, local field trips, piano, guitar, and drum lessons, drama workshops, playdates, birthday parties, etc., I just don’t have time to socialize my kids.
Any suggestions?
Fair enough, farien3.
I was thinking spending time in China (with Chinese people) and France (with French people), as well as regularly socializing with friends from Russia, Ghana, and India gave my kids experience with diversity. I also thought that the many hours per week that they spend with kids and adults from completely different backgrounds and belief systems representing several different races, who are/were public schooled would’ve been quite a bit of exposure to diversity as well. We also study about different cultures and religions from around the world. Our youngest child is adopted from a different country and is a different race than the rest of us, and we spend time studying her culture and language as well.
But, alas, I guess that’s not true diversity. I guess we have to be placed in a room full of people our own ages that live in our general areas for 35 hours per week to be properly exposed to diversity. =)
Forgive me, hillary. I’m not sure why my question is so offensive. I’m not trying to dis public school, only to point out how ridiculous it is to say that homeschooled kids aren’t socialized. As a former public school teacher, I used to be in the dark about homeschooling, too. Since I’ve researched the issue, I’ve learned about the actual statistics of test scores, socialization, and the success of adults who were homeschooled. We homeschool our kids, in part, because our research showed how incredibly successful homeschooling can be. I’m happy for you that you’re having a great experience in PS, but I think it’s quite presumptuous to assume that my HS kids are not. We also do some great projects, and amazingly, yes, we do have other kids to do them with.
I have many adult friends, and none of us have had to deal with bullies or high school social issues in the workplace. High school is SO not real life, so one doesn’t need to experience it to prepare for real life.
Sorry, Dawn, I didn’t realize you’d added to your answer.
I’m certainly not trying to be Super Mom, really only trying to make the point that the classroom setting is not the only place that one can experience socialization or diversity. I don’t know how much time it takes to become culturally aware, but I know my kids are WAY ahead of where I was at their ages with what I had been exposed to in public school.
And our travels have been for other purposes with the fringe benefits being that my kids were able to become more culturally aware.
(BTW, yes, my kids actually do serve those less fortunate than themselves. They’ve been exposed to unbelievable poverty.)
Sandra
