Over the years, I've addressed the issue of socialization. People are often concerned that our children are sheltered and therefore won't be able to deal with "the real world". Ironically, it is only the non-homeschooling families who have this concern for our children. We homeschoolers realize that our children spend vast amounts of time socializing and not simply with people their own age, but with people of varied ages from birth to the elderly thereby gaining the benefits of knowing all sorts of people and levels of wisdom.
As for the "real world" problem: While their counterparts are sitting in an institution surrounded by people born in the exact same year as themselves for 6 hours per day (sheltered from the real world), our children are spending their days living life in the real world.. home, bills, chores, shopping, working, interacting with people, outings of all kinds, traveling to different places meeting all sorts of people.
In speaking with my daughter today, she posed the analogy: If you stick a bunch of one year olds in a room together all day and tell them "socialize", How will they gain any wisdom? Will they learn to speak? How will they ever know anything beyond what the other one year olds know?
Good questions. I know two girls who are approximately 20 years old who were fully educated and "socialized" by the public school system. Both of them highly intelligent, well-spoken girls. Neither can cook. Neither can shop. Neither can plan a nutritious meal but only frozen food, burgers, pizza, hot dogs. Neither can manage their money effectively. Neither can intelligently communicate with younger ones or older ones in the world. Their comfort level is limited to their age-group peers. It's sad to see.
Now we have a study has been conducted which should (but probably won't) put this myth to rest. Until recently, "Homeschooling Grows Up" was the only study conducted in order to address the socialization of home-schooled adults. We now have a new longitudinal study entitled “Fifteen Years Later: Home-Educated Canadian Adults”. This study surveyed homeschooled students whose parents participated in a comprehensive study on home education in 1994. The study compared homeschoolers who are now adults with their adult peers. I'm sure the naysayers will be astonished.
Read on: Socialization not a Problem
Though I see your point and agree with it, that home-schoolers are socialized just fine, (my BFF was home-schooled her whole life), I disagree with the other assumption - that the public schoolers can't cook, clean, etc.
ReplyDeleteI went to public school all my life, got married at 21, and had a baby at 24 - I got straight As in high school, can cook a nutritious meal from scratch, I know how to clean (even if I don't like it), and other things around the home. I know how to coupon shop, etc.
I think the real issue is ALL kids need to be INVOLVED whether they're public schooled or home-schooled. I grew up figure skating and was around people of different ages all the time. I went to church (on my own accord, not my because of my family) and learned to deal with and speak to elders. The real issue is the parenting outside of school hours...home-schoolers just get more opportunity for those activities without the institution :)
We are planning on Christian private school for our daughter at this point.
I agree that it's possible. After all, I was schooled in public school and had a lot of common sense (thanks to my grandma and stay-at-home aunts who raised me).
ReplyDeleteI will say though that school did nothing for helping to "socialize" me. In fact, I had to learn social skills by myself in my 30's. I was very socially retarded because I was one of those kids who DID follow the rules and not use school as a social venue but an educational one. :-)
THanks for the comment. I love different points of view!