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Current Issue
2003
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The Question of Socialization
Socialization is probably the most misunderstood issue in regard
to homeschooling. Public educators, as well as misinformed
parents, believe that homeschooling is detrimental to the social
development and well being of children. Nothing could be further
from the truth! A parent can provide a much more stable and
beneficial social environment for their child than the public
school can. This is one issue that you need to be confident on
as it will be the most common challenge you will hear from
people questioning your decision to homeschool.
We know the public school
system does not provide a healthy social environment. A child
can often be packed into a classroom of 20 or more students (In
our county, the elementary schools have been known to have 30 or
more children in each class). As a result, they only interact
with children who are the same age. They form social orders that
are cruel to those children that are not considered one of the
group.
Peer pressure causes
children to make bad decisions for the sake of impressing their
friends and to remain part of the "in crowd". In addition,
parents tend to have no control whatsoever over with whom the
child interacts at school. This becomes a greater concern as the
child gets older. There are some people who have the opinion
that children should be exposed to the "real world," good and
bad. I believe that a child should know about the bad things out
there but I think our children should learn about these things
under the love and guidance of their parents. Children need to
learn how to interact in all types of environments and with
children/adults of all ages.
Just because your child does not attend
public school does not mean that he has to be deprived of
quality social interaction. There are plenty of opportunities
out there for your child to learn his social graces! I have
listed just a few.
- Church activities:
Sunday school, vacation Bible school, children's church,
children's choir and other children's activities offered by
your church.
- Community activities:
YMCA activities, boy/girl scouts, 4H, sports, dance classes,
music lessons and activities at your local library and
recreation center. Many local craft stores offer craft classes
for children for a nominal fee. There are many summer day
camps available with many different themes.
- Family activities:
Interaction with the extended family.
- Activities with neighbors and friends.
- Activities with other homeschoolers:
Most homeschooling support groups arrange activities for the
children. The group I belong to has a weekly P.E. session, a
monthly park day and several organized field trips every month
as well as several other informal get-togethers every month.
It is a great opportunity for homeschooled children of all
ages to get together.
One of my favorite
comebacks to being questioned about the socialization of my
children is, "Yes, I am very worried about my child's
socialization. That's why we decided against public education
and chose homeschooling!" |
