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Homeschooled Kids: But What About Socialization? |
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Laura Osborne |
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What about socialization? This is one of the most common questions confronting homeschooling. Socialization is the process whereby the young of a culture learn the rules, mores, traditions, and acceptable interactions of their particular society. Regardless of being at home or at school, a child will be socialized. The question then seems to be: what is the best agent of socialization? Realizing that when a child graduates, he is never again cloistered in an environment with same-age peers makes one question the authenticity of the school as a superior socializing agent. But detractors ask, does the homeschool student do as well in measures of interpersonal and communication skills as his traditionally schooled peers? Let's look at the research.
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Homeschooling and Socialization Revisited |
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Milton Gaither |
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Richard G. Medlin, a psychology professor at Stetson University, here continues a line of inquiry he began in one of the landmark articles of the original 2000 Peabody Journal homeschooling special issue. Since that article he has published several pieces in the journal Home School Researcher, all of which find very positive results for homeschoolers’ social and academic development. In this piece his goal is to review research on homeschooler socialization that has appeared since his 2000 article. |
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Homeschooling Benefits: Children less preoccupied with peer acceptance |
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William R. Mattox Jr. |
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Most people who have never met a homeschooling family imagine that the kids are socially isolated. But some new research by Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute suggests otherwise. Indeed, Ray's research helps to explain why the number of homeschoolers in America continues to grow. Ray reports the typical homeschooled child is involved in 5.2 social activities outside the home each week. These activities include afternoon and weekend programs with conventionally schooled kids, such as ballet classes, Little League teams, Scout troops, church groups and neighborhood play. They include midday field trips and cooperative learning programs organized by groups of homeschooling families. For example, some Washington, D.C., families run a homeschool drama troupe that performs at a local dinner theater.
So, what most distinguishes a homeschooler's social life from that of a conventionally schooled child? Ray says homeschooled children tend to interact more with people of different ages. |
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Homeschooling Socialization for the Shy Ones |
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Sometimes, socializing is hard work, especially for those of us who have a shy kid—and if statistics are accurate, nearly half of Americans call themselves “shy.” For those of us homeschooling shy kids, there is a temptation to just let it go. It would be so much easier to just stay at home, curled up on the couch, than to watch our shy kid suffer or to feel compelled to make apologies for our shy kid. For those of us homeschooling shy kids, there is a temptation to just let it go. It would be so much easier to just stay at home, curled up on the couch, than to watch our shy kid suffer or to feel compelled to make apologies for our shy kid. |
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How I Shelter My Children |
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When children are nurtured, sheltered and loved, they can fully develop their social skills. Socialization doesn't just mean knowing how to act around other 12 year old kids. It means knowing how to function in our big world - a world that is much broader than the 4 walls of a classroom. |
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How to Develop Social Skills Without Socialization |
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Megan Zechman |
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The homeschooling community is wide and diverse, yet there is one question that almost every parent has been asked during the years they school their children at home. “What about socialization?”
We are led to believe that if we don’t put our children in public school, they will be missing out. They will become social misfits. Homeschooling means they will be stuck inside all day, having no opportunity for socialization. But true socialization comes from interacting with the world around them and having the freedom to explore and make true friendships. |
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I’m concerned that my child will be isolated and miss out on socialization while we are homeschooling |
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Oak Meadow |
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This is a very common concern we hear from families new to homeschooling, and it is a question homeschoolers hear from other people on a regular basis. Experience has shown us that most children who homeschool spend plenty of time interacting with others. Since homeschoolers generally have more free time to be involved in community activities than children who attend “regular” school, there is no end to the socialization opportunities for them.
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It's a Myth That School is Good for Socialization |
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Penelope Trunk |
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Parents who have their kids in school often say they have them there because of socialization. It's absurd that homeschoolers talk to people of all ages, all day long, and kids in school have to listen to a teacher all day long. It's just not even a contest: homeschooling is better for socialization because parents value it so much and schools don't. |
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Oh NO! I forgot about Socialization! |
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When many people ask about homeschooling, usually one of the FIRST comments and/or questions they ask involves the big “s” word – Socialization.
How do they get socialized if they don’t go to school? Don’t you worry that he won’t be socialized? The list goes on… Socialization is truly a myth that plagues the homeschool community. |
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Social Development and the Homeschooled Child |
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Dr. Scott Turansky |
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Many people cannot understand how a homeschooled child can have adequate social interaction with others. They imagine that these children must have little contact with others, day after day. But this is really a lack of understanding about what socialization really is and how it works in a homeschool environment. In this article, Dr. Scott Turansky challenges the assumptions about socialization and explains what really takes place in the typical homeschool. |
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Socialization is a Bunch of Malarkey |
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Most folks who ask about socialization mean well. They are not plotting against us, but they are uninformed. But modern socialization in schools is not natural or desired. |
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Socialization Myth and Homeschooling |
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Tamra Orr |
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Ask any homeschooler you meet—whether a novice or a veteran—what is the number one objection people have to homeschooling? It’s always socialization. Let’s dispense with this issue once and for all with these points that homeschoolers make about socialization.
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Socialization: A Great Reason Not to Go to School |
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Karl M. Bunday |
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This "Learn in Freedom" article provides research supporting the positive socialization homeschooled children receive. Discusses research supporting the conclusion that homeschooled children have higher levels of self-esteem and communication skills, and fewer behavioral problems, than other children. |
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Socializing the Homeschooled Child |
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This youtube video from iHomeschool Hangout discusses the issue of socialization and homeschooling. Guests are Sade Tagbo, Sam Kelley, Jimmie Lanley, and Colleen Kessler. The hostess is Dianna Kennedy. |
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Special Ed: Factory-Like Schooling May Soon Be a Thing of the Past |
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Britton Manasco |
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Britton Manasco, writing for Reason Magazine, looks at the advantages of homeschooling, along with some interesting facets of home education. Discusses the benefits of encouraging independent thought and decentralized learning practices. The article also takes a look at the state of today's classrooms and the limitations of traditional notions of education. There is also a discussion of the use of technology in the homeschool environment and how this relates to the issue of socialization. |
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Statistics on Public School vs. Homeschool |
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Karen Frazier |
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Deciding how your child will receive his education is a choice that can impact the rest of his life. While your decision may depend on personal factors such as your time and availability and your child's personality, evaluating studies and statistics can also provide information you can include in your decision making process. |
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The Truth About Homeschooling and Socialization |
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Usually what is meant by socialization or the lack thereof is that if we isolate our kids from the public or private school culture, our kids won’t know how to survive in the ‘real’ world.
But the homeschool world has a lot more similarities to the ‘real world’ than any institutional setting. |
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What About Socialization? |
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If only homeschoolers had a nickel for every time they heard the question, "... but what about socialization?" That infamous socialization question, for any seasoned homeschooler, is quite a humorous one! Although non-homeschoolers worry that homeschooling may turn children into social misfits, we know that the opposite is true and that positive socialization is one of the best reasons to homeschool your children. |
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Why are homeschooled kids so annoying? |
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Dwija Borobia |
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The biggest concern among the concerned is socialization. In other words: homeschooled kids are annoying and weird, and you don't want your kids to be annoying and weird, do you? Well, why are homeschooled kids so annoying? Because no one tells them that the way God made them isn't cool enough. |
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You Say Sheltering As If It’s A Bad Thing…. |
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laurie Bostwick |
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Merriam Webster dictionary defines shelter as “a position or the state of being covered and protected." Sheltering can be a form of socialization. And children that are raised protected and nurtured know how to be social. |
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