I am appalled to read some of your answers thus far.

Mythological Beast, do you not realize most homeschool families have many children and parents they have to deal with when they are cranky and tired? They also have to learn how to share mom/dad’s teaching time and sometimes must wait to ask a question. We certainly do not only socialize on the weekends. My children and I went on a field trip to a local winery/orchard today with our homeschool group=many kids and we are going to our local weather center tomorrow with several other children. We will also be going to our homeschool co-op group on Friday to have some enrichment/fun classes. Now thats what I call hands on learning, which is what our public schools lack. Booksmarts will only get you so far in this life.

arkiemom, I wonder why some people expect a child to act as an adult. I am assuming all the other formerly public schooled children sit and listen like zombies when it is time to teach? Kids are kids, and they do not always adhere to the schedule we want them to. If they could do that as an adult then they would not need schooling. It is awesome that your other students are ahead of the homeschooled child in math, but what about life lessons, family time and morals?? Most public school children lack these, and when they forget their square roots, factors, multiplication facts and other stuff just as many kids do, they won’t have those special memories of togetherness with family or good sound morals to fall back on. Booksmarts is not all that is required in life. Children need to be loved, touched, encouraged, allowed space to learn things that intrigue them and public schools just do not foster these needs.

The socialization in public schools is so negative and our communities are being brought down by it daily.

Teen pregnancies, underage drinking, drugs, parties, making out in school, bullying, teasing, and the list can go on forever.

When did socialization become the #1 reason to send your children to school? I thought we were supposed to be concerned about their education? I guess once everyone figured out there was no real education there, they went to the next best thing-Socialization. The socialization mentioned above is the last thing I want my child to have!!

Yes, we cannot shelter our children forever, but we can show them right from wrong, give them morals and values, help them with their issues, so that when they go out on their own, they had been shown the correct way to handle life and can make the best choices. Just throwing them out there without and example is really a 50/50 chance they will do the right thing. A chance I am not willing to make!!

Arkiemom has a good point and by no means was saying anything negative that needed to be attacked. Her point is that the true concern about homeschooled children is that they may be weaker in academic areas that their parents are not strong at when re-entering the regular school system.

I think that almost all the answerers here feel that socialization is not an issue. The other topics brought up such as morals, structure and so forth are relevant topics and concerns regarding the pros and cons of home schooling but does not address the question.

It seems that the question is more of a rant than a question though. 😛

I know a lot of adults that have come from homeschooling, public, and private educations. There are always bad apples and good examples. You got to do what you feel is best for your children given the resources you have.

Mythological Beast. What kind of a warped home environment did you grow up in where you did not learn these lessons with your siblings and parents. My children had to learn to negotiate with one another every day because they were with one another all day. Yes, sometimes they didn’t want to be doing school work or were tired or feeling poorly and still had to make appropriate choices and be responsible for their actions. My kids not only know how to deal with peers but can look an adult in the eye and carry on a polite and meaningful conversation.

Socialization is a crock unless you are referring to getting your new puppy used to being around other animals. We, personally, are above the animals.

Our nuclear family, extended family, friends, neighbors and church family provide all the social stimulation we need.

Most people who question the socialization of home school kids are completely uninformed about what exactly home schooling is. Either that, or they base their opinion on one case or maybe something they saw on some outrages “reality” show. I have found that most people who care to ask questions or (gasp) do about 10 minutes research find out that most homeschoolers do better both socially and academically than their public school counterparts. I have seen lousy examples of some public schooled kids but I don’t say ALL public school kids are like that.

Check this out for starters: http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000068.asp

http://learninfreedom.org/socialization.html

As a teacher who has taught several formerly home-schooled children in my classroom over the years, I am not as concerned about the socialization as I am by two other characteriestics I find in former homeschoolers that hurt them when they re-enter a formal school setting. One is that many lack the ability to adhere to a structured schedule or to make transistions from one class to another as easily as their classmates. They have been so used to having flexibility ( which I think is great ) to choose what subjects they are going to study each day and to spend flexible time on those subjects. We all know that this is not the way the real world works – especially once they decide to get a job. Once they re-enter formal education – which many homeschoolers do in secondary if not before – they struggle somewhat. That leads to my second concern which is the fact that many ( not all – but many) are behind their classmates in some areas. This is unavoidable when homeschooling since the parent is rarely well-versed in all subjects. For example, I have a child who re-entered public school in my class this year. He is a very gifted reader and has a wonderful vocabulary because those were his mother’s strengths. She placed him back in public school because the middle school level math was getting too challenging and she knew she was unable to teach him any further. Consequently, he is far behind his classmates. Many parents are unaware of the rigorous curriculum that now starts in elementary school . My fifth grade math students have already covered square roots and prime factorizations this year. We are currently working on pre-algebra and statistical landmarks.

Sorry so long – but just be aware that there may come a time when you will not be able to adequately address all subject areas. As long as you plan for this – and get the appropriate help from others, your child will probably be OK.

As a parent, my best piece of advice is not to try to shelter your child too much. It might make him even more curious about those things he sees and hears on TV and elsewhere.

When a child continuously spends time in a classroom, he is forced to learn how to negotiate with others in the class room for small things, like order in line at the pencil sharpener or lunch line, and when it’s better to not raise one’s hand in class. They have to learn how to interact with others when one is tired, and feeling poorly, and hasn’t really wanted to be there day after day for the past five months. They learn that you can interact with these people even when you’re feeling awful, and even learn how to rely upon one another when things are tough. These are things that you just don’t get from casual weekend interaction.