This post is all about the popular topic of socialization in homeschooling.
If you have been toying with the idea of homeschooling, you’ve probably felt concern over your child’s socialization in the future. If you’ve been homeschooling for a while, you’ve probably been asked by mostly well meaning friends and family about how you plan to handle socialization.
Socialization is such a hot topic surrounding homeschooling, moreover for people who are on the outside looking in. With many more families choosing home education as an option, I wanted to touch on some of our real life experience about this topic.
Hoping we can provide some clarity on this topic that can shed light on the reality.
[RELATED POST: Homeschooling: Where to Begin]
Socialization: The Homeschool Concern
It’s one of the first questions, or I should say concerns, I hear. How about you? You mention you homeschool or are thinking about it, and within seconds, here it comes.
“Are you part of a co-op where they can play with other kids?”
“Do you schedule a lot of playdates to help them interact with others?”
I get it. When I first considered homeschooling my oldest child, I made an intentional effort for playdates, church fellowship, and afterschool group activities. Almost too much.
However, as years have rolled on, I have found it one of my least concerns on this journey. I find myself spending time researching high school requirements, science curriculum, and scholarship opportunities these days. If you’re not in it, I can understand why there is much concern. The perception is you educate at home isolated from reality, stay home all day, and only have contact with your mom, right? Some days, maybe! Most days, not exactly.
Socialization: The Uncomfortable Truth
1. People are Watching
If you are choosing to homeschool, you’re choosing a path that is not the norm. You are choosing to be different. Like anything else, choosing to be different causes heads to turn. Scrutiny. It is understandable, and most of the time people just want to see what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and if they should be doing it too.
You and your children are being watched closer because of it. Will you homeschool through high school? Can your child handle themselves okay at the birthday party? Are they able to get into college? Do they know how to make friends? It comes with the territory.
2. Research is Lacking
There are a lot of favorable research out there that many homeschool moms want to showcase. Perks of homeschooling. I totally have done this out of a weariness of hearing the same monotonous concerns over our family’s choice.
However, the fact is that when it comes to socialization, it is such a difficult thing to measure. The subjects are typically volunteers, who are well connected and integrated. Variables are so…well variable. Us homeschoolers come from all over the world, with different types and styles of parenting. It is nearly impossible to accurately measure socialization success in homeschooling.
3. Complacency is Not Okay
This is my personal opinion, but because I am a minority in multiple ways, I try to be intentional about how we represent ourselves. Since we are a minority being a homeschooling family, I reassess each year how the children (and myself) are doing in any valuable area of character development. This includes social skills and practices. In any area, I do not want to grow complacent thinking we have arrived or it isn’t something we need to be aware of.
Socialization: Ways to Connect
If you’re new to homeschooling and are feeling concerned about this topic for your family, here are some ways to connect with others in these early years:
- Church Fellowship and Youth Ministry
- See if there is a local Wild + Free group in your area
- Search Facebook for local homeschool or mommy groups
- Charter Schools have many field trips and community events
- After school activities and enrichment programs
- Cousins + siblings are awesome!
- Team sports and consistent attendance meeting up with the same families and children
- Volunteer and community service opportunities
[RELATED POST: Homeschool Rhythm with Multiple Children]
What Works for Us Personally
In the middle of our 9th year old homeschooling, this topic isn’t as much of a thought on a daily basis as much as it was in the earlier years. We definitely connect with our church family, Children’s Ministry, VBS, youth ministry, and when they are older, having them serve in the church is such a blessing. Our children are also committed to teams for their afterschool activities. They get to practice and compete with the same teammates year round. Really sweet bonds have formed here. My kids are blessed to have nearby cousins who also homeschool, and some friends with flexible schedules that we travel and/or play with often.
This post is all about the topic of socialization in homeschooling.
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