A very common reaction received by homeschooling families includes the negative belief that homeschooled children are not receiving enough socialization. People who don't know enough about homeschooling are quick to use this as a reason for why they think a homeschooling parent is damaging their child. In fact, a homeschooled child is no different from those attending the public school system. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to have fun with other people.
A homeschooled child is often very active in extra-curricular activities outside the home. The local town recreation department, the "Y", or 4H club has numerous activities and classes for children at reasonable rates. You may have your own children enrolled in such activities as swimming, soccer, kindercorner or music lessons. You may be surprised to know that your child has class mates you are actually homeschooled. It is not as uncommon as you may think.
A homeschooled child does live in a home with 4 walls and as such does have neighbourhood children and friends with which to play with. They also have local homeschooling groups with which they do field trips and other activities. Often homeschooling families will get together regularly at meet-ups. They have picnics, put on Christmas plays, and even visit back and forth at each others homes. Sometimes they will share expertise as well. One homeschooling parent may be well-versed in the arts and will trade teacher for teacher services with another family who perhaps is knowledgeable in math.
Instead of being mixed up with other children of their own age group, homeschooled children are intertwined with people of all ages. My goodness, how did our parents ever survive growing up in a one-room school house!? Having the advantage of learning alongside older and younger children has wonderful benefits. Learning along with older children provides the younger child the advantage of hearing what the older child is learning and even learning along with them. Younger children always strive to be like the older one and this gives them the initiative to be better than they are. Older children who have younger children in the same learning environment can be given responsibilities to help teach a younger child. Strengths they will gain from this environment are not necessarily something they will have coming out of the traditional school setting.
Socialization for homeschooling children is not a reason to not homeschool. As described above, homeschooling families do not seclude and quarantine their children in their homes. A homeschooled child is just as social as any other child. Any behaviors you may observe and try to attribute to a lack of socialization are simply representative of normal childhood and can be found just as readily in the public school system.
