What About Socialization?

Some people feel that children need to be in a traditional school setting to learn proper socialization skills, and those who know little about homeschooling erroneously believe that homeschoolers are especially unsocialized. Homeschoolers socialize–just differently.

Realistically, how much positive socialization do children experience in a traditional school setting? In a typical school day, children may find themselves sitting (or squirming) quietly at their desks for what seems like an eternity while being inundated with busywork and standardized practice tests. Besides time spent during extracurricular activities, opportunities to socialize during the school day is limited to lunch time and a few minutes between classes. Plus, students are socializing solely with their peers, and children struggling to fit in spend their time "socializing" on social media instead of face-to-face.

Homeschoolers, on the other hand, have ample opportunities to socialize. Homeschooled children are continuously exposed to different environments with children (and adults) of all ages. Whether it's a weekly park day, a planned field trip, or a group activity, they learn to cooperate together and respect each other. Homeschoolers learn to interact with children of all ages, all walks of life, in all different surroundings. Now that's socialization! There is one caveat, though. Parents have to make it happen. It is up to you to ensure your children have opportunities to socialize with others.