BellaOnline Forums Education Homeschooling The Homeschooled Teen: Issues of Heart

Another discussed prompted me to deeply consider an issue I face..daily....the homeschooling of a teen. The teen years brings issues to homeschooling that were not present in younger tears. Ohhhh I long for the day when what crayon to color a picture was of the greatest importance.

Now we face choosing friends, peer pressure, dating and the related bits. Does your teen feel he/she recieves enough socialisation and are they confident when interacting with others? How you are you handling the dating process?

I'll reply since I am a homeschooled teen.
I am involved in a lot of theatre and I have homeschooling friends, so I do feel like I get enough socialization. I also feel totally confident in talking to people of all ages. As for the dating: I'm not concerned at all. I have never had a boyfriend, but I don't really worry about it. I know that when I go to college I'll catch right up.

Lark

Thanks for replying! Are you in a large area that offers a variety of activities for youth?

I am finding that my daughter's concept of socialisation has changed from her childhood. Relationships with the opposite gender definitely are an important aspect to her.

I always knew I had a social little miss but it has gotten more stressful for her.

The area I live in does have a lot of youth stuff, but most to the stuff is for ages 8-13 or so. Now that I've started college (I'm 16, not going fulltime) I meet tons of people.
I don't know if you know about these, but in many ares they have homeschool e-mail loops where any person can post about a trip to the museum or a park day or something so you can meet up woth other homeschoolers. You might be able to find one in your area.

Lark

We are in a rural area. While there are many homeschoolers, the majority chose to be isolated from one another.

There are some small groups but they tend to be outreach programs of churches. One has to attend those churches and sign statements of faith to participate.

my oldest isn't a teen (yet) but I can tell you that when it comes to dating - your teen will FIND a way (a trip to the store always landed me dates, but we won't go there - I met my husband when we were in college)....it's sad the homeschoolers chose to be isolated, that's really sad.

Meg