BellaOnline Forums Education Homeschooling No Need For Negative Effects Of Homeschooling

Hi all, I noticed some debate recently on negative effects of homeschooling, with socialisation being mentioned as an issue.

Just to say, I have taught many home-schooled kids who have very active social lives! - so I wrote an article on
Teen Activities For Homeschoolers

Just seems like common sense really!

Socialization is a big issue. Those who do not homeschool tend to have a misconception about it, though. Children that are homeschooled actually have more of an opportunity for socialization than those who go to public school.

I have homeschooled all three of my kids, they turned out great. My son is in the Marines and having a ball. My daughter has a good job, and loves her work. And, my youngest is in high school and taking Karate and piano. They are all very social!

I have not met a child that is being homeschooled that isn't way ahead those that are not. Not only academically, but emotionally and personality, too.

Socialization is a false issue for homeschoolers. The type of socialization provided in schools is unnatural. There's no other setting in life where you will be separated into age groups, by year, AND kept in that group all day every day. School educated children are notorious for being very stand-offish with adults and for imposing peer pressure on other kids. In fact, these behaviors have become so common as to be considered "normal" for teenagers. In our before-homeschooling-experience, schools were very adept at warning about peer pressure but had absolutely no practical advice on how to stop it. That is NOT successful socialization. Then there's the question of what school's primary purpose should be anyway---education, not socialization!! Hello!

In "real" life, you need to be able to relate to any age person. Homeschooled kids generally accompany their parents throughout every day and, in the process, encounter a variety of ages. This is more realistic and more natural preparation for life after "school."

We successfully homeschooled our kids. In the high-school years, we often received compliments on how well our children conducted themselves with adults. It was because they didn't see adults as a rarity. They weren't spending 70+% of their waking hours with only one age group. AND, when they hit college, we learned that their professors generally PREFER homeschoolers in their classes because, in general, homeschoolers still think learning is fun! (Kids who enjoy learning are often called "dorks" and "geeks" in "real" school! Now there's a social skill for you--name calling! LOL)

LOL. Well said.

Hey now, dont go dising public schools. im in a public school. 14 yrs old and going into 9th grade and i am fine. I have emotions just like homeschooled kids, better one, because we at public school actually have to deal with problems that we will have to face in the future. I am rather socialzed! And none of it is "unnatural"! We hang out with anyone we want. We choose who we hang out with,date, and we are not forsed to be with our brothers or sisters. I have a great personality, im happy, joyful, and tough. I handle my own situations. Right there, that is called independence. Academically, i am wonderful. I am in all advanced classes, for the last 2 yrs and ill be doing it in 9th grade to, taking 10th grade classes."Hello"....we are teenagers and many homeschooled children do the same thing. EVERYONE talks back when they disagree. I have friends and im smart! I get along with everyone! no offense but your wrong, homeschool kids become sissys.

Darci
public schooled kid
:P

[quote=chica13801]... no offense but your wrong, homeschool kids become sissys.[/quote] Darci, It seems you feel a little threatened by how homeschooling parents feel about the public schools. I attended public school also, yet I have chosen to homeschool my children. My four boys are definitely NOT "sissys" (it's actually spelled "sissies" ... apparently none of your advanced classes are English classes) and my girl isn't either. The majority of people homeschooling today have gone through the public school system. It is our choice to homeschool our children, just as it is our choice (and privilege) to discuss it here, in the HOMESCHOOLING forum at BellaOnline. It is the right of your parents to choose public school for you, and we are by no means saying homeschooling is for everyone. But, as people who have 'been there, done that' we know what we desire for our children's education and public school isn't it. ~Kelly H.

chica13801: I dropped by here just out of curiosity since I have nothing to do with homeschooling. I also have nothing to do with American public schools, actually, English is not even my first language. And yet, I can tell how badly written your post is. Amazing that you make advanced classes with your spelling and such syntax... Not exactly the best defense for the public school system, lol.
Sorry if I was too mean, but it outrages me a little that someone so young and unexperienced disregards very good points about homeschooling and tells engaged (and adult) parents they are wrong while calling their children sissies.

im so sorry. my grammer isnt the best and yes i am in advanced ela. I passed with a 98. I feel strongly about this. Some were telling that public schools are bad. I disagreed and i said why. They told me that im not as good as homeschooled kids. I think homeschool and public schooled kids are the same except public ur not sheilded by your loving parents. Didnt i have good points? I thought i did. My post isnt that bad. So i dont have comas everywhere and i dont spell everything right. I was angry when i wrote this post, that post, same difference. I had just spent the worst 3 days with these homeschooled lil brats. OMG! they were horrible. Also, the one was a super sissy. (srry i spelt that wrong- sissies, my bad) Sorry i dised(prolly spelled that wrong) This girl cried about everything!!!!!! Sorry for talking badly about homeschooling. Sorry for talking badly about the adults. Sorry. Oh yeah i use OMG, not a english grammer word. I spelt sorry,srry, its a txtin word. Sorry.
i feel that u guys are feeling that i am not being considerate or idk. But i think u guys dont like to much. Sorry.

Darci
sorry that i outrage u.

Dearest Chica13801,
I remember being 14--it was a really hard year for me. I hope you are having a better time of it than I did. You sound kind of angry and stressed out.
It sure is easy to get defensive about your life situation when someone starts talking about how great a different option is.
The reason I'm chiming in on this conversation is to encourage you not to judge all home schoolers by the "brats" you just endured. You probably don't want us to judge all public school kids by any particularly disturbing one we might meet, right?
Also, something that will really help you to be taken more seriously is to read through your posts before you post them, and fix any errors you find.
Posting things online when you're angry isn't a good idea, and the older you get, the more trouble it could cause you. Trust me, I know, I've made a couple of pretty bad mistakes that way.
Here's hoping your freshman year goes really, really well.

--LeeAnn

I applaud your eloquence and your accuracy. I also note for many parents of children that are formally educated, if most children were properly socialized, we wouldn't have to have a need for sensitivity training for adults. Take a look at the corporate seminars teaching one how to respect other ethnicities, sexes and classes in the workforce and in life. We wouldn't also be turning on our televisions to see punctuations of hate crimes. Lastly, today's schools were designed from the industrial age when America needed good workers. It doesn't foster socialization, as this was not the intent during this era.

We've seen both sides of the coin with our son, Michael. He is a Sr this year in a public school, but we did try homeschooling 1 year.

Michael has Asperger's; similar to high functioning Autism. He is brilliant when it comes to academics (breezes through class - especially if it is math based at all), but has a horrid time with social and emotional issues.

His 8th grade year was very rough, add puberty to a child with Asperger's...you get the picture. Well, he decided that being a Freshman in his very large public school might be too stressful. I thought he was very mature to think ahead to a problem like that. So we homeschooled in the 9th grade.

He still went to all of our church Youth activities, he joined the local canoe & kayak team (when Atlanta hosted the Olympics, the kayak races were held near where we live, so we have this awesome facility) and he got into acting.

But he was bored staying home with me and missed his friends so wanted to go back to public school in the 10th and has done very well since then. Michael actually does sort of need the "forced interraction" of high school, because it makes him learn how to deal with circumstances he doesn't like instead of just hiding in his room. Like I said, academics are not his downfall.

But he did not suffer from his year with me. There were no negative side effects. In fact, even though we are happy with our particular school system - I do think he needed that year to "decompress" a bit and move at his own pace.

So many parents today have abdicated the role of raising their children over to teachers it is not even funny!

The way it should work is that the teacher gives example like instructions to the child at school on academia, and then the parents help the child perfect it at home. The teacher's should not be teaching morality or social values at all - because that should be coming from the home.

But there are kids that see their teachers more than they see their parents! I am not talking about the poor families that have to work double shifts in order to feed their child. I'm talking about the Dad that comes home and sits in front of the TV all night with a beer in his hand and the Mom who would rather go shopping than read her little one a bedtime story.

Anyway - I sort of wandered OT with this, sorry!

Freedom of speech is a blessing! Let's keep our comments in check and share positive homeschooling information. :0)
I am excited to bring new ideas to this forum for homeschooling families. Feel free to share your thoughts as well, either online in this forum or email me at the homeschooling site.

Yes, Sorry about that Alissa.

My point with that was Homeschooling parents have actually taken the reigns of raising their children back into their own hands. (I kind of wandered and never really got to the point did I?)

When Michael spent that year at home, the Kayaking that I mentioned had 2 homeschooling teams and they were fantastic!

There is also an orchestra here in Gwinnett county that homeschool kids can join (I believe it is sponsored by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra). Many, many gymnastics programs are set up with homeschooling kids specifically in mind, there is a cooking school sponsored by the Atlanta Institute for Culinary Arts - the list goes on.

There are actually more opportunities for kids that are homeschooled to try different things, because they are not hampered by the fact that each and every school must offer the same curriculum.

Hi Michelle!

Kayaking sounds so neat! We have a wonderful homeschool support group with an "Outdoors Club" that facilitates activities monthly like kayaking hiking, letterboxing and more! I just wish it was not so hot here in Florida most of the year. :0)
The Atlanta Symphony program and cooking programs sound wonderful too. We are very blessed to have alot of great homeschool opportunities as well here in Central FL. Even Disney offers Homeschool Days (not free though!) What enrichment programs do you all have in your states/cities/groups? Please share! :0)

The Language Exchanges is a neat social idea for teens. We have several programs here in Central FL that offer homeschooled teens an opportunity to buddy up with exchange students learning English at Disney! Thanks for sharing...:0)