Homeschooling debate: are homeschoolers properly socialized?

There has been much discussion regarding homeschooling lately. This week, examiner.com is having a promo called, “The Great Debate: to homeschool or not.” As a homeschooling parent of five children for over a decade, the most frequent question I receive is, “what about socialization?” A woman recently contacted me saying she desired to homeschool her child but the socialization issue was keeping her from doing so. Let’s take a look at this.

There seems to be a myth that homeschoolers do not receive proper socialization. This usually comes from people who do not understand homeschooling or those deeply involved in public education. In reality, the majority of homeschoolers are provided with plenty of social opportunities.

The stereotype that home learners spend their days isolated from society at kitchen tables with workbooks in hand could be nothing but farther from reality.  In fact, The National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) reports that homeschoolers actually participate in approximately five different social activities outside the home on a regular basis: boy/girl scouts, dance, swimming lessons, Sunday School, 4-H, homeschool co-ops, sports, theater, music classes and field trips. Wouldn’t this be considered social opportunities?

Think about kids in the public school classroom spending six to seven hours of their day with a group of only their same-aged peers. Where else in life do we spend such a large amount of time with only a group of people all the same age? In the workforce? No. Church? No. Social outings? Usually not. The public school classroom may be one of the few.

Some consider public school to be an artificial setting with students being locked behind school gates characterized by forced silence, age-segregation and school bells. Homeschoolers, on the other hand, frequently extend their everyday classroom in real community settings and interactions. They visit museums, fire departments, state capital buildings, national, regional and community parks, farms, nature centers, libraries and churches. Isn’t this where real community interaction and contacts are made?

So how do these different settings affect children? Dr. Thomas Smedley believes that homeschoolers have superior socialization skills, and his research supports this claim. He conducted a study in which he administered the Vineyard Adaptive Behavior Scales test to identify mature and well-adapted behaviors in children. Home learners ranked in the 84th percentile, compared to publicly schooled students, who were drastically lower in the 23rd.

What about negative socialization? The mass socialization within schools has brought about abundant delinquent behavior within our nation’s youth, reports education researcher, Dr. Michael Slavinski. He notes that student bodies are increasingly riddled with drugs, violence, promiscuity, emotional disorders, crime, illiteracy, peer dependency and contempt for authority. It is disturbing to read the 101 reasons to homeschool. How is that for socialization?

One reason we choose to homeschool is because our family wanted to maintain family relationships in a way that cannot be done if our children are in school six-plus hours a day. Life is short and we want to spend the majority of our time together. Children grow up quickly and before you know it, they are heading off on their own. Of course this is not the only reason to homeschool but since we are interacting with each other all day long, it forces us to deal with relationship issues when they come up. We enjoy being around our children and they enjoy being around us. We not only have a strong parental relationship but the siblings do as well. This alone is a wonderful opportunity for building social skills.

In fact, the National Home Education Research Institute disclosed that the 36 to 54 hours that students spend in school-related weekly activities make peers and adults outside of the home the primary influences in children's lives - not the parents. We choose to be the primary influence in our children’s life and know it is the right decision for our family. Each parent and family must make the decision to do what is best for them whether it be public school or homeschool. But lack of socialization for homeschoolers is really just a myth that holds no weight and is not a valid reason to not consider homeschooling.