Great points. It's amazing how many things kids are willing to do once they're out of the classroom. I finally understand what my parents meant by asking, "What do you mean there's nothing to do?" Homeschooling really seems like the best option at this point.
Go camping for 1 month a year at KOAs around the country. Let your children go to the playground. They will have it organized in 5 minutes and everyone will be playing "their game". I mean that's what we did with our homeschooled children. Now they run circles around all the BA and BS idiots they work with who are on Ativan, Buspar and Zoloft, are always late to work, call in sick and have anxiety attacks when customers come in without a face mask.
Or you can continue to buy into the "homeschooled children are not social-ized" myth. Of course they are not socialized. (aka-indoctrinated) But social, amazing and a wide peer group (2 months to 99 years) and confident, informed, logical, ....... yeah Def worry about socializing.
We homeschooled all 4 of our kids from kindergarten through high school.
We used the Robinson Curriculum. Our kids weren't too fond of it at the time, however now they love it, and are so appreciative that we used it. Robinson doesn't have math, so we used Saxon Math. Whenever I get the question about 'socialization' from some ill informed concerned adult, I tell them, I can take my kids behind the wood shed and teach them all the curse word they will learn in school. You should see the looks-hilarious.
I took the kids to work for one of those 'take your kids to work days'. My kids were 6, 8, and 10. I got called into a meeting so I asked one of the "concerned adults' to keep an eye on the kids. I expected to be a few minutes and it became 30 minutes. When I got back, my 3 kids were having full conversations with 2 adult ladies. They ladies were convinced my kids were better socialized than many of the adults they worked with.
Or you can continue to buy into the "homeschooled children are not social-ized" myth. Of course they are
What I’m skeptical about are the more advanced high school classes. No discussions about novels, etc.
Or even more, science. No dissection, lab work, etc. A science teacher walking you through the details of an experiment to demonstrate entropy and enthalpy can’t be reproduced with self taught YouTube videos.
Home Science Tools has all your lab needs. Once I taught a dissection class at my homeschool co-op. We did 11 species.
There was also a hands on Shakespeare class taught by an Oxford PhD who studied at the Globe Theater. Reading and discussing literature is what we do as a family.
Many homeschool kids just do dual enrollment for the last two years. Go to a local community college and take Chemistry, Literature, etc.
Oh, and the floor of the kids bedrooms demonstrates entropy pretty well if you ask me!
Yeah, so homeschoolers are generally not kind about the socialization question these days, especially in light of the ways public schools are seeking to indoctrinate children. Homeschooling is not abnormal...government schools are.
My kids play soccer, basketball, piano, drums, guitar, play in the worship band, sing in the homeschool choir, dance with a local team, skateboard, and attend youth group/confirmation classes, youth retreats, as well as a homeschool community on a weekly basis. Basically, we live life just like everyone else without the institutionalized education.
Our homeschool curriculum has them presenting in front of peers constantly in the form of team policy debates, Lincoln-Douglass debates, science fairs, art grant proposals, performing Shakespeare, leading seminars themselves, and defending a senior thesis. This is socialization.
Check out your local homeschool group supports. Do a search for your town and homeschool. I advise homeschooling with other families like yourself. Community is important.
My cousins were all homeschooled. They were better socialized than most public school kids because their parents organized a lot of group events that were both fun and educational, like field trips, movie days, gymnastics and sports, church events, arts and crafts days. And different mixes of people from different sources tied to purpose is much better than the monotony of prison life.
Plus you have control over how your child is socialized and what influences they have. This is far more important than people realize.
Modern life makes it more complicated than it needs to be.
When you start building networks of people who have mutual interests and do things together it is so much better than just accepting what you’re dealt.
For those new to homeschooling, this is a legitimate - and excellent - question. It doesn't have to be interpreted as a criticism of homeschooling (some may take it that way because it's been used as a bludgeon to criticize homeschooling in the past). However, it's a relevant and practical dive into how to address one of the potential unknowns when a family is new to the process.
Many homeschooled students participate in group activities through churches. Our local YMCA has an excellent set of activities to choose from that focus on physical fitness, performance, and the arts. Some local parks and recreation departments will have awesome programs built around all sorts of activities, especially in the summer months. Some local DNR programs/interpreters are out there as well to really plug your students into science and nature.
If you have some good museums, zoos or other educational/cultural organizations in your area, these are also places to find great programs. Some local public school districts and/or private schools will even allow homeschoolers to participate in their extracurricular activities if you trust them.
Also, many homeschool families band together to share resources, teach, organize activities, and share in the fun. These are some the best people you may ever meet.
If you are considering homeschooling, I highly recommend it! It's fantastic for so many reasons and there are a ton of great resources available so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
This is just 1 page out of our 5th graders curriculum. (Abeka).
I will never regret homeschooling our kids. 😊
What do homeschooled kids do for socializing? Do you meet up with other homeschool families? Any good resources you'd recommend?
Great points. It's amazing how many things kids are willing to do once they're out of the classroom. I finally understand what my parents meant by asking, "What do you mean there's nothing to do?" Homeschooling really seems like the best option at this point.
Go camping for 1 month a year at KOAs around the country. Let your children go to the playground. They will have it organized in 5 minutes and everyone will be playing "their game". I mean that's what we did with our homeschooled children. Now they run circles around all the BA and BS idiots they work with who are on Ativan, Buspar and Zoloft, are always late to work, call in sick and have anxiety attacks when customers come in without a face mask.
Or you can continue to buy into the "homeschooled children are not social-ized" myth. Of course they are not socialized. (aka-indoctrinated) But social, amazing and a wide peer group (2 months to 99 years) and confident, informed, logical, ....... yeah Def worry about socializing.
We homeschooled all 4 of our kids from kindergarten through high school. We used the Robinson Curriculum. Our kids weren't too fond of it at the time, however now they love it, and are so appreciative that we used it. Robinson doesn't have math, so we used Saxon Math. Whenever I get the question about 'socialization' from some ill informed concerned adult, I tell them, I can take my kids behind the wood shed and teach them all the curse word they will learn in school. You should see the looks-hilarious.
I took the kids to work for one of those 'take your kids to work days'. My kids were 6, 8, and 10. I got called into a meeting so I asked one of the "concerned adults' to keep an eye on the kids. I expected to be a few minutes and it became 30 minutes. When I got back, my 3 kids were having full conversations with 2 adult ladies. They ladies were convinced my kids were better socialized than many of the adults they worked with.
Home schooling is awesome!
That sounds awesome. Camping, leadership skills, and success as grown ups.
I'm getting started researching local home school options and wanted to get some perspective from those with experience.
What I’m skeptical about are the more advanced high school classes. No discussions about novels, etc.
Or even more, science. No dissection, lab work, etc. A science teacher walking you through the details of an experiment to demonstrate entropy and enthalpy can’t be reproduced with self taught YouTube videos.
Home Science Tools has all your lab needs. Once I taught a dissection class at my homeschool co-op. We did 11 species.
There was also a hands on Shakespeare class taught by an Oxford PhD who studied at the Globe Theater. Reading and discussing literature is what we do as a family.
Many homeschool kids just do dual enrollment for the last two years. Go to a local community college and take Chemistry, Literature, etc.
Oh, and the floor of the kids bedrooms demonstrates entropy pretty well if you ask me!
Yeah, so homeschoolers are generally not kind about the socialization question these days, especially in light of the ways public schools are seeking to indoctrinate children. Homeschooling is not abnormal...government schools are.
My kids play soccer, basketball, piano, drums, guitar, play in the worship band, sing in the homeschool choir, dance with a local team, skateboard, and attend youth group/confirmation classes, youth retreats, as well as a homeschool community on a weekly basis. Basically, we live life just like everyone else without the institutionalized education.
Our homeschool curriculum has them presenting in front of peers constantly in the form of team policy debates, Lincoln-Douglass debates, science fairs, art grant proposals, performing Shakespeare, leading seminars themselves, and defending a senior thesis. This is socialization.
Check out your local homeschool group supports. Do a search for your town and homeschool. I advise homeschooling with other families like yourself. Community is important.
Thank you very much. I will check out our local homeschool support groups.
Not even prison lol
Join local community sports teams or activities. Join homeschool groups and do joint field trips.
My cousins were all homeschooled. They were better socialized than most public school kids because their parents organized a lot of group events that were both fun and educational, like field trips, movie days, gymnastics and sports, church events, arts and crafts days. And different mixes of people from different sources tied to purpose is much better than the monotony of prison life.
Plus you have control over how your child is socialized and what influences they have. This is far more important than people realize.
Modern life makes it more complicated than it needs to be.
When you start building networks of people who have mutual interests and do things together it is so much better than just accepting what you’re dealt.
If they're average kids they will socialize around other kids like any other kid, whether it be playground, church, martial arts, etc
If they're the kind who would have kept to themselves or maybe only had one friend in school, you just saved them bullies and fake acquaintances
For those new to homeschooling, this is a legitimate - and excellent - question. It doesn't have to be interpreted as a criticism of homeschooling (some may take it that way because it's been used as a bludgeon to criticize homeschooling in the past). However, it's a relevant and practical dive into how to address one of the potential unknowns when a family is new to the process.
Many homeschooled students participate in group activities through churches. Our local YMCA has an excellent set of activities to choose from that focus on physical fitness, performance, and the arts. Some local parks and recreation departments will have awesome programs built around all sorts of activities, especially in the summer months. Some local DNR programs/interpreters are out there as well to really plug your students into science and nature.
If you have some good museums, zoos or other educational/cultural organizations in your area, these are also places to find great programs. Some local public school districts and/or private schools will even allow homeschoolers to participate in their extracurricular activities if you trust them.
Also, many homeschool families band together to share resources, teach, organize activities, and share in the fun. These are some the best people you may ever meet.
If you are considering homeschooling, I highly recommend it! It's fantastic for so many reasons and there are a ton of great resources available so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.