Janice Campbell in her article “Socialization… Again” talks about how homeschoolers are frequently confronted by others about what they see as their lack of socialization.
If you’ve homeschooled for any length of time you too have been asked this question in one form or another.
How do we respond?
My “worst case scenario” situation happened many years ago at my husband’s office Christmas party.
The wife of one of his partners asked me, “What do you do?” I’m 5 feet tall and she was about 5’11” and a lawyer for the school district, so I was already feeling a little intimidated. When I told her I homeschooled our children she said, “Why in the world would you want to do that?” and then went on to the dreaded socialization questions and other objections too myriad to mention here. Feeling very panic-stricken, I fumbled for answers.
I wish I had had Janice’s words: “I firmly believe that being institutionalized in age-segregated groups is the antithesis of normal socialization. I believe that institutionalization and socialization limited to others of the same age inhibits mental, moral, and spiritual growth.”
I wanted to applaud when I read those words.
More and more often we’ve seen the old adage fulfilled – “The proof is in the pudding”. As we’ve seen our homeschooled children grow up they themselves become our best response. The doubters are discovering them to excel academically, be well-balanced socially, morally sound, and more than likely, well-grounded spiritually.
I’ll end with another quote from Janice Campbell, and then direct you to her site to read her entire article for yourself.
“From my perspective, home education allows children to live a normal life.” Janice Campbell
Finding Joy in the Journey,
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Great thoughts! It is nice to know there are other hs families out there who face this same issue. Sharing our insights with one another can certainly help keep things in perspective, as well as provide us with some “ammunition” for the next time the dreaded conversation on socialization comes up.