Why do people think that home schooled children?

Question

are lacking in socialization? Do they really think we keep our kids locked in the house all day? By far, most home schooled children are better socialized because they deal with all types of people, not just the ones they are forced to deal with in public school. The only time we had socialization problems was when my son was in the public school system.

Answer 1

Obviously your son lacks the social skills to get along in a regular high school. You said so yourself. Fortunately, unless he wants to become a teacher, he will never have to develop those skills. He won't ever have to face an environment like that in college.

Home school has its good points. If the parent is a really good teacher, then they do quite well academically.

The reason that people feel that home schooled kids are not socialized is due to the fact that some teacher have had to deal with the problems of home schooled kids when for some reason, they are returned to regular school.

Of course this is not the case. They don't notice the home schooled kids who don't have problems.

Answer 2

They think you keep the kids in the house all day.  A lot of people are not aware of the activities that are available for homeschooled children. For example, our library and zoo offer special days when they do programs for homeschooled children.  Homeschool parents who take advantage of those types of opportunities are the ones teachers like me love.  When you get a child (at high school) who has received a quality education at home before coming to us, it makes our job that much easier.

Answer 3

I think it's indicative that the majority of parents should not homeschool--which is why only about 2% of children are homeschooled (which means less than that in terms of parents since homeschooling families I would say have an average of more than 2 children). These people who are convinced that kids "aren't exposed to new environments" and all that stuff obviously wouldn't be dedicated enough to homeschooling to take their kids out to various places. Or perhaps they're just not able enough to think outside the box.

Answer 4

This is a blatant misconception!  I homeschooled my children, and three years ago placed them into public school (due to circumstances beyond my control).  My children integrated wonderfully into the public school.  Not one of my children had any problems with socialization.  The key is to keep them in other activities ie. sports, 4-H, .   I don't believe that wanting my children to have the best education that they possibly can is a crime!  I will go a step further, my kids when entering the school system had to be tested to see what grades they would be placed in, and they all tested very highly.

Answer 5

i homeschool right now.

and i socialize with all kinds of other people.

i think homeschooling is better because you dont have to see the same people everyday from preschool to being a senior.

homeschooling may offer a better education as well.

it just depends on the school you are comparing it to.

Answer 6

My Sister,(who is not a Christian), Home Schooled her Daughter, and that young Lady is well socialized, and very insightful.

People who object to Home Schooling want to be able to fill young minds with humanistic garbage. They especially hate that Christians Home School, because they want to dilute the Christian influence on them.

~OM~

Answer 7

It is because those who are against homeschooling are grasping at straws.  Statistics show that homeschoolers get a higher quality education, so those who oppose it in fear of their jobs must spread the socialization myth as a last ditch effort to make it seem like a bad idea.

Its all about $$$$$$

Answer 8

Uhuh, I completely agree with you, it is so irratating! :)

Answer 9

Its people who dont home educate say this typically! We home educate - I have 4 children and sometimes I wonder what it would like to be in school - then I think back to my school days and never a more isolating experience have I had.  You can be in a crowded room and know no one!  

anyways - it is not a problem for us!  We go to boys brigade, brownies, chess club, youth club, sunday school, erm the list goes on and the friends are REAL friends not forced companionship because the children sit beside a particular person in class.

Answer 10

Same with me! I was in Montessori school when I was really little, then I homeschooled a few grades. I had better social experiences when I was homeschooled than I did in Montessori, or the public school I later went to! Not that I had trouble socializing, I just think public schools really aren't the best place for a kid to be socialized. Now I go part time to my local high school and I homeschool some classes. I do that because I believe homeschooling teaches better, and it works into my family's schedule much better, but I also want to keep in touch w/ my friends that I made in middle school. I don't know why people always think that, it's rather annoying.

In fact, I was a very outgoing kid when I was younger, and homeschooled. After I started public school, I don't really know what happened, but I'm a lot more shy and I often wish I hadn't started public school.

To Patrick M. How is going to the same school every day diverse? What new environments do kids get exposed to? With home schooling, families can travel and really see new places. Or they can take lots of field trips and invite some friends! The kids can join clubs that are affiliated with their local public school and ones that are not! Also, just because a person is home schooled doesn't mean they never see people their own age. I had a lot of friends my own age when I was home schooled that I got to see every day and I got to meet new people all the time.

Answer 11

Here's some great information on homeschooling and socialization:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Answer 12

I think they think that because they are ignorant to the truth. The government has brainwashed people into believing that they are better to raise the children then the parents are.

My kids are homeschooled and we have so many awesome activities they participate in.  We would not be able to do that if they were in public school sitting in a classroom all day in a room full of kids their age.  They know how to socialize with people, children and adults, of all ages.  And they are my children, not the governments!!!

Answer 13

Yeah I homeschool and I have many friends! I absolutely think your right!

Answer 14

I agree. My aunt and uncle have 5 kids, all homeschooled, and they are active in scouts, dance, take music lessons, 4H, and many other things. I think that they are probably more well adjusted and better prepared than their peers.

Answer 15

By and large it's a myth created by unions and associations who fear for their futures (homeschooling has gone up 7% since 1980 and is expected to grow another 5-10% by 2020).

There are, in fact, posters and literature made by these groups about the socialization issues, which is largely fabricated.

Answer 16

I have come to truly believe that it is because homeschooled children tend to be MORE emotionally and socially mature than their same age public school counterparts.

HS kids are polite, responsible, independent, like to learn, get along with people of all ages, have strong interests.

I remember going to a homeschool event which featured hs kids demonstrating their ballet skills, music talent, foreign language, public speaking, acting and other skills.  As I sat in the audience, I thought to myself... boy, this would not fly in most public school settings.  These kids who are really into their "thing" and are brave enough to share it in front of a large audience would perhaps not fare so well with a ps audience.

To many public school students it makes the homeschooled kids seem odd.  But, I guarantee you that there are great public school kids who wish the ps environment was better - better at supporting and nurturing them as individuals, better at encouraging their unique talents, better at celebrating academic accomplishment, etc.

Public school is a closed and artificial social environment.

Homeschool is open and real-life.

Some homeschool bashers cry about diversity but show their true colors in their inability to accept our chosen way of life and education.

In the words of John Adams: "Facts are stubborn."  And the facts are on the side of homeschooling - academically and socially speaking.

Disclaimer: I am down on our public school system in general but NOT our teachers in general.  I think teachers are victim of the same broken system.

Answer 17

Well I don't think that.

I am not all too familiar with the home-schooling system, but I would imagine that it is due to there not being any schools nearby?

Forgive my ignorance.

Answer 18

Patrick's answer is very interesting.  Where do you get your information?  

The problem I have run into is that people are highly assumptive.  The idea of homeschooling challenges many people's comfort levels and beliefs.  I have been amazed at the responses from friends and acquaintainces since we have started homeschooling.  Some seem to feel guilty or uncomfortable that they are not more involved with their kids' educations and lives.  I do not feel judgemental of these folks as many people HAVE to work or simply choose to and can't or don't want to make room for homeschooling their kids.  That's OK.  

Usually after I describe the amount of clubs (two book clubs, foreign lands club, history club, music group, science challenge group, soccer, library groups, etc etc) and social/learning activities we are involved with there is no more concern about socialization.

Yes they are different however.  THey do not judge their friends by the type of cell phone they have or by how cool their clothes are.  they value their friends on how much fun they have together as well as how well they work together when involved in projects.

Public school kids tend to disparage kids in younger grades.  Homeschoolers are involved with people of every age range which seems a lot more natural.  In your job is everyone you work with in a one year age range? Of course not - we work with seniors as well as persons considerably our juniors.  The only school system Ihave found that supports this is MOntessori.  PIty it doesn't go up into the upper grades.

Answer 19

People think this because they assume that a child who doesn't go to school all day has nothing else to do but stay at home in their pajamas like they did when they were playing sick.   Basically it is just a lack of imagination on their part.

Also, the minute people find out you're homeschooled, you're held to a higher expectation. Apparently you're allowed to be  socially inept if you go to public school--  timid & shy, or  loud & obnoxious and trying to get attention, or goofy and immature, or snobbish and acting s**y and trying to grow up too fast, it's all okay if the kid is in public school, but someone spends 5 minutes with one homeschooler on the quiet side and all the fingers jump up to point to homeschooling as the cause.

School is not the only socializing agent and frankly it's nowhere near the best socializing agent.

Answer 20

Because school is where you meet everyone, and unfortunatley it's true.

Answer 21

I think that a few home-schooled children ruin the reputation for the rest of them.  When I was in school we had a handful of kids that came to high school after having been home-schooled.  I got along well with all of them but by conventional standards they were awkward.  They didn't play the social ''click'' game that occupies most high schoolers minds for their four years together.  I found it refreshing personally, but in my opinion it gave them the reputation you are referring to.

Given the quality of public education in the US, if I can't afford private schools for my kids, I will probably home school too.  I think high school is a joke in most places.  You shouldn't force everyone to suffer the same education when their time could be better spent.  I think an apprentice system should be instated by which students who already know they'd rather do something practical when they're 15 can go on and start doing an apprenticeship.  If they want to keep studying theory and go on to University then they could go to high school, but they'd have to earn the grades to prove it.  They have this system in Switzerland and it works great.  They have apprenticeships for everything from computer technicians to secretaries to hair stylests to carpenters or bankers.  There are so many options and checks and balances that you can't find a high school senior who can't write a coherent essay, which you will find in every high school in the US.

But what do you expect from a system where teachers aren't paid a living wage?  That is the US's number one problem with education.  I worked in an elementary school in Washington state for a year.  I can tell you from experience, our teachers are not appreciated as they should be.  I've heard that some school districts stopped requiring 4 college degrees for their teachers.  This is a tragedy.

Do your kids a favor, keep them away from american public high schools.

Answer 22

You can find as many exceptions as you want, but as a whole, home schooled children aren't socialized, because they are never introduced to new environments. Behavioral and social issues that they might have been able to correct tend to go unnoticed in such a situation as well.

You may that your son didn't have socialization problems until he went to public school, but he may have already had socialization problems that only became an issue once they were confronted by kids his own age.

On top of that, these are the people and generation that he will grow up with and constantly have to interact with. It's better that he learn to socialize with them now, then grow up socially behind them.