Spread the word!

If you are homeschooling your kids, I can almost guarantee that you’ve heard the question a million times before. Aren’t you worried about socializing? Don’t you think they’ll be weird or awkward? Or maybe they aren’t quite as pointed, but you may hear friends say that they could never homeschool because their child is so social.

You might even be concerned yourself! I know that I was when I first started. I believed that homeschooled kids were sheltered from the world and they just stayed home with their siblings or went to church functions, and did nothing else. While that may be true for some homeschooling families, it is definitely not true for all.

Why I Don’t Worry About Homeschooling and Socializing

Public School Doesn’t Teach Socialization

Okay, stick with me on this one because it’s counter to everything we have always been taught. Public schools really don’t teach much about socializing in the real world. Think about it. When was the last time that you were in a room of 30 people your exact same age from your exact same neighborhood? I’m guessing not since school. In the real world we are surrounded by people of different ages, nationalities, beliefs, and backgrounds. That’s the beauty of life! Also, if you’ve ever been to a public school, you would know that it is pretty much forbidden to socialize. The day is filled with silent reading, and quiet work time. You can’t talk while the teacher is talking. You can’t talk in the halls. In some schools you can’t even talk at lunch! The kids get maybe a half hour of recess to socialize.

Homeschooling Doesn’t Mean Isolation

You definitely do not need to homeschool in a box. In fact, a lot of homeschoolers have to turn away some social obligations in order to have any time at home to actually get school work done. Between field trips and co-ops and play dates and small groups. There are so many activities for our children to get involved with that turn into a ton of opportunities to socialize. Not to mention, there are also the trips to the grocery store and the library or volunteering opportunities that typically would have been completed while your son or daughter would typically be in school. They are learning to socialize with people much older and much younger than they are. There are millions of opportunities to socialize organically in our lives, so we don’t need to send our kids to public school where they aren’t allowed to talk [see above] in order to “socialize” them.

Homeschooling Gives More Control

Now, I’m not suggesting that we control 100% of our children’s lives and never allow them out of our tiny bubble. That said, I have seen “the village”, and I certainly don’t want it raising my children! My kids may grow up “sheltered”. I truly believe that we, as parents, are the best people to raise our children. Of course, our kids will be exposed to other people’s value systems and beliefs, and I encourage that. I don’t, however, think that other people’s values and beliefs should be thrown at them for 8 hours a day while they are away from their parents. When someone has a different belief or value than our family has, we encourage discussion about it. Mr. C, Chris and I will all talk about how every family is different, and we explain why we believe the way that we do.

About Kaylene

Kaylene George is an autistic self-advocate, author, and mother of five, including one autistic child. She realized her own autism as an adult shortly after her son received his initial diagnosis. Suddenly the parts of her that seemed so “weird” to society had an answer. Since then, Kaylene has passionately shared about her experiences with autism from both sides of the great divide between parents and autistic self-advocates on AutisticMama.com.