Despite the common accusation directed at homeschooling parents that they are ruining their child socially by not letting him interact with kids his own age, it’s been well established by researchers that homeschooled kids actually grow up to be mature, well adjusted young people and that the “socialization issue” is no more than a myth.
We didn’t really need research to know this, although it is certainly good to have scientific backup to what we knew all along: there are many different ways to socialize children. Certainly children in past generations were socialized via going to church or to other social gatherings and simply spending time with family members. The best socializing happens when the child is naturally exposed to many different people from many different age groups – spending the majority of their day in a classroom with 40 other kids their age is not necessarily the best way to socialize and can be very hard on some kids!
At WiloStar3D Academy, our students have a safe, healthy and engaging opportunities to join our clubs, have parties, and socialize after school. Our 3D clubhouse is a great way for our students to extend the personal connections with their classmates online and express themselves with fun building activities.
Here are 3 other great ways to socialize your homeschooler:
1. Spend time with family! Whether it’s the nuclear family or the extended family, the very fact that kids spend the majority of their time with family members means that they are getting plenty of opportunities to socialize. Of course, meeting the extended family is helpful because it expands the number of people your child is exposed to and also enables her to play with children of different ages.
2. Schedule play-dates and outings with other homeschooling families. You can start your search for other homeschooling families online, or you can ask friends and relatives, and befriend other families when you go to the library or to the park during a normal school day.
3. Go to church, or join a local community. Church is a wonderful place to build a community of like-minded people. Or you could join any other type of local community in your area. You could also sign up your child for enrichment activities or for a local sports group. If you do, make sure socialization there will be gentle.
The myth of the isolated homeschooler who spends her days next to the kitchen table with books is just that – a myth. Homeschoolers enjoy a very active social life. In fact, by not spending 6-8 hours each day locked up at school, they get to experience much more than a typical student who attends a traditional school.
