Posts
Socialization is one of those touchy debates that parents who don’t homeschool their children like to defer to when the topic of homeschooling comes up, insisting that by homeschooling your children they will miss out on all of the opportunities to socialize that kids who attend traditional schools have. However, with all of the social interaction kids have these days due to the internet, this is a bit of a stretch as is and, despite not attending traditional classes, there are plenty of ways that homeschool children achieve regular, and maybe even more positive, social interaction:
1. Join extracurricular activities: There are plenty of activities outside of school that allow kids to socialize with other children their age, such as joining a sports league, attending music classes, or taking various specialty classes, such as cooking or drama classes. These types of activities expose children to plenty of other kids that hold the same interests as they do and encourage strong character traits, like self-confidence and teamwork. These types of things are what help lay a good foundation for solid friendships.
2. Join a homeschool network that organizes field trips: Many homeschool organizations organize groups in different cities that allow homeschool children to interact with one another. This can be in the form of activities like various field trips or museum days, and can provide a good support group for not only the homeschooled children but also the parents who homeschool them.
3. Make regular dates with friends: This may be one area where public school children have a slight advantage over their homeschool counterparts, but only because they see their friends every day at school. However, even so, when children that attend homeschool do see their friends they usually have much more quality interaction because they don’t see them every single day in a classroom setting. The key is scheduling regular dates with friends to maintain a solid friendship.
4. Take advantage of events in your city: A lot of cities have regular family-friendly events that are perfect for homeschool (and traditional school) children to attend. Whether it’s movies in the park or attending a carnival, doing something different is a great way to get kids out of the house.
Homeschooled children may not have the regular interaction with peers that their traditionally schooled counterparts do, but that doesn’t mean that regular social interaction is completely out of the question. It’s arguable that kids who are homeschooled have better socialization to those in traditional schools because the quality of the time spent with peers is usually better, but either way by making it a point to engage in plenty of activities socialization for homeschooled children isn’t usually an issue.
About the Author:
This guest post is contributed by Debra Johnson, blogger and editor of Liveinnanny.com. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: - jdebra84 @ gmail.com.
.jpg)
