Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Socialization

Don't ask me if my children are socialized. It is rude and annoying for many reasons.

  1. Just because they are not locked in a classroom for 7 hours a day with 40 other kids does not mean they don't have friends. Skittles and Twizzler have more friends than I ever had at the same age. Even Hershey has friends and he is only 2. Putting your child in a room full of children born the same year will not guarantee they will make friends. 
  2. It is none of your business how many friends my children have. I don't ask you how many friends your child has. Why do you think it is okay to ask me that just because I homeschool? 
  3. Maybe what you are really trying to ask is HOW do I socialize my kids. Asking me IF they are socialized, implies that I am neglecting one of my children's very basic needs. 
  4. Maybe you don't understand the definition of the word socialization. If you are asking me if I am fostering my children's ability to acquire a personal identity while learning values, behavior, and social skills, then yes. In fact, that is the main reason I homeschool.
  5. If you are asking me if I am attempting to make my children socialistic, NO. That is another reason I homeschool. I am not trying to form another brick in the wall. My children are not just another cog on the wheel. They are individual and spectacular. It will be easier for them to build their personal gifts in the flexibility of homeschooling than the rigidity of school. 
  6. Socialization is NOT encouraged in school. The only thing I EVER got in trouble for was socializing. My teachers said, "You are here to learn not to socialize." And they were CORRECT!!! That is what school is for, to learn. When we are doing our school work, my kids do not have other children distracting them. They can focus and absorb the information fully. And when school is done for the day, they are off socializing with their many friends at co-op, park day, Awana, skate day, church, sports, scouting, or the neighborhood playground. 
  7. I have never met an adult who had been homeschooled and was socially inept. However, I meet socially inept products of public school daily. Maybe there are homeschoolers out there who are socially awkward but there is no proof that they would have fared any better if they had gone to school. 
Finally I will leave you with this video. It always makes me laugh by pointing out the absurdity of this question. 

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