Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Socialization and Homeschooling

One of the biggest concerns I hear from people regarding homeschooling is, "When/How will your kid socialize?"
Last year Mimzy had 20-minutes for her silent lunches (no talking allowed), no talking in the hallways, no talking in class, no talking in the bathrooms .. and 20 minutes for recess, sometimes a second recess or free time. I'm really curious why people think kids get so much time to socialize in school? 
Mimzy has karate class 2-4 times a week, we travel to the library at least once a week, go to interactive museums/the art museums at least once a month, she'll be going to the zoo's homeschool program once a month, the park at least once a week in decent weather, having playdates and meet-ups with other families, volunteering in community theater .. She's getting a ton of chances to socialize with children AND adults in real-world situations. I've often heard high school and college teachers complain that kids aren't prepared for the real world after being trained to survive in fabricated school environments.
As for socialization, ie, "the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society." .. as far as I can tell, my child can get the same socialization if I beat her up in the bathroom and steal her lunch money, then insult her and demand conformity. Instead, she is learning how to make appointments, how to write checks, pay bills, queue at the bank, manage her savings account, work hard to earn money to pay for the things she wants, grow her own food, treat other people the way she wants to be treated, and embrace diversity .. I think it's a fair trade.

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