{"id":533,"date":"2012-08-06T18:30:31","date_gmt":"2012-08-06T22:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yoshee08.com\/blog\/?p=533"},"modified":"2012-08-06T18:30:31","modified_gmt":"2012-08-06T22:30:31","slug":"i-was-asked-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atorahlife.com\/blog\/homeschool\/i-was-asked-the-question\/","title":{"rendered":"I was asked *THE* question"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I am usually a very confident person, especially when it comes to our homeschooling, but for some reason, when *the* question was put to me recently, I felt very not confident and my mind went blank.\u00a0 It is not like we have not been asked that question before – after all, we are now in our 8th year of homeschooling!\u00a0 So, for my mind to go blank was very not like me.\u00a0 I do not know why I froze.\u00a0 It could have been just the way the question was posed, the tone of voice she used perhaps put me on the defensive side, and it could have been because it was someone who has known my kids for many years and all of a sudden she asked this question.\u00a0 Or, just a combination of it all. \u00a0(Photo taken from here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Anyone who has homeschooled knows what *the* question is, it is the most famous question a homeschool parent is asked (and yes I can even hear some of you snickering!): \u201cWhat about SOCIALIZATION? Do your kids SOCIALIZE?\u201d<\/p>\n

I think everyone understands the importance of these two words, but I am not sure how many people actually understand what they mean. Socialization means a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position. In other words, taking children out to various places, stores, the market, etc. and teaching them how to interact with the various kinds of people from various walks of life is teaching them socialization. Socializing means to make social; to seek or enjoy the companionship of others. So, having my children become friends with each other and playing with each other (as well as some peers) would be socializing. (Definitions from dictionary.com)<\/p>\n

I thought I saved an email from one of my homeschool email lists that had a beautiful response to this question, but for the life of me I cannot seem to find it anymore.\u00a0 I would like to post it if I do find it.\u00a0 In the meantime, I would like to post part of an article that was sent to me by my sister from the August 19, 2009 Homeschool.com e-zine. (The article can be found here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

For centuries, children have learned socialization within the context of their own family and community. Institutionalized education is relatively new to the human condition. It is, and it always has been, through the\u00a0home\u00a0environment, that children learn the vast majority of their socialization\u00a0skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research supports this.\u00a0 According to\u00a0Home\u00a0Schooling and the Question of\u00a0Socialization<\/em>\u00a0by Richard G. Medlin, “Home-schooled children are taking part in the daily routines of their communities. They are certainly not isolated; in fact, they associate with–and feel close to–all sorts of people.”<\/span><\/p>\n

He continues, “Home\u00a0schooling parents can take much of the credit for this. For, with their children’s long-term social development in mind, they actively encourage their children to take advantage of social opportunities outside the family.\u00a0Home-schooled children are acquiring the rules of behavior and systems of beliefs and attitudes they need. They have good self-esteem and are likely to display fewer behavior problems than do other children. They may be more socially mature and have better leadership skills than other children as well. And they appear to be functioning effectively as members of adult society.”<\/span><\/p>\n

This and other studies support the irony of the socialization issue in\u00a0homeschooling\u00a0that we have known for years, which is that traditional schools are actually more on a path of\u00a0de<\/em>-socialization.\u00a0 In traditional schools students learn to stay in a class to which they’ve been assigned and are grouped according to age and academic level, and generally with students from the same geographic area and socio-economic background.<\/span><\/p>\n

So in a sense, as I like to say, many people are\u00a0homeschooling\u00a0because of<\/em>\u00a0socialization reasons.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That seems to sum it all up very nicely. \u00a0I take my children all over the place – to stores, to the market, on other errands that need to be done. \u00a0They learn how to talk to various kinds of people, and people of various ages. \u00a0Oh yes, they also get to play with peers, they attend Scouts and we try to get them into camps when we can, among other things. \u00a0Some other ideas for socialization are:<\/p>\n