Socialization…
When we decided to homeschool, the number one question we’d get would be about ‘what about socialization’. I always just laughed off the question because I felt the question assumed that regular schooling was a good method for socialization (but that’s for another day.)
Now that we’ve been doing this for nearly two years I thought I’d look back at the opportunities for social engagement my kids have had:
- Boy Scouts / Brownies
- Sports – Soccer, Basketball, Track
- Homeschool Co-op classes one day a week
- Science Museum Homeschool Classes (monthly)
- Young Mensan monthly events
- Chess Tournaments
- Tap Dance, Choir, Cello
We are very careful not to over-schedule our kids so this list does not occur all at once nor do we do every event that comes our way. But the point is that there are many opportunities to interact and we feel lucky to be able to take advantage of many of these opportunities, some of which we wouldn’t have if we weren’t homeschooling.
Everyone has to answer that question their own way but I’m curious to hear how you’ve answered (or if you’ve even been asked that.) My standard answer to people who I feel are asking legitimately and not being rude is to say “we have found ample opportunities to socialize, some of which we couldn’t do if we were not homeschooling; so it works really well for us.”