Homeschool World Forum

Hello, Dolly. Your son has a purpose on this planet and I think you are doing well in helping him find it. Forcing him into things he has no desire for, would serve to break his spirit, IMO. So he's not a social butterfly, big deal. He sounds like a very thoughtful, admirable young man. Looking at the big picture... character matters most. Not how many activities and events a child is immersed in. I believe you are giving your son the environment he needs to become a confident and secure man. By the way, being confident and secure has nothing to do with how social you are. I have several friends who are extremely insecure with themselves yet give the appearance of being out-going. They tend to talk and take over conversations out of nervousness. The fact that you are concerned with your son's well-being is awesome. He'll be just fine. Don't let others guilt you into thinking otherwise.

Sheila

Hi Dolly-VA,

I tend to agree with Sheila on this one here.
of course, I have one of each in the introvert, extrovert department.

Hang in there and be supportive, you never know, he might find a group
that strikes his fancy enough to get involved yet.

With my youngest, it takes a while.. we forced her hand with the university
"strings project" last year. Big mistake. Group lessons just made her decide
that she wasn't going to play cello after all.

At least she is going to stick with violin and piano.


Everyone is different. I know I don't tend to like crowds, so I work the
night shift.

mark

I'm glad I saw this thread. My 9 year old son is very introverted as well and is just not interested in hanging out with other kids in a group. He gets on quite well with people when we are out and about, but just seems to have no interest in 'getting involved.'

I worry about it quite a lot. He does act young for his age, I think, which may be because his primary playmate is his autistic younger brother.

We moved, and my oldest ds has had a hard time making friends. I actually put him in school this year for that reason. He has a few friends he hangs out with in school, but they don't get together outside of school and next year when we homeschool again I'm worried he won't have much of a social life.

My solution is to try to keep us busy and active in the community. Sooner or later (probably when we least expect it) he'll meet someone he really clicks with.

My oldest son who is now almost 14 has always been the shy kid who never had any friends and stayed inside. He never had any desire to participate in any activities outside of the home and was content sitting in the house reading...That was 2 years ago...Now he has a girlfriend, loves going out with friends, plays outside all the time, and is an outgoing fun loving kid. He just had to outgrow it. I didn't force the subject and just kept encouraging him. He just seemed to outgrow it.

It will get better.