carsmom wrote:I do think that homeschooling can and in a lot of cases does cause children to have difficulties socially. As does public school, but that is not what I am arguing. I only know three children who are homeschooled, all have trouble interacting with children and do not respect figures of authority outside of their parents. If I were from a large city, I may feel completely different about homeschooling.
I agree that homeschooling could cause children to have difficulties socially. However, in my experience meeting probably more than 100 homeschooled kids by now, the ones who have difficulty socially are the exception rather than the rule. For the most part they have been polite and well mannered and more conversational with the adults around them than most school children I know.
I guess I live in a city with LOTS of opportunities to socialise with other kids at home-ed classes and excursions so maybe that makes a difference when compared with a smaller place, I don't know. We do one home-ed creative arts class a week and have at least two opportunities a week to go on learning or social outings. This is on top of our normal non home-ed specific activities. For us the issue is choosing what opportunities to take and still have time for learning rather than hunting them out. It's a balancing act.
I have also now sat and observed 4 seperate "class" situations where home-ed kids were being taught by an adult other than their parents. In those 4 situations with maybe a total of 60 different kids, I can remember 3 on one particular outing who were just plain rude in terms of respecting the person talking to them. The rest the children have been respectful of the adults.
The social aspect is probably the single most misunderstood aspect of home-ed from people who are not involved in home-ed. Certainly it was one of my main concerns when I started looking into home-ed 10 months ago, but my concerns in that area have been well and truely laid to rest.