Does homeschooling shelter a lot of children and make them shy?

Answer 1

No, but they do lack some caliber of social skills and are a littlke unprepared for what the world is fully like out there

Answer 2

It really depends on how the homeschooling goes. I have friends who grew up more sheltered. where as me and my brothers and other friends were not. The homeschooled kids who are schooled that way because of religion are often the more sheltered kids. There is such a broad spectrum of ways to homeschool that you can't really say " a majority of them are like this one thing" or "alot of them are another" I have been with kids on both ends of the spectrum and they are equally intelligent, and fun to be around. the only thing different i guess would be their values. But just like any family, even if the kids are in normal school, they can be brought up sheltered. So really homeschooling has very little to do with why some families and children grow up sheltered and shy. There are just as many and possibly more outgoing/unshelterd homeschoolers, than sheltered shy ones.
EDIT: Most or all homeschoolers do come out prepared and ready for college. Not only that, but a fair amount of homeschoolers actually step into college earlier than public/private schooled children. My cousin, and several of my friends all stepped into Community college at 16 (i'm not kidding, yes they let you do that at some colleges) I even have a friend who started at 14. As for socialization, homeschoolers have pleanty of opportunities now to go and socialize with other kids. (10 years ago, homeschooling was more scarce so finding support groups and forming co-ops was a little more difficult)

Answer 3

Generally, no. As several people have said before, it isn't the homeschooling itself that determines someone's social ability. It's the individual and the way in which they are homeschooled.

Of course, there are some families that really do isolate their kids. But these people are vastly in the minority.

And as for the part about being sheltered, you can take almost all the kids in my homeschool group as an example of the fact that this is untrue. We know what's going on in the world. Most of us have friends in public schools, too. The average homeschooler in my group is a value debater (you oughta hear those kids talk about democracy and the U.S. government), a member of the speech club, a member in 4H, an officer in the Goveror's Program on Abstinence, an avid Christian rock fan, and participates in various sports. Most of us are by no means cut off from the outside world.

Answer 4

No, any more than public schools make children friendly and gregarious. Children are born with natural inclinations. Homeschooling just respects those inclinations more...and so much depends on the parents. I don't know any homeschooling parents who are in it to shelter their children, and I don't know any antisocial homeschoolers, although some are slower to warm up in groups (just like public schooled kids) Stop blaming homeschooling for personality!

I have seven kids at home, and they are very friendly and appropriate socially. They also know quite a bit more about society and real life, since they are living it every day rather than being trapped in a school building living in an artificial society.

Answer 5

I think some kids are shy and some are outgoing naturally. If your child is naturally outgoing and you don't lock them up at home all day everyday, they will be fine. I think kids that are shy require a little extra work to flourish in homeschool, but because you can introduce difficult situaltions in a more controlled way or more slowly, it can sometimes make them more comfortable.

That being said, I think there are probably parents out there not teaching their kids and/or overprotecting and sheltering them. But , there are also people who graduate from public high school without knowing how to read. It is not the norm in either instance,. but it does happen. Most kids who are homeschooled get plenty of social activity though. My son is on the basketball team from December to the last week of February (they meet 2 times per week), swim team from March to July (they practice 5 days a week and have meets Saturday), AWANAs every Wednesday August through June, Team Kids Wednesdays during the summer, childrens chior every Sunday afternoon year round with extra practices scheduled as needed for plays and performances, church and Sunday school every Sunday, we have 2 other homeschool families on our street that have boys his age that he plays with, he has public school friends he plays with, and we are going to have him in boy scouts next year as well as taking an astronomy class at the museum. He is busy. He wouldn't want more. He is happy and secure. Most homeschool kids are.

Answer 6

Maybe. The vast majority of homeschooled kids I know are not shy. The shyest ones were in public school before. Some were always shy or were shy in the early years and grew out of it.

I was public schooled and was shy during all my years of school. I've still got certain shy characteristics. There are some personality traits that are just more engrained than others.

Answer 7

No, actually kids are more likely to become shy in public school.

Some kids are more inclined to be shy than others, and public school teaches social skills with the strategy of sink or swim . . . while in homeschooling, a parent has more time to focus on teaching social skills to a child inclined to shyness. My little sister and I both went to public school, and we both turned into socio-phobes. Now in college, I am recovering, and in homeschool, my sister is too. All the homeschool kids in her group are socially active and outgoing; she is the only shy one.

This really makes a lot of sense - after all, who teaches social skills in public school? The teachers? They don't have time - they're too busy writing up the delinquents or bombarding the students with the same stuff they teach every year (standardized test material) in time for the SAT. Other children? The only social skills they know are bullying and conformity. If you want your kid to have social skills, you have to teach them yourself - don't wait for the government to do it for you.

Answer 8

That depends upon how many social situations the child is placed in...if a child is homeschooled but does not have any social interactions, then they will be socially inept and unable to feel comfortable in social situations. Many areas now have sports teams for homeschooled children, events and "field trips" which allows for them to create friendships. If these aren't available, then little league, karate classes, dance classes or other interactive activities should be persued for the sake of the child.

Answer 9

It depends on the person. If they have other ways of staying social than it shouldn't be a problem. I personally was more of an emotional wreck at high school and a lot more shy. I'm 16 and loving it but then again i went to public school until 10th grade.

Answer 10

No. I am homeschooled and I have this to show:

Straight A's
4-H President
Study Group leader in online class (32 students)
Library Teen Advisory Board
Went to 79th Scripps National Spelling Bee

Answer 11

NO! I used to be shy, but after I got homeschooled, I became much more outgoing...you should see me now. (I was homeschooled for the last two years of high school, so I was super shy for so many years).