Do you find homeschool kids to be socially stunted?

Question

I am a work with families in the middle ga area and find so many of the families I come into contact with that homeschool have very socially stunted children. I'm concerned for them as they grow into adult. Any suggestions I can offer to help them. How do you give your children social experiences to prevent social awkwardness.

Answer 1

Some of that might be the area you are working with. Isn't that a very rural farm type area? I live in North Florida and drive through GA to North GA, and driving through that area it seems like a lot of farm land. I could be wrong, but it may not have a lot of social activities and cultural activities that cities offer, but possibly different social experiences that are more familiar to farm families and farm towns like horses, animals, etc.. I would also expect that families in that town from the public school also are probably more "socially stunted" or whatever you want to call it, less exposed to city experiences as much as the homeschool families.

Answer 2

I'm homeschooled (well, tutored [same thing]), and have had essentially no problem interacting with other kids, adults, people in general, etc. However, this may be due to the fact that I played on a high school baseball team for five years, wrestled for 3 years, am part of a bunch of homeschool groups and am constantly taking cummer school classes for extra credit. I've met some homeschoolers who've had very little experience with the "outside" world, and, frankly, most of them have their heads in the clouds. But don't let this be the sole reason for not homeschooling a child. Most homeschoolers score an average of 30 points higher on standardized tests than public school children. I would say that, with enough exposure to society, a homeschooler will be fine.

Answer 3

I know a lot of homeschooling families, and none of the children I know are socially stunted. My children have many social outlets, and we use them daily. You can go on Yahoo Groups to find a home schooling support group in your area, and print off all the playgroups and such. That's a start. Also, you can recommend the scouts, boy and girl. There are bound to be neighborhood sports they can get involved in. The list is endless. Any place a public school kid can go to socialize, homeschool kids can go too. It's not that hard.

Answer 4

No the homeschoolers I have met (I was homeschooled and now homeschooll my child) all participate in many "social" acticites including playgroups, music lessons, homeschooling groups, karate, group field trips, cooking classes, dance class, art lessons, nature programs at the state parks, playgrounds, swimming lessons, the SCA, Volunteering, gymnastics, etc. They also know how to sociallize with afults and younger children better because they around people of ALL ages not jsut their own age group. The only thing I notice that would set them apart is they are smarter and find things like fashion, shopping, material items,and (when older) parying, less meaningful and so don't have super large groups of friends as they find these materialistic actions useless. If thats beings "odd" though then I'd rather my child be odd then to grow up thinking that looks and drinking to be popluar are whats important.

Answer 5

As someone who was homeschooled, I say it all depends on the family and how they handle things. Homeschool was just my means of getting an education, I still knew lots of kids my age and we out all the time and met up with them for movies and such, and it also depends on the age of the children. For me, homeschool was something that wasn't big in my community so there were very few kids who did that but I think that if that wasn't the case and there were more families and kids doing homeschool in the same area, a group would be great. I often wished i had had one of those, cause I was in a Christian homeschool academy and it was hard to share the christian morals that my family and school had taught and that i was learning about with my friends, because they just didn't understand what my school was all about. But i think they just have to get out there and mingle, take some chances and don't be shy....show the world that homeschoolers aren't what they've always thought they were. Homeschool isn't as bad as I think everyone sees it as and for sure, the kids who are homeschooled aren't anything but normal.

Answer 6

Well I am a home-schooled teenager I've been home-schooled since 5th grade, and I find that I became more outgoing through homeschooling. I will be graduating next year and starting college at the age of 15. But what kept me with good social communication skills would have to be my old friends from the public education I had received before, also chatting and pen-pals I began a year after my home education started. But the best advice to give would be to tell them to let their children get involved with sports, and/or pen-pal programs. Also a big thing is going out and meeting new people their own age to hang around with.

Answer 7

As a homeschooling mom knowing literally hundreds of homeschoolers, I don't know any socially stunted kids. Of course, you don't give a definition of what you consider socially stunted...let's see, the kids i know are friendly, compassionate, able to speak on several topics outside of clothes, TV and their iPod. They are respecful of both adults and younger children, yet know how to have fun with kids their own age.

Working through the autism society, I can give you many many examples of true lack of social skills, so perhaps I don't take as seriously the argument that homeschooling leads to social awkwardness. It seems rather ridiculous in that light.

You also don't mention what your job is, or how many children you actually know that homeschool ('many' of five children could be as little as three, know what I mean?) Your own two children are too young to have been in school, do you consider them socially stunted?

Answer 8

I don't know about where you are at, but the people that I know that home school their children have no problem with their children being as you put it, socially stunted. I would like to know what exactly you mean by socially stunted as to you were a bit vague. But I have seen the children interact with other children and actually they are very well adjusted and also they are far ahead of their counterparts in public school. From the way you type, and convey what you are trying to say makes me wonder if you are even qualified to make such a statement. By what standards do you base your opinion on? What is your opinion on the maladjusted children in public schools? I think children these days are safer with home schooling for many reasons. No drugs, no violence, no teachers trying to force upon a child the teacher's own viewpoints of Communist/Socialist ideals. No child molestation from a teacher. The child actually learns how to study, read, write and speak properly. Math and History are taught instead of " cultural diversity." When a child needs access to a chemistry lab, they in most communities can use the school, because we do pay taxes for these schools. Interaction of sports as well. I ask you what are your qualifications to make this judgment. The children I have seen are more adjusted than the children that are in the public schools.

Answer 9

The parents of home schooled children/young adults, need to arrange for extra curricular activities to provide social activity. Swimming, gymnastics, dance, baseball etc. is one good way to provide social activities. Being involved in 4H, Church group, or other socially active group is beneficial as well.
~It is the children that are not exposed to society on a regular basis that fail to learn socially acceptable behavior. These children need daily contact with society in all aspects of daily living. Meaning the grocery store, the park, the bank, the library, the pool.... The longer a child is away from societym the harder it is for that person to emerge into the world. Mental illnessess may develope, such as Agoraphobia, which is the fear of public places.

Answer 10

I keep hearing this, and it is such a silly stereotype. It is simply not true for the VAST majority of homeschooling kids. There are about 10% who stand out as weird, and they would be weird if they were in school.

The real norm is that homeschooled kids are so busy that they are more social than kids in school, usually. Homeschooled kids find time to visit tons of museums, volunteer at nursing homes or the zoo, and work in their family businesses. Really great athletes in sports that require long daily workouts such as ice skating, gymnastics, etc. are often homeschooled because there is no time to sit six hours in school, do another two or three hours of homework, spend an hour on the bus, and still fit in a workout that lasts three or four hours. Families that homeschool often travel or pursue skiing or something like that.

The only thing weird about most homeschoolers that I know (and I know hundreds) is that they aren't slaves to fashion and brand names, they tend to do extremely well academically, (being avid readers), and they pursue probably too many activities: scouting, 4H, sports, chess, music (playing at least a couple of instruments) and science fairs, spelling bees, etc., etc., etc. Most don't cuss at their parents, party and get drunk on weekends, do drugs or cause their parents any other grief. They tend to get jobs earlier because their hours are flexible and they know how to work. Then they do quite well in college. Maybe they are a little weird, after all......