(Picture from here)
Yesterday my husband and I were discussing this rather well written article about the joys and sorrows of High School and the "geek world" discussion that went on about it here.
I'll save you having to peruse this very long string of comments by summarizing the salient points. The discussion turned to homeschooling and whether or not it damages kids socially. One former home schooled kid blamed his homeschooling on his lack of social skills, while another countered that he had also been home schooled and benefited greatly from it in maturity and social skills, especially when it came to college. Some people put forth the belief that kids should go through high school and deal with bullies and stupid people because it teaches them necessary skills for life, while another very eloquently debunked this.
My daughter overheard us commenting on all of this and decided to type up her feelings (I guess she felt rather strongly.). She requested that I post it here, and so I shall! Please forgive the grammatical errors, I am posting it as she wrote it (and cringing all the while).
____________________
I am a homeschooler, and I’m proud of it.
An essay by Jessica “Jessi”
Soffian, a true homeschooler
I am homeschooled. What else is there to say? It
turns out, a lot. People say a lot of things about homeschoolers. Some things
are:
“They’re not social”
“They can’t learn anything because their parents aren’t actual teachers”
“Because they don’t go to the fake world of high school, when they
go out into the real world, they won’t be prepared”
“They must be totally bored all the time”
“They do schoolwork in their pajamas”
Ok,
so the last one is sometimes true. But who said that doing math in your PJ’s
was a crime?
Anyway,
most of these aren’t true.
1. Not
social?! Are you kidding me!? I mean,
some kids aren’t so social, but hey! Some public schoolers are a little shy
too. I for one have trouble at birthdays because I can’t get all my friends invited and still have a sleepover. Is that what you call not social?
2. Who
cares if my mom isn’t an actual teacher! I think she’s GREAT! I am more mature than most of the public schoolers I know.
All the adults are always like, “Oh Jessi. You are so
mature”
3. OK. Let’s see.
Monday: 3rd grade coop (for my brother. I am in 5th
grade), Spanish, Hebrew school (we are sort of Jewish). Tuesday: Piano, Art, Karate.
Wednesday: Learning Arbor Coop, Karate. I think maybe you get the picture.
Homeschooling
is great. I am ahead in all my subjects, exept for math. But hey! No one’s perfect right!?
Jessica
Soffian, age 11.
_______________
LOL. I love that kid.
Aside from the 11 year old's perspective, I guess in truth there are all kinds of homeschoolers and all kinds of situations. We are just people, just like anyone else, and just like everyone else you will find a wide range of philosophies and styles. It really is whatever you make it. I try to ensure that those social situations happen, but to be fair, it does require a bit of time and effort on my part. We are fortunate to have a large population of like-minded people around us, so there are a large number of kids and situations to pull from. As a result, I think my kids get more real life socialization than they would have in any sort of traditional school.
I'll close this with a picture I took at the park several weeks ago. My rather large homeschool group has weekly park days that include whoever feels like showing up that day. On this day, all of the kids decided to organize a game on their own. Everyone from teens to toddlers was included in the game and the parents had nothing to do with it. Can you call this kind of cross-age inclusion and spontaneous organization anti-social? I don't think so.
I totally agree with all of the above. From my job experience, the kids that I interview about or talk with, that have been homeschooled are more outgoing, more learned, more curious, and more mature. No matter what they decide to do in life, military service, college, or trade school. I know from personal experience, the public school system is a great way to become isolated from your peers especially if you are shy, reserved, or having problems at home. If you are even noticed while in a classroom of 30-40 kids, you are very lucky. I went to public schools, and if it hadn't been for activities instigated by my mother, I wouldn't have had any social contacts at all as I was perfectly happy go home and to be alone (even in a family of 6 kids). I eventually grew out of that once I got to college, but that was only through concerted effort on my part to become more outgoing. I think home schooled kids are the lucky ones, as in any situation you make your own activities and social contacts. If anything, home schooled kids are more likely to be social, due to being more open to new situations and contacts, just like military brats are more social and adept at meeting new people due to having to learn how to socialize due to frequent moves. But the innate personally of the student also plays a part in the socialization of any student, and that comes back to the ability to have extraciriccular activities outside the structured learning environment. Way to go, girl! Jessi is a social butterfly anyway. Love you, Grandma Lala (i'm so partial to her abilities, does it show?)
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