What about socialisation?
We have all encountered this question many times and no doubt read articles on it as well – and worried about it a quite a bit! I read two articles recently which made me think again, so thought I would adapt them for easy access.
When we are asked “what about Socialisation?”, how about responding “What do you mean by that?” instead of “Oh, she goes to Playball, youth Group, etc. etc.” and jumping into defence and explaining. When the questioner has responded, you could add that socialisation is the ability to form relationships with other people. The most positive socialisation cannot come from spending years in the company of a similar group of children, placed together according to their age and left to relate to each other without guidance from those more experienced than they are (adults or older children). Are the friends that you have made as an adult exactly your age or does it not matter?
Peer pressure is undeniably strong at school and it is usually a case of the blind leading the blind, and if anyone dares to be different, they are ostracised. All children are going to be socialised, so the question is not whether they will be but HOW they will be. At school they will be taught group socialisation i.e. how to respond, survive and move in a group. There is also Individual socialisation, which teaches how to deal with other people. I suggest that individual socialisation is more important but we as home schooling parents need to make sure that our children are also exposed to Group socialisation and know how to act in a group as this is also an important part of life.
A Principal of a school overseas who has many home schoolers associated with his school said that he noticed two difficulties with home schoolers:
1. They didn’t always know how to wait their turn and were used to their needs being dealt with immediately.
2. They had difficulty listening in a group.
These are surmountable difficulties if we are aware of them.
Studies in the States show that Homeschooled children have higher levels of adaptability, cohesion, social adjustment, maturity and leadership. I am convinced that we are doing the right thing in home schooling. Before the age of 10, children need more training than teaching. They need the right kind of socialisation – not that which promotes peer dependence. Thereafter, they should be able to stand up for what they believe and not yield as easily to peer pressure.
Socialisation is an emotive issue with home schoolers and the education Department. Let us make sure that we are being responsible about it.