What about SOCIALIZATION?

Oh, the favorite question to ask a homeschooling family - what about socialization? Do your kids ever see anyone? How can they possibly know how to function in society if they don't spend time in a traditional classroom? OR there are more subtle forms of this question - Do your kids get to spend time with anyone outside of your family? Statements like - Oh, it's so nice that your kids got to get out and be with other children.

USUALLY, I just smile and nod - "it is nice that they get to spend time with other children. Yes, they do get to see other kids."

Here is my somewhat cranky question for those of you with the socialization question on your lips - DO YOU FUNCTION IN A SINGLE AGE GROUP IN THE REAL WORLD? In other words - do you only talk to people who are in your "class"? That is basically what you are asking me about my kids - why don't you put them into a classroom so they can learn to relate only to other 4th graders and generally exclude children who are younger and be intimidated by those kids who are older. Let's face it - homeschooling is a lot more like the real world (the one after school is out) when you need to, for example - work with the young computer programmer in the company and the older manager who has been with the company ever since it began. You have to know how to make intelligent conversation with people other than your immediate age-mates.

This is how I grew up when living on a farm for 6 years. All summer long I had to play with my brothers - our nearest neighbors were 4 miles away or more. Had I decided I could only play with kids my age, I would have been one lonely little girl. I went to small parochial schools where multiple grades were in a classroom - much like homeschooling. At recess we all played the games together or there weren't enough kids to have a game.

GET REAL with the socialization question - be happy that we are teaching our kids to have conversations with people that are older than they are and to be kind and inclusive for the kids who are younger.

P.S. I run my kids around to far more places than I care to sometimes - yes, we see many people.