What about Socialization? (And other homeschooling myths.)

You're not at home that much for home school.

[Well first of all, like all self-respecting fathers, I am taking credit for all of the hard work of my wife. That out of the way…]

Homeschooling isn’t what most people think it is.

For example most people assume you’re at home with your kids. They never go out into public. Somehow they don’t become “socialized” like all the fine people we see in those college riot videos are. For shame!

In reality homeschooling is better socialization for children, and the kids often aren’t even home that often for homeschool.

Socialization and homeschooling.

If you send your kids to public school, they spend more of their day with other kids who are raised by well-meaning, hard-working people. And unfortunately some parents who are neglectful, materialistic, and maybe even evil.

• Does good socialization mean your public school kids are exposed to that one kid whose parents let him have an iPhone or iPad, and doesn’t monitor it?

Children are inside a classroom with other children and one teacher. They are separated by age. The older kids are kept away from the younger kids.

They sit for hours on chairs that begin to impair their natural movement. Have you noticed how your toddler can do full squats easily and move in ways you’d expect in professional athletes? That’s how we all moved. Until chairs.

If your kid is smart, she gets bored. If your smart kid is a boy, then he acts out and is then put onto the ADHD drug pipeline.

If your kid is a little slow or special needs, he or she falls behind or else drags down the entire classroom.

Why is sitting in a confined space where you’re brought to the lowest common denominator considered proper socialization?

The reality of homeschool socializing.

Homeschooled children get folded into real life because they are home with the parents more, and thus do the tasks and errands adults do. If my wife is going shopping, then the kids go with her. They see her interact with adults in normal situations. They scan items in the self-checkout. They don’t “act out” because they aren’t out of their element when in public.

Homeschool “Pods” and “Co-ops.”

Today I dropped my oldest off to her home school. Whoa. Mind blowing moment, right? Today homeschooling often means that you and your friends or parent group send all of your kids to a place where teachers teach your kids. This is usually done part-time, and you finish the job up at home. You also have more frequent and longer “breaks” from the pods.

They deal with their own peers and older kids, as pods and co-ops aren’t as separated by age as traditional schooling, although there is demarcation. If your kid is smart for her age, she may get bumped up. There’s less bullying, because the parents all know each other and see each other at pick-up. We get out of our cars. I don’t actually talk to anyone, but my wife does.

Homeschooling Puts virtue first.

Our homeschooling pod includes our peers. Everyone understands that you’re supposed to let kids be kids. No politics. That means no pro-Trump, anti-Trump, or pro-activism. Kids learn to read, do math, and play around outside while exploring the world.

Homeschooled kids are healthier.

Homeschooled children are also sick less often as they aren’t exposed to the substances that harm a child’s immune system the way public school children are. I had ear infections and was regularly sick as a kid. Mine still get sick, but not nearly as severely as was common for me and other public school children.

Our typical homeschool schedule.

Monday is homeschool for both of my daughters. My wife is big into Charlotte Mason Program and a woman who teaches based around CM.

Autumn Kern has an excellent podcast and is overall the biggest influence on our family’s approach to homeschooling. This is her website.

• Common House: A place to get your bearings in the classical Charlotte Mason world

On Tuesday and Thursdays my younger one goes to a co-op. My older goes to a pod on Tuesday through Friday.

They come home and goof off. (We don’t do screen time unless you count watching a movie once a week and the occasional cartoon they scam out of us by some negotiation they conducted. There’s some debate on what screen time fully means. For us it means no nonsense on the iPads and iPhones.)

I take my oldest to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She’s trained for two years now and is a junior grey belt.

You can, in some states, get funding for homeschooling.

Programs vary by state, but there’s money available.

The government likes to check in with parents, so it’s a win-win. My wife does a regular talk with a program director (who is quite pleasant and helpful).

BONUS. You’ll learn a lot when you homeschool.

My wife, reading over my shoulder, told me that she felt like she was robbed of a real education by going to public school. She felt it was utilitarian. You do what you need to do to get good grades. It’s formulaic. Study the material, take a test, get a good grade for Baba, then forget it all to repeat the process for the next subject.

You don’t read or learn for its own sake.

Because you can only teach your children what you yourself know, you have to get back into the books. You have a deeper motivation as well because you’re teaching your own children. You rediscover learning and what education should be.

Have a question about homeschooling?

Ask in the comments.

I am not interested in generalized opinions (pro or con) and will ban such users.

If you homeschool or are curious, please please please ask a question, because this subject is widely misunderstood.