Socialization is a myth. (warning: a rant)

So my biggest fear before homeschooling was how my kids would be socialized. Would they be weird if I homeschooled? Would I ruin them?

I knew two kids that went to our church that were homeschooled. They were NERDS; and it was obviously a result of being homeschooled. The most annoying thing about them was that they didn't know they were nerds. Completely oblivious! They obviously did not have the opportunity of being "clued in" to how nerdy they truly were since they had so much confidence in themselves...

Now wait a second. They were nerdy and they were confident. (how is that bad?)

I was so used to seeing the nerds at school having no self-esteem. They were nerdy and quiet. They kept to themselves and always looked sad/depressed.

Now wait a second again! There were nerds at school!?! How did public school fail them? I thought we all send our kids to school so that they become "socialized" or in other words, like everyone else so that they fit into society. So there shouldn't be any socially-misfit kids at school because they are all there being socialized, right?

OR... maybe, just maybe, whether a kid will be nerdy or socially "normal" is not determined by where they go to school, but who they are and who their parents are. Hmm... I think the latter is true.

Therefore, "socialization" is a myth. :D

Well, sort of. If you have a nerdy child, and you desire to send them to public school to be "socialized", they will be socialized. They will be that nerdy, no-self-esteem child that they ought to be.

Moreover, they will know their proper role in society. They will have experienced the "real world". We adults all know that in the real world everyone you interact with is your same age. And if you are a nerdy adult your peers will call you "stupid" and "fat-so" at work, and probably ignore you on your lunch break. So you might as well get used to it, beginning at the tender age of 5.

Does anyone else see the ridiculousness of this train of thought or is it just me?????

I'll admit it. I'm arrogant. I think homeschooling is a superior method of raising children and that it provides a superior education than public school. There may be some legitimate reasons some parents send their kids to public school, but "socialization" is not one them.

There are a lot of nerdy homeschoolers. And they are blissfully unaware of their nerdiness. And they are happy. And confident. That's what I want for my unsocialized, nerdy, homeschooled kids. Because in the "Real World", confidence matters.

Would You Want to be Home-Schooled???

This article from New York Times asks kids ages 13+ if they would like to be homeschooled. Scroll down to read their responses in the comment section. Then skip a few pages to where the homeschooled kids start writing their responses.

Here's one of my favorite responses. To be fair, I chose one that had correct grammar and spelling:

"Personally, I dont think that being homeschooled would be good because then you’re like this clueless person when you get to college. You wouldn’t know how to socialize and communicate with other people. You would be missing out on a bunch of projects, hands on, and group work. Basically, you would be unaware of the world. *Shrugs*… Imean if you can’t focus in class than you should go to like a private school where they might be more strict but still provide the social activities ..:D"



Seriously, like, pull them out now before it's too late!!! :D

We're doing good

Well, tomorrow will be week 12 of our school year. It is going really well. We do the reading, writing, phonics, & math every day without fail. I got caught up with the science & history, then got behind again. We'll be playing catch-up again next week in those subjects, and then I've scheduled in a two-week break for Thanksgiving and a week for Christmas projects. I scheduled three weeks of school in December, but I'm thinking about taking those off as well and moving school further into the summer.

I can do that since I'm the Principal :D

But we'll see. It depends on how busy December is.

Charlotte finished her Kindergarten math book and has moved on to Math Mammoth grade 1. Now she is officially in all first grade curriculum!

I highly recommend Essential Math A&B for Kindergarten and Math Mammoth for 1st-6th grade. I have been so pleased with these math programs. They are conceptually challenging, yet they teach in a line-upon-line way, particularly Math Mammoth. Even though math does not come naturally to Savannah, she is doing really well and it is making sense to her. She mostly does her math on her own now since it is written to the student. Charlotte, on the other hand, takes to math very easily. It has been a joy to watch her catch on so quickly (and a sweet relief!)

Similarly, language/spelling/reading comes very naturally to Savannah, while it comes slightly less naturally to Charlotte. However they are both very smart in both areas of language and math.

Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy teaching them? I mean, overall, in general.

Today I got frustrated with Savannah for dwaddling during math and making careless mistakes. And Charlotte's reading lesson was cut drastically short for fear I would accidently bite her head off. She kept guessing at words instead of sounding them out. I needed a nap after today's lessons.

However, to watch them learn and improve, to listen to their jokes and stories, and just get to know them at such a fun time in their lives is priceless.