Just in case you were wondering about “socialization” – oh, you know, that crucial issue raised by those who oppose homeschooling…
…the point being that you are depriving your children of something by not sending them off to hang out with their peers in a classroom all day long….that they’ll miss out on real life experiences…that you are overprotecting them by keeping them home…that your children may seem a little “off” or not “with it” or something…
I would just like to reassure the whole world that, indeed and most unfortunately, my sheltered children are being properly socialized. Heaven forbid that our decision to homeschool should keep us from a typical scenario experienced, I am sure, by thousands of parents every year such as the one we had last night at the dinner table when one of my sons demonstrated a gesture which he had learned and had explained meant “stupid.”
On the one hand, it’s so very nice to know that my children are unafraid to show off to their loving parents the wonderful new social graces they acquire in the neighborhood, and I am glad that his father and I are there to explain, calmly, that the middle finger does not, in fact, mean “stupid,” that it means something much worse, and that under no circumstances should he employ such a gesture ever.
On the other hand, having taught my children that saying “stupid” is akin to cursing, I question the common sense of my son who would nonetheless demonstrate to me a non-verbal way to use the term.
And I really question the common sense of both my older sons who continued to discuss with us, in almost scientific terms, all the knowledge they had obtained regarding the use of the middle finger (including physical demonstrations), until I quickly interrupted them and pointed out their three younger siblings who were listening, most interestedly, to every detail.
And have I mentioned that we call the toddler Pete the Parrot for obvious reasons? It was about three nights ago that Jenny taught him the lovely phrase “Shut up!” Thank goodness, he forgot it after about five minutes. That little girl is on a roll with causing mayhem.
And so, dear world, it is quite evident that homeschooling in no way detracts from proper socialization. My children have not yet reached double digit ages, and yet they know enough to get their front teeth knocked out by an older boy who really knows what the middle finger is all about. I’m sure a discussion about condoms isn’t too far in the future, since the first time I heard the word “rubber” was when I was ten. I had no idea what it meant, but I had enough sense to know that asking my mother meant asking for trouble.
My friends taught me that.
Reit This Way 
When we first moved to Illinois, we stayed with my uncle while we looked for housing. Due to an accident in his younger years, his thumb and forefinger are locked into a functional, but immovable, position…which leaves his middle finger as the next available for gesturing and pointing and whatnot. The kids picked up on that in no time and were pointing with the middle, even though their pointers worked perfectly well. Of course, they had, and still have, no idea what that means, but I sure did have to nip that one in the bud!
You know, in the UK a “rubber” is an eraser. Imagine my surprise when my daughter’s second grade teacher called me to discuss the fact that my daughter had asked her for a “rubber” not long after we had moved back from the UK. Thank you Miss Stupid (I’m an adult, I can say stupid) Second Grade Teacher for not using your brain and making me have to explain to my daughter that asking for a “rubber” meant something different/bad here in the good ol’ USA where we can have brains exploding on the television but cannot realize the innocence of a second grader!
I recall my first excursion into public school in 6th grade. I got in BIG trouble for calling a nasty girl a B*&($ in class, a word I had just learned, but didn’t yet know the meaning of. My early years were spent in a Baptist school where we didn’t know anything about girl dogs!
I find the entire “socialization” thing fascinating. Especially when you consider the multi-million dollar education industry that sells education to people…on their home computers. Yup. Cyber classes. Because some people learn better that way. I actually spoke with someone like that just the other day, as she noted that sitting in class, as she has ADD she is too distracted by everything going on, but she can attend a cyber class and actually, through control of her environment, focus on the lesson. She is one who learns through reading but not via the spoken word. And what of socialization? You might argue that she’s an adult…but then again, doesn’t society rail against people who spend too much time on the computer, because it keeps them from….SOCIALIZING?????Wow. Basically, what we have is an anti-education, pro-socialization culture that places far more emphasis on knowing the latest fads than it does in knowing the classics or develping the intellect. Somehow, I’m completely unsurprised. The American culture is not known for being anything other than self-indulgent. God bless you for standing against the culture, which, as we are seeing, is imploding. Those who survive are the ones who aren’t floating downstream with the rest. In other words, those of us who aren’t “socializing” to the satisfaction of the critical but unthinking majority.
The whole socialization thing is curious. My children have only been homeschooled through 4-6 years of grade school. But my daughter, who was homeschooled through fourth grade, was elected homecoming queen in her senior year of high school and the homecoming king had been homeschooled through 8th grade. Seems to me this “lack of socialization” makes for really nice kids who everybody likes a lot.
i think it’s just an entirely different way to bring up kids..neither one better than another..all i will say is the ages 2-12 are the golden years..enjoy!
Kids are kids, homeschooled or not.