Homeschooling and Socialization

Hi! My name is Tamara Bergen and I am a homeschooling mom. I just completed my 15th year of educating my children at home. I have found throughout the years that when I tell people I'm homeschooling, the first question they always ask is, "What about socialization?" Whether they know me well or not, they have not wondered so much about whether I am capable enough to cover the academic side of home education as they have about socialization.

But what about socialization? First of all, children who are homeschooled model their behavior from their parents rather than from a group of their classmates. They are more mature, are better behaved, and happier than their peers. We don't have to worry about disruptive behavior ruining our classes. We have the time to accomplish bookwork, chores, afterschool activities and free time. According to a study by Thomas Smedley that evaluated socialization and maturity, homeschooled children scored in the 84th percentile while public schooled children only scored in the 27th percentile.

Home educated kids have been found to have high self-esteem. High self-esteem is a good way to measure sociability. Fifty percent of homeschooled children scored above the 90th percentile, while only 10.3 scored below the national level, in a study done by John Wesley Taylor.

Homeschoolers don't just stay home! My girls have taken dance, joined church youth groups, and have gone to events at the local high school like concerts and football games. Their friends have taken music lessons, local sports teams, joined scouts, and junior programs from the fire department or EMT. Dr. Brian Ray proves in his studies that homeschooled kids are actively involved in the real world with people of all ages and are well-adjusted socially and emotionally.

There are so many ways to be involved in your community, so many activities, field trips, homeschool groups, spelling bees, not to mention playing with neighborhood children and cousins.

We have more opportunities to further education through travel as we are not tied down so much to a schedule. Working and homemaking are better taught in a homeschool than public school. My kids know what it takes to run a household. While my husband was alive, he had a boy in our homeschool group apprentice with him in his construction business.

I think there is too much socialization at public school! My youngest daughter is happy being homeschooled because she gets all the socialization she needs from the neighborhood kids. There is always so much drama going on that my daughter is glad she doesn't have to deal with it on a daily basis.

Homeschooling promotes leadership, better behavior, better students, better spouses, better parents, and better citizens. They are more likely to be married, be employed, and be self-employed; are more likely to vote and volunteer.

HSLDA, The Homeschool Legal Defense Association, has many wonderful articles on it's website about homeschooling. You can also find out more about homeschooling from my website www.TheEnterprisingHomeschooler.com.