Part Three of Seven

Part Three of Seven:
“You can only shelter your child so long before he/she becomes deprived of many wonderful activities and experiences that can’t be replicated at home alone with siblings only.”

This one is so loaded with assumptions, I’m not sure where to begin.
1) Some people homeschool to shelter their children from others. But the largest growing groups of homeschoolers are those who are doing it for academic reasons and minority families (many of whom are looking to keep their children out of the school-to-prison pipeline, which, by the way, just got opened up wider in MO: https://thinkprogress.org/missouri-school-felonies-d840e8ec… )

2) I don’t really know any homeschool families who just spend all their time at home.

3) I don’t know any homeschool families who try to replicate large group activities with their siblings only. Perhaps the author is unfamiliar with homeschool co-ops, play groups, fieldtrips, activities, etc.?

4) My kidlet was in school for 3.25 years before we started homeschooling. She went on 1-2 fieldtrips a years. While we were homeschooling, we sometimes went on that many (or more) a week. Currently, in Spokane, there’s pretty much at least one homeschooling activity every DAY. We had to start saying “no” to at least somethings, so we’d have a little time at home now and then.

5) It’s okay to stay home and be homebodies. Some people are introverts. Going to school is not going to change that — it’s only going to penalize them for being who they are. You can be perfectly happy and healthy homebodies. See @Kristin Gallup’s comment below.

~Jen

Kristin Gallup’s comment: I’ll admit, we homeschool, and I am definitely a homebody. One of the perks of homeschooling for us is not having to attend all the tedious school events (math night, fund raisers, and the like). On the other hand, though my children are not exuberantly outgoing, they are very capable of interacting with other people with courtesy and respect. They are kind and thoughtful of others, do not judge differences, and can carry on interesting conversations. Also, they have time for lessons and activities that develop teamwork and communication that they didn’t get in public school. I meet many, many people who spent their lives in public school and lack rudimentary manners and decency. Are all homeschool children perfect? Of course not. Neither are all public school kids. The fact is, we’re all just people. Some things are just part of personality. Sometimes, kids get pulled out of public school because their personality doesn’t mesh well with the public system (and some of us believe they shouldn’t be punished for being different but allowed to develop in their own best way). Some of us will develop great social skills no matter where, and others will NOT, no matter where. I just don’t know why so many people think there is only one good way of doing things.