Why?? WHY??? WHY???

Have you noticed people that always say that have never had a child home schooled? If by deprived they mean, taken out of a place where kids are being held at gun point or drugs are being pushed everyday or you are gang memebers are all around you……than sure, I guess homeschoolers are deprived. The next time someone tells you that…….tell them to do more research before giving advice that makes them look stupid.

Hope you don’t mind a public school teacher’s opinion!

First off, I do support homeschooling if it is the right decision for the family. Whether it is for religious, safety, or dislike for the local public/private/charter school reasons, I support any parent taking a genuine interest in what their child is learning. What I do not like is when parents yank their children from the schools but DO NOT provide education. Apparently one of the newest homeschooling trends is to have the kids sit in front of a virtual school computer all day long. (This is a generalized statement-not meaning that ALL kids do this. And if I am wrong-Please tell me in a polite way!!) I have seen parents simply not provide all the stimulation and real world learning experiences a homeschooling situation can allow.

I have met some great homeschooled kids that eventually returned to the public school system. Some did have better socialization skills than others. Every kiddo has different and unique personalities. Some of the parents I met truly felt that after homeschooling for a certian time frame, it was no longer for them. Some came from homeschooling groups, some did not. Some allowed the kids to make a choice.

As for me, I will be entering my 12th year of public education. I support my district, and my school. (And NOT member of a union, as Arizona is a right to work state) My son will attend public school as well, but I’m already looking into supplemental curriculum for home because I believe that learning never stops.

Homeschooling works great for some families, but not for others. It’s sad when people are uninformed and make bias judgements in how others raise their children.

They must have meet a homeschooled kid who was shy or maybe they saw it in a movie. They judge by one child or family. They are unaware of just how many homeschooled kids and grown-ups are around them. They only notice the ones that don’t fit their expectations of what a child should be like.

I’ve meet many, many more socially deprived public school kids than I have homeschooled. There are sure to be some shy kids or some that their parents keep them isolated, but most homeschoolers I know do not stay home, shunning people all day. They usually do a couple hours of book work, then they learn in the real world. Or skip the book work and jump into the real world.

Personally, I’ve never had anyone say anything negative to me about homeschooling. In fact, one day at Costco a woman came up and asked if I homeschooled my boys. (The schools around here are year round, so it wasn’t because they were out of school. They could have been off track public schoolers) I said they were homeschooled and she said she knew they had to be homeschooled because they were so outgoing and polite. : )

Also, less than half of students actually go to prom. I didn’t. My husband didn’t. We’re OK. Well, mostly…

Plus, how many times were you told in public school that we are NOT here to socialize.

Not all homeschool children are in homeschool groups! To be honest I have been associated with some homeschool children that are very socially deprived. Whether the children are deprived or not is the parent’s fault. My own children aren’t socially deprived nor are they involved with homeschool groups. I’m not sure when I’d find the time to do anything with them! We are involved in 4H, sports, the neighborhood children (we live on a military base), and family.

Well I think it really depends on experience with homeschoolers……There was a girl in my class who was there until third grade and then was homeschooled for a long time. She came back in the seventh grade and no one had even known she was still living here, because no one saw her, heard from her, and as far as we knew she didn’t even have any friends. Trust me, you’d know hwo was living in our town or not. It has a population of about 550 (counting the sheep). So some people just thing they’re socially deprived. Also it doesn’t really make sense to public schooled kids that if you don’t see any people or friends during school all day and don’t go to dances you probably don’t have any (friends that is…)

I don’t think people realize 2 of the 3 primary definitions for “socialize” (1 and 3 below) found in the American Heritage Dictionary are closely related to the political theory of socialism:

1. To place under government or group ownership or control.

2. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable.

3. To convert or adapt to the needs of society.

I am NOT a socialist and don’t want my children to become socialists by being ‘placed under governmental control’ to be ‘adapted to the needs of society’. I prefer to make them “fit for companionship’ in the real (democratic, capitalist) world, not the artificial, age and socio-economically segregated world of the public or private schools.

Merriam-Webster takes it one step further to label the INtransitive verb “socialize” as meaning “to participate actively in a social group”. Assuming that the homeschooled child is with you when someone asks, you can always just say, “He (or she) *is* socializing – right now!”

And to answer your question: I believe the previous answers are correct – 1) the people who say this don’t know any actual homeschoolers, only the head cases they’ve heard about in the news OR their neighbor’s third cousin’s best friend’s hairdresser’s sister’s ex-boyfriend was homeschooled and HE’S a serial killer locked up in the state pen. or 2) because that’s where most adults developed their closest friendships in their younger years, and so they assume it’s the ONLY place you can make friends (but remember, you are not there to socialize!)

Of course, these are just guesses. If you really want to know, you need to ask the specific people who are saying it why they say it.

And remember, you can’t generalize with always and never and everyone and no one – that’s what the people who say this are doing (ALL homeschoolers are socially deprived). Certainly SOME people are uninformed about homeschooling and socialization, but not everybody.

Well, it really depends. Public schools are a great place to meet friends, and those bonds are enforced due to seeing them nearly every day during the year. They also offer many activities that would be impossible when homeschooled (example – band, just to name one). However, homeschooling offers a one-on-one atmosphere that is impossible to achieve in public schools, among many other benefits. Why do people say homeschoolers are deprived? Personal opinion or ignorance. But as to which is better, it all depends on your personal preference and your parent’s willingness to follow it.

Well, because some people can abuse homeschooling by keeping their kids away from people. I think there was some big cases of that in the 70’s, and people got it stuck in there heads that that must by what all homeschoolers are like. It’s not. Nothing good can come from pushing a bunch of kids all the same age into a group and then making them “work it out themselves” when there is a problem.

The reason a lot of people say home schooled children have no socialization is because it is true, in a way. Many homeschooled children have never been “socialized.” A lot of them don’t know how to fight, kick, hit, argue, say something rude when the teacher isn’t looking, gang up on one kid, swear, lie, cheat, and otherwise be as mean as our dear “socialized” children. My poor friend had a child who was “unsocialized” and then sent her child to head start. Her child turned from a fairly obedient, moderately polite, generally well-rounded child into one who could fight and argue and be rude with the best of them within a matter of a few weeks. My poor children will have to suffer this “lack of socialization.”

As for making friends, don’t you know that it doesn’t matter if you have a few close friends, it is much more important to be the center of attention of a large groups of catty kids for a brief period of time than to have someone who truly cares what you are feeling?

I think you see that in Yahoo Answers more than in general life. Most of the uniformed comments on this forum are what I call “drive-bys.” Really, there have only been a few consistent naysayers–the rest just happen to catch a question on YA, and swoop in for a “kill.” They have absolutely NO idea what they’re talking about, but see a chance at two quick points, then move on to some other category.

I think that the general public doesn’t know much about homeschooling, and many don’t approve, but I bet the percentages of extremely opinionated naysayers is misrepresented on this forum. I think most aren’t even interested enough in homeschooling to be in the “homeschooling” section for longer than it takes to type a quick answer.

Try not to let it bother you too much–it won’t do you any good. Many of us have tried in vain to educate naysayers on the truths and realities of homeschooling, but I bet the majority of them haven’t even stuck around long enough to read most of our answers, much less really process what we have to say.

Maybe a better expression would be “hit-and-run.” 🙂