I’ve just had yet another conversation with a mama who’s homeschool kids have chosen to return to mainstream education.
Now, as you can imagine, as a very passionate homeschool advocate, this pains me. I could list off the million reasons homeschooling is awesome to these families, but it would make no difference.
Why?
The answer is going to make most homeschool parents want to slap me.
SOCIALISATION *protects head from projectiles*
Yep. That word that they torment us with.
“Oh, you homeschool? But what about socialisation?”
And then comes our million responses about the myriad of social opportunities our kids have, about how the questioner has no idea what they’re talking about, yadda yadda yadda…
But socialisation IS the problem, it’s just different to what they think.
From the conversations I’ve had with so many parents who’s kids are relatively new to homeschooling, they want to go back because they MISS SCHOOL. Seriously.
And here’s where the socialisation comes in…
Humans are social beings. But the only way ex-school kids know how to socialise is school-style.
In a pre-selected group.
Same age kids.
In competition with each other.
Trying to look/act the same as others so they appear ‘normal’.
Watching their back in case they stand out in some way and become a victim of the “not normal” patrol.
Survival of the strongest or most inconspicuous.
It’s educational Hunger Games.
And this is NORMAL for our school kids.
Is it any wonder they enter the homeschool community and they find it impossible to connect and they actually feel unsafe?
Many don’t have the skills for this world.
What is normal now?
How do they figure out how to become friends with someone in a space without walls and restrictions?
What are the rules?
And what can we, as parents, do to help them adjust???
Or do we just let them return to the Games?