 What About Socialization?
It seems to be on everyone's tongue and in all the articles right?
Our society is programmed to believe that children must attend school
and we are led to believe that a failure to successfully engage with
peers is a cause for major concern without even considering how a child
relates to other age groups. |
As a homeschooler, you have undoubtedly been asked that most inane
question, "What about socializing your child?" If you have been
asked that and questioned whether you are doing more harm than good by
keeping your child home for learning, perhaps you need to clearly define
the word socialization for yourself.
If the commonly held beliefs regarding socializing our children
are inaccurate, what is a better way to define them? For starters,
one might say that being a member of society who understands our culture
and societal norms is a good definition. Society is comprised of people
from every walk of life, in every range of ability: rich and poor, old
and young, happy and sad, religious and non-religious, etc. When your
child goes with you to run errands, they are observing and learning how
to interact with each person you encounter. When you eat in a restaurant
or go to the post office, they see how members of society operate and
what their role should be as a customer or patron. In short, they are
learning how to be a part of our society regardless of a person’s
socio-economic background. They are seeing all people as members of
society and looking far beyond a peer group.
It is easy to hear the concerns of well-meaning family, friends
and even strangers about our children’s welfare and begin to doubt our
choices. But it is important to remember that you are your child’s
parent and you make the decisions on what is best for your child. If the
measurement for successful socializing is the ability to function as a
member of society and your school-aged child can request extra napkins
at a restaurant from the server, you’re well on your way to success!
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