Whenever a new acquaintance discovers that you homeschool, don't you cringe or stiffen just a little bit in anticipation of the question: What about socialization? Now more frequently asked with genuine interest (perhaps your interlocutor is considering homeschooling), occasionally with geniune concern for your children's wellbeing, irritatingly often with the air of "Here's why what you're doing is so wrong."Read the whole thing. I think she hits the nail on the head.
My favorite incident was the pediatrician who grilled me incessantly on why homeschooled kids couldn't be getting enough you-know-what, and she could never homeschool because (as she mentioned several times) her own child was so very social and friendly. Never mind the obnoxious implication that my own children must be introverted antisocial hermits; at the time of the interrogation, I was a captive audience in a hospital bed, having just had a c-section, trying to get an hours-old infant to latch on properly, and really not feeling up to the full-court defense being called for. Maybe she figured she only had a limited time to make sure I didn't repeat my awful educational mistake with this new child.
Volumes have been written on the s-word. Robert Reich, he of the mandatory two-week reeducation camps for homeschooled kids, is all about the s-word; he just has a fancy name ("ethical servility") and a theory that would permit government intrusion into the most private matters of personal belief and childrearing. But boiled down, it's just "they can't really be socialized, can they?"
No volumes here; just a few scattered thoughts that have occured to me over the years.
Also, thanks to Sharon, I've discovered the Society for a Moratorium on the Music of Marty Haugen and David Haas! Join me in signing up today!
2 comments:
Here's a joke that was making the rounds of homeschool families a few years back:
Q: How do you teach a homeschooled boy socialization?
A: Take him into the bathroom, beat him up, and steal his lunch money.
Good one!
Post a Comment