I remember the first time someone asked me, “So how are your children going to be socialized?” when I told them that I would be pulling my kids out of public school.
In response in chuckled because I knew that that question was eminent. Before I decided to Homeschool I saw socializing my child to the “public school” environment as something that I couldn’t escape. It was the down-side or the price I had to pay to have my child educated.
If it wasn’t that way, people wouldn’t ask realtors before buying a home about the school district, or there wouldn’t be so many websites that rated the schools in a geographic area.
This said, socializing is a major concern for families who homeschool, and something that we conscientiously have to work at almost every day.
Luckily there are myriads of options for us. I’d like to introduce one that has moved with me to every state I’ve lived in. It’s the “Thomas Jefferson Education” (TJED) web site http://www.tjed.org/resources/resources/ . TJED is a nation-wide community of homeschoolers who can also be joined by simply “Liking” them on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/TJEdDiscussion/ . There are no membership fees or commitments. You just show up and chat when you want to.
What I like about TJED is the clubs that they have established for kids. Thesed clubs are set up nationwide by local homeschooling parents and have set guidelines that you can print online, if you want to start one in your area.
The Knights of Freedom is a club for boys 8-12, meet every week for two hours. They read “Biographies of Famous Americans” and other Juvenile Bios. They do activities based on the books they read and they sword fight (with padded swords) a lot.
The Liberty Girls, is for girls 6-12 and they read the “American Girl” series. They also do activities and discussions based on the books they read…minus the sword fights.
For teens they have The Young Statesmanship Club which is a Co-ed club for 13 yrs. on up. They usually have speakers from local government or business owners come speak to them, they read the Classics and study government.
What I like about these clubs is that they are all over, they are pre-planned and they are cheap! Cheaper than any co-op I’ve ever seen.
For more information, feel free to visit their site at www.tjed.org
Silvina B. Niccum was born in Rosario, Argentina and raised in Buenos Aires. Her family immigrated to the US, when she was fourteen. She attended the University of Utah and studied Spanish Literature. Silvina now lives in Dallas, TX. with her husband and her three homeschooled children.
She is the Author of Veiled, a young adult Christian Speculative Fiction novel.
Socialization is a big concern. I have children that are close age-wise, so they get interact that way and with cousins, etc. Involving them in sports, dance or art classes are other methods we use for socialization. Since I began working from home before I started homeschooling, I had first-hand experience with these same challenges, which helped me come up with options for my children.