If you’re thinking about homeschooling, you’ve probably wondered how your children will be socialized. If you’re already a homeschooler, you’ve been asked about this many, many times. Each family will answer the question differently, but here’s some food for thought as you form your own views on socialization.
First, what is meant by socialization? The next time you’re asked the “S” question, ask the person how they define socialization. You may be surprised by their answer. For some people, socialization means “not being different.” For others it means “being able to get along with others.” Still others would say it means “learning to do that stuff we did in school - you know, waiting in lines, raising our hands - those types of things.” It will be hard to provide an answer to the socialization question until you know what’s really being asked.
Dictionary definitions of socialization vary somewhat by publisher, but generally speaking, “socialization” is defined as “the process of learning to interact appropriately with other members of society.” We’ll use that definition here as we look at the socialization of homeschooled children from three perspectives: academic research, anecdotal evidence, and common sense.
Academic Research
The socialization of homeschooled children has been studied many times, but summaries of the academic literature almost invariably refer to the 1992 studies of Thomas Smedley, M.S., and Dr. Larry Shyers.
Mr. Smedley’s master’s thesis at Radford University in Virginia was titled “The Socialization of Homeschool Children.” He used the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales to assess the personal and social skills of matched groups of homeschooled and publicly schooled students. His results showed that homeschooled children had greater social skills and maturity than students attending public school. The differences were rather dramatic, with the homeschooled students ranking in the 84th percentile, while the public school students scored only in the 27th percentile. Smedley noted that public school students are socialized “horizontally” into conformity by their same-age peers, while homeschooled students are socialized “vertically” toward responsibility and adulthood by their parents.
Dr. Shyers’ study went a step further. For his doctoral dissertation, “Comparison of Social Adjustment Between Home and Traditionally Schooled Students,” he compared the actual behaviors of two groups of seventy children from the ages of eight to ten. One group was homeschooled and the other group was drawn from public and private schools. This was a “blind” study, in which the children’s behaviors were evaluated by trained observers who did not know which of the students were homeschooled and which were not. The Child Observation Checklist Direct Observation Form was used to categorize each child’s conduct while playing in mixed groups of children from both sample groups. The homeschooled children were found to have significantly fewer problem behaviors than the children from public and private schools.
Additional studies regularly appear in the academic literature. They support and supplement the work of Smedley and Shyers, painting an overwhelmingly positive picture of the socialization of homeschooled students. It’s very clear that homeschoolers learn to “interact appropriately with other members of society” while learning at home.
Anecdotal Evidence
Veteran homeschooling parents have seen hundreds of homeschooled kids and have long since compiled their own anecdotal evidence of socialization. They note that homeschoolers generally “make the news” in positive ways; that homeschoolers tend to be polite, friendly people who get along well with others; and that homeschoolers seem to have a zest for life and learning that institutionally schooled kids sometimes lack.
The myth of homeschoolers being “homebound” has been exploded. Homeschooling’s rapid growth has led to a wide variety of social events, particularly in metropolitan areas. Rather than looking for more “socializing” opportunities, many of today’s homeschooling families are now trying to determine the best way to limit their outside activities.
If you’re still wrestling with the socialization issue, one of the best things you can do is compile your own anecdotal evidence. Talk with homeschoolers. Take advantage of any opportunity you have to get to know them. See how they relate to each other and people outside their families. Attend MHA’s Annual Conference. There you’ll see hundreds of homeschooling parents and children interacting with each other. In all likelihood, you’ll be amazed at how pleasant and “normal” they are. You may even conclude they’re well socialized!
Common Sense
Finally, test the socialization idea with plain old common sense. If the goal of socialization is to learn to interact appropriately with other members of society - people of all ages - would you really expect 30 kids of the same age in a room with one adult to become socially adept? Is it realistic to expect children to learn appropriate “adult world” conduct from their same-age peers?
Seasoned homeschoolers often laugh when a critic suggests that their children won’t be properly socialized because they’re “avoiding the real world.” Homeschooled children live in the real world! They have consistent contact with adults leading active lives and with children of all ages, while their schooled peers spend most of their day indoors with other children almost exactly their same age. From a common sense perspective, would you expect to find academic research and anecdotal evidence of socialization problems in homeschoolers, or in children who have been artificially age-segregated and isolated from life’s broader social fabric?