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Does your child actually need social interactions with kids his own age? The answer is pretty dependent on the individual. Some people need the social activity

Does your child actually need social interactions with kids his own age? The answer is pretty dependent on the individual. Some people need the social activity to play and stay motivated, but it mostly brought me misery and distraction. Adults can socialize kids too — there’s no speed limit. Prehistorically and for most of history kids grew up alongside their parents and a wide range of ages in peers, and followed their parents around as they worked.

bigDinosaur 4y ago
The issue is that all the other kids of their age and of different ages will be at school. I'd say that the generalisation that kids need social interactions with kids their own age is true - an 8 y/o definitely shouldn't be interacting exclusively with people aged > 18 - although we drive that to an extreme with our rigidly age segregated schooling systems. Life around adults can be dreadfully serious and I think the innocent play of childhood amongst peers is generally crucial.
- noodlesUK 4y ago
  > The issue is that all the other kids of their age and of different ages will be at school. This is definitely a big one. There are homeschool groups which provide enrichment during normal school hours. The biggest boon for socialising as a homeschooled kid though is after school classes of various kinds (sports, etc). They generally don't happen at school.
- labster 4y ago
  > Life around adults can be dreadfully serious Me, singing a few bars of Brave Sir Robin as our D&D party expeditious retreats from an adult red dragon: huh?
noodlesUK 4y ago
I'd say kids definitely need interactions with other kids. Homeschooling generally has wider bands than school grades in terms of age ranges, which can help kids learn to socialise with a variety of different age levels. On the other hand, I definitely knew a good number of homeschooled kids (myself included) who took a somewhat unhealthy level of pride in preferring the company of adults.

bigDinosaur 4y ago

The issue is that all the other kids of their age and of different ages will be at school. I'd say that the generalisation that kids need social interactions with kids their own age is true - an 8 y/o definitely shouldn't be interacting exclusively with people aged > 18 - although we drive that to an extreme with our rigidly age segregated schooling systems. Life around adults can be dreadfully serious and I think the innocent play of childhood amongst peers is generally crucial.

noodlesUK 4y ago
> The issue is that all the other kids of their age and of different ages will be at school. This is definitely a big one. There are homeschool groups which provide enrichment during normal school hours. The biggest boon for socialising as a homeschooled kid though is after school classes of various kinds (sports, etc). They generally don't happen at school.
labster 4y ago
> Life around adults can be dreadfully serious Me, singing a few bars of Brave Sir Robin as our D&D party expeditious retreats from an adult red dragon: huh?

noodlesUK 4y ago

I'd say kids definitely need interactions with other kids. Homeschooling generally has wider bands than school grades in terms of age ranges, which can help kids learn to socialise with a variety of different age levels. On the other hand, I definitely knew a good number of homeschooled kids (myself included) who took a somewhat unhealthy level of pride in preferring the company of adults.