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Assuming most homeschooled kids are also involved in their local homeschool community and are regularly interacting with other kids of different ages as well as

by aedocw 12y ago

Assuming most homeschooled kids are also involved in their local homeschool community and are regularly interacting with other kids of different ages as well as adults, I'm curious what you are referring to here. Could you expand on what "great social development" homeschooled kids are deprived of?

jff 12y ago
The opportunity to meet children from families that aren't either white & well off or white & religious?
- PaulHoule 12y ago
  I can say that our local elementary school is pretty white, but not necessarily well off. Homeschoolers in my area, if they are religious, are pagans. I know some homeschoolers who live in another state who are seriously Christian (i.e. dad is a prof at a religious school) but not at all right wing.
SL61 12y ago
I'm currently homeschooled (senior year) and I can say it really depends on the area. In my area, homeschoolers are almost all conservative Christians who are very isolated from every other demographic. There are enough of them to form large groups, so they're not being completely deprived of social life, but they're being deprived of exposure to people who aren't like them. They learn other viewpoints as caricatures and chances are they'll go off to Bible school and never truly be exposed to other viewpoints in their life. Other areas aren't so unfortunate - usually a closely knit group of religiously homeschooled teenagers will end up just like a normal high school class - rebelling against their parents and growing up to be normal people. Larger cities have strong non-religious homeschool communities and the kids there are probably growing up fine (though I don't personally know anyone in one of those groups). I do know some homeschoolers who really do just sit in their room all day and never meet with other people their age. I was one for a while. Usually in that case there's more at fault than just being homeschooled, like Asperger's or depression that's not properly dealt with. I've probably digressed from your question a bit but it's hard to keep myself from rambling when I'm almost always the only person in these discussions who has actually been a homeschooler. :P (Edit: After reading more of the thread it looks like I'm not alone here!) Personally, I hang out with my friends from when I went to public school. It would be dreadful if I only knew the other homeschoolers in my area.
- Domenic_S 12y ago
  > they're being deprived of exposure to people who aren't like them. I was homeschooled and also attended both private and public schools so I have some perspective on this point: 1) "Exposure to people who aren't like you" can be achieved in all sorts of ways, and you have to be really intentional about why you want it. In other words, ask "why is it important?" and then formulate a plan from there. Eg., if it's because you want to help the less-fortunate, go volunteer or go on a missions trip. Going to "real" school doesn't count, because 2) schools are the epitome of segregation. Band kids over here. Drama kids over there. Jocks to the left, dorks to the right. Race A in this corner, race B in that corner. Watch any group of kids walking home after school and note the homogeneity. Part of that is because that's how the kids naturally separate, and part of that is because 3) schools are populated by the kids who live in the neighborhoods they serve. Naturally, that population is not usually diverse. In the case that the neighborhood is ethnically diverse, it's probably not economically diverse. College is better, but people still tend to fall into groups of people who are like them in some way, whether it's clubs, sports, Greek life, etc.

by aedocw 12y ago

jff 12y ago

The opportunity to meet children from families that aren't either white & well off or white & religious?

PaulHoule 12y ago
I can say that our local elementary school is pretty white, but not necessarily well off. Homeschoolers in my area, if they are religious, are pagans. I know some homeschoolers who live in another state who are seriously Christian (i.e. dad is a prof at a religious school) but not at all right wing.

SL61 12y ago

I'm currently homeschooled (senior year) and I can say it really depends on the area. In my area, homeschoolers are almost all conservative Christians who are very isolated from every other demographic. There are enough of them to form large groups, so they're not being completely deprived of social life, but they're being deprived of exposure to people who aren't like them. They learn other viewpoints as caricatures and chances are they'll go off to Bible school and never truly be exposed to other viewpoints in their life. Other areas aren't so unfortunate - usually a closely knit group of religiously homeschooled teenagers will end up just like a normal high school class - rebelling against their parents and growing up to be normal people. Larger cities have strong non-religious homeschool communities and the kids there are probably growing up fine (though I don't personally know anyone in one of those groups). I do know some homeschoolers who really do just sit in their room all day and never meet with other people their age. I was one for a while. Usually in that case there's more at fault than just being homeschooled, like Asperger's or depression that's not properly dealt with. I've probably digressed from your question a bit but it's hard to keep myself from rambling when I'm almost always the only person in these discussions who has actually been a homeschooler. :P (Edit: After reading more of the thread it looks like I'm not alone here!) Personally, I hang out with my friends from when I went to public school. It would be dreadful if I only knew the other homeschoolers in my area.

Domenic_S 12y ago
> they're being deprived of exposure to people who aren't like them. I was homeschooled and also attended both private and public schools so I have some perspective on this point: 1) "Exposure to people who aren't like you" can be achieved in all sorts of ways, and you have to be really intentional about why you want it. In other words, ask "why is it important?" and then formulate a plan from there. Eg., if it's because you want to help the less-fortunate, go volunteer or go on a missions trip. Going to "real" school doesn't count, because 2) schools are the epitome of segregation. Band kids over here. Drama kids over there. Jocks to the left, dorks to the right. Race A in this corner, race B in that corner. Watch any group of kids walking home after school and note the homogeneity. Part of that is because that's how the kids naturally separate, and part of that is because 3) schools are populated by the kids who live in the neighborhoods they serve. Naturally, that population is not usually diverse. In the case that the neighborhood is ethnically diverse, it's probably not economically diverse. College is better, but people still tend to fall into groups of people who are like them in some way, whether it's clubs, sports, Greek life, etc.