The #1 Gripe about Home Schooling….

(photo from homeschoolmania.com)

…that I’ve heard over and over and over. Anyone who has home schooled their children or verbally contemplates it has heard the same line in support of public education. “What about the Social aspect?”

Please forgive me for being more than a bit facetious on this entry but I just need to let the vitriol fly on this one.

To all those who have ever used the line “What about the Social aspect”, I wish to extend a few questions to you.

1. Do you think all home school parents and children are hermits that live up in the Himalayan mountain range?
2. Did it ever dawn on you that when you live in a place of population 50 people to 10 million people that a child just might have to interact with other people and children?
3. Ever heard of things like the park or the library?
4. Ever pondered the concept of dance classes, Girl / Cub/ Boy Scouts, church groups and Sunday School, or any sport like soccer, Little League or some other TEAM sport?
5. Better yet, has it ever crossed your mind that we might have…*gasp*…neighbors?

Now I know my daughter isn’t the norm but here is a little concept to ponder. Who is better well-rounded socially at age 6-7, the child that has rarely ventured past city limits or possibly one that has experienced 4 different countries, several different states and multitudes of different cities? My daughter is in the latter category.

Let us shift this entry to another bit to ponder. Perhaps one of the primary reasons why parents want to home school their children are BECAUSE of the social aspect of public schools. I’ll list a few reasons why.

1. What does going to the Prom mean to life outside of school?
2. Do children really need to be subjected to peer pressure to do drugs, sex, and be part of the “in-crowd”? Or would they be better off tackling that after they have matured enough and are well grounded in who they are?
3. Since when is having to discipline your child for bad behavior picked up from other kids a good thing?
4. Maybe some of us parents do not like the public schools teaching our children to denigrate the beliefs of others and being programmed to be materialistic, selfish and valuing the opinions of murderers, rapists, torturers and slave traders.
5. Perhaps we as PARENTS WANT to and have the means to take the RESPONSIBILTY for raising OUR children and teaching them a solid VALUE system and not just let that up to the whims of a Curriculum Director at the local, state or federal level or some other staff member.

I would caution all to not be quick to assume or judge others as there are many sides to a topic.