Homeschool Questions Public School Parents Ask Part 1

I often get the same questions over and over from curious parents.  Here is the first and by far the most common question people ask me when they find out that I homeschool.

1.  What about socialization?

Thankfully, in this day and age, socialization has not been an issue for us.  With all the homeschool groups and kids nearby, we really have to seriously limit the amount of socializing that we do in order to have enough time to get through our daily lessons.  I know this sounds odd, but just for example a typical week for many homeschoolers might look like this:

Mon.  Breakfast, chores, schoolwork, lunch at a park with homeschool friends, home to rest and reading/literature, basketball practice, dinner, outdoor play with neighborhood kids.

Tues.  Breakfast, chores, schoolwork, working on the vegetable garden, lunch outside, water play in the backyard, rest and reading, dinner at Grandma's with cousins, home to play with neighbors.

Wed.  Breakfast, chores, Bible, Math and Penmanship, Fieldtrip to local Aquarium, dinner at Church, Church Youth Group/AWANA.

Thurs.  Breakfast in the car on the way to Co-op for Spanish, History, and Science.  Pizza Party lunch with co-op friends.  Home for rest and reading.  Basketball Practice for one child, 4-H for another.

Fri.  Breakfast on the way to homeschool PSP where kids do P.E., Music and more Science.  Lunch in the park with friends.  Home to rest and rest.  And rest. 

This is just a sampling, I have cut my schedule way back now that I have four boys and they seem perfectly content staying home and bonking each other on the head with lightsabers and playing outside with the neighborhood children.  But we can go to midday Kung Fu lessons for homeschool kids, swimming lessons and we enjoy our period of rest during the afternoons which gives us the energy to enjoy chess club, basketball, football, golf, tennis lessons, 4-H, boyscouts, Church youth group, whatever we choose to do without being stressed by homework and tight evening schedules.


Look for the next 2 posts in this series as they are published throughout the coming week.