Socialization & Homeschooling

Will my child be socialized while she is in Homeschool?

ALL very valid questions, and here is my answer to all of them.

With all sincerity and realness I have to say that I am not worried at all about Ryleigh and socialization.

There I said it. The number one complaint about homeschooling has been dashed and thrown out the window…and here’s why.

I grew up in the public school system. My brothers and sisters also grew up in the public school system. I have earned my high school diploma, an associate’s degree and a bachelor’s degree all through the public school setting. I have had plenty of friends through my school experience, my dance classes, my gymnastics classes, and also a plethora of family friends.

LOTS OF EXPOSURE TO “SOCIALIZATION”.

I was a straight A student and a overall “good kid”. However I was a deeply shy kid. I was an introvert through and through. I avoided conflict like the plague, and would have to force myself into socialization. I was just uncomfortable. I would speak in a low voice, look down at the floor, and just tried to become small in social situations. Yes, I was bullied at school, but that is not the number one reason why I was introvert.

The number one reason I was an introvert was because God made me that way. Introversion is not a bad thing, it’s just a personality type. The second reason I was an introvert was because of my family upbringing. I was alone a lot as a kid. My sister is 14 years older, and my brother is 9 years older. My mother also worked a lot to provide for us, and my father was completely out of the picture. I was a latchkey kid. I would come home from school by myself, feed myself, and be by myself. I developed an affinity to being alone. I craved being alone with my thoughts and this has truly followed me well into my adulthood. I could go on and on as to why I am the way that I am, but I won’t for the sake of not wanting to write a novel!

However I have to say that I have been working on my socialization skills and I’ve gotten better at socializing. YES, as a 35 year old I still have to work at this.

Drop me in a room where I don’t know anyone and I usually clam up. I have to work at talking to people that I don’t know. This is still a work in progress for me.

However my husband is the complete opposite of me. He is a social butterfly. It is his strength. His current job is at a bank where he is the relationship manager. Crazy, I know! However he socializes for a living. He can be in any group and talk to anybody. This is him.

…this is also Ryleigh.

She can go up to complete strangers and talk to anybody (I cringe at this). She introduces herself and then proceeds to ask a ton of questions. She makes friends very fast and then wants to play with them for hours.

I have observed her in both the leadership role, and the follower role among her friends (however she usually takes the leadership role among new friends).

I’ve also observed how she deals with conflict and realize that this is something that we have to still work on. She is not the best with conflict, but she is learning like her mother is learning. For example, she doesn’t like to be spoken to harshly at all. She cries, and loses her confidence. This part is me.

However she sings and speaks in front of others with ease (unlike me as a young girl). She has strong extrovert qualities like her daddy. In our home Ryleigh is rarely alone. She is either around me or her father. I am always talking to her and teaching her. She is full of questions, and I try to answer them.

At church she is around others her age (or slightly older/younger girls). She plays with them quite well and tells me if she has had any problems with them. What I’ve also noticed is that she follows directions quite well from adults, but is assertive in asking for what she wants from them.

My husband and I are trying to cultivate a healthy environment where Ryleigh can assert herself and be confident.

Besides our regular homeschool schedule, our church schedule, and daily interaction with her family, Ryleigh will be enrolled into at least two extracurricular activities a week. I don’t want to inundate her {or myself} with activity after activity, but I recognize that she has to have another fun outlet either that her family, or the church.

Ideas of extracurricular activities: