Do you find homeschool kids to be socially stunted?

I don't know about where you are at, but the people that I know that home school their children have no problem with their children being as you put it, socially stunted. I would like to know what exactly you mean by socially stunted as to you were a bit vague. But I have seen the children interact with other children and actually they are very well adjusted and also they are far ahead of their counterparts in public school. From the way you type, and convey what you are trying to say makes me wonder if you are even qualified to make such a statement. By what standards do you base your opinion on? What is your opinion on the maladjusted children in public schools? I think children these days are safer with home schooling for many reasons. No drugs, no violence, no teachers trying to force upon a child the teacher's own viewpoints of Communist/Socialist ideals. No child molestation from a teacher. The child actually learns how to study, read, write and speak properly. Math and History are taught instead of " cultural diversity." When a child needs access to a chemistry lab, they in most communities can use the school, because we do pay taxes for these schools. Interaction of sports as well. I ask you what are your qualifications to make this judgment. The children I have seen are more adjusted than the children that are in the public schools.

you were very unclear in your question. you said you "work with" but I don't know what that means. Are you a social worker? Then that would mean you are involved with families that are in need of assistance, which means your data is a little skewed (you don't have any experience with famiies that are successful in their homeschooling experience) And you didn't say what you mean by socially stunted. Are they shy? Quiet? Maybe they aren't up to date on pop culture (good thing, by the way) do they dress differently (again, could be a good thing) My point being, the problem is not that they homeschool their children. Maybe the biggest problem is the way they are being compared to another group of people. I have a huge network of homeschool families in my life, and since I teach in our church and volunteer in our community, I also have a huge network of publicschool and privateschool children in my life. On average, I see more social problems with publicschool children simply because they are so used to being around their peers all day, they usually are lost in situations where they have to interact with people of different ages, and don't get me started on manners, politeness and basic etiquette. It's funny, but even 30 short yrs ago, the quiet, respectful, modestly dressed children were the "socially normal" kids and the disrespectful, belly baring group got expelled from school. But, you want to help these families in your life, gather a list of social activities for them. Get them in contact with the local homeschool group. Give them contact information for the local rec center and little league and youth football and things like that. Homeschool families are no different than anyone else. They like to do the same kinds of things and keeping that in mind should help you gather information for them.

Just don't concern yourself.........It sounds to me that perhaps you need to worry more about yourself.....If you are hanging out with these poor,repressed,social outcast....than you must be one also.......or why else would you even have knowledge of them or how they are ? by the way,......it really does help to have a little bit of knowledge on the subject matter before making comments...and from your comment it shows you have little to none......stereotyping and generalization is a form of laziness ...which leads to a stunted form of intelligence...and leaves a person ignorant.......

I keep hearing this, and it is such a silly stereotype. It is simply not true for the VAST majority of homeschooling kids. There are about 10% who stand out as weird, and they would be weird if they were in school. The real norm is that homeschooled kids are so busy that they are more social than kids in school, usually. Homeschooled kids find time to visit tons of museums, volunteer at nursing homes or the zoo, and work in their family businesses. Really great athletes in sports that require long daily workouts such as ice skating, gymnastics, etc. are often homeschooled because there is no time to sit six hours in school, do another two or three hours of homework, spend an hour on the bus, and still fit in a workout that lasts three or four hours. Families that homeschool often travel or pursue skiing or something like that. The only thing weird about most homeschoolers that I know (and I know hundreds) is that they aren't slaves to fashion and brand names, they tend to do extremely well academically, (being avid readers), and they pursue probably too many activities: scouting, 4H, sports, chess, music (playing at least a couple of instruments) and science fairs, spelling bees, etc., etc., etc. Most don't cuss at their parents, party and get drunk on weekends, do drugs or cause their parents any other grief. They tend to get jobs earlier because their hours are flexible and they know how to work. Then they do quite well in college. Maybe they are a little weird, after all......

No way!!!

I think that you need to first take the children out of the idea boxes that you keep them in. Yes there are socially akward children that are homeschooled, but there are also children in school that are also like this. For some children it is not a matter of being homeschooled or public schooled or private schooled that makes them socially different, it is their personality and inteligence level. I know a grown woman that is *MENSA* smart and belongs to said group, went through public school her entire life, out there in many social groups because she homeshools her children and she wants them to have that outlet like she did, but socially, she would be WAY behind socially if you decided to put peoples social skills on a "level scale" She misses many social cues and, although, she likes to talk she often comes off as snotty and brainy. My suggestion is to not put children on "levels" but take them as they are and help them grow to the best of thier indivual levels.

I wasn't home schooled although I have had a similar conversation with women regarding day care. Most women I know believe that day care is good for their children because they get to socialize and make friends and it prepares them for school. I am not "against" day care and I do not believe because mothers chose to work and send their children to day care are negligent parents. I just decided it wasn't for our family. We joined the YMCA and also go to church on Sunday's where my children attend Sunday school. My children were very active in different groups in both church and at the Y. They made friends and gained social skills. While they always looked forward to seeing their friends and playing, they always were ecstatic to see me walk through the door to retreive them. By the time they went to kindergarten, they were looking forward to meeting even more friends and learning because they had already been through the process in small doses in Sunday school. I would think that if someone home schools their children, they would sign them up for some other classes, independent of their home school curriculm or to have some classes as a part of their curriculm. Such as gym class or another sport such as Little League, T-Ball or soccer. Also, since these are school age children, they can also become involved in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts or the 4H Club. There are so many ways for these children to learn to socialize, even from a young age, and at little or no cost. I would think it would help to start this as young as possible. At ages as young as 2 my children were learning to socialize by going to the play ground and making "friends" even if it was only for 30 minutes playing on the slide. Whenever we left the playground, my children would chat the whole way home about their new found friendships, even if they never even asked the other child their name. I think socialization comes naturally for children, from very young and as long as the parent keeps them active with groups, such as church or a community organization, such as the YMCA, I wouldn't see how this would be a problem unless the child is naturally shy. I also find that children with higher levels of self confidence do better in social situations, so perhaps the parent can work on that with the child if the child is uncomfortable at this point to going to any interactive group functions. Also, one last note...if a child is entertained watching TV or playing video games, why would the child feel necessary to have others in his life?

I wonder if you asked people the same question about public school kids if you would get the same response, social interaction doesn't always bring out the best in people.

As someone who was homeschooled, I say it all depends on the family and how they handle things. Homeschool was just my means of getting an education, I still knew lots of kids my age and we out all the time and met up with them for movies and such, and it also depends on the age of the children. For me, homeschool was something that wasn't big in my community so there were very few kids who did that but I think that if that wasn't the case and there were more families and kids doing homeschool in the same area, a group would be great. I often wished i had had one of those, cause I was in a Christian homeschool academy and it was hard to share the christian morals that my family and school had taught and that i was learning about with my friends, because they just didn't understand what my school was all about. But i think they just have to get out there and mingle, take some chances and don't be shy....show the world that homeschoolers aren't what they've always thought they were. Homeschool isn't as bad as I think everyone sees it as and for sure, the kids who are homeschooled aren't anything but normal.