The Learning Umbrella

The big issue in most of the conversations I have with people about homeschooling is socialization. They always want to know how that will work, or how it worked for me when I was a kid. It frustrates me sometimes, and I want to say something like "my parents didn't keep me locked in the basement or under a rock". Why would I or my children have to go to school in order to encounter a social situation? Our whole society involves "socializing", and you would have to try really hard to avoid people in order to miss out on it. But people are concerned, nevertheless. I usually tell them that I took a lot of extracurricular classes when I was a kid, that I was involved in community groups, and that I had plenty of friends of both similar and different ages from my own. That is enough for most people, since they can see that I'm a functioning, well-adjusted adult. As for my own kids, if it worked for me, why wouldn't it work for them? There are still a few people though, who assume that since I was homeschooled I was sheltered from diversity and the "real world". To them I point out my involvement in things like Spectrum Dance in Seattle, which is a dance school that tries to reach out to ethnic minorities and those who might not otherwise be able to afford ballet lessons. Or I tell them that I was in the military, which is certainly diverse, and I had no problems. But homeschoolers themselves are not without some diversity, and I wish we could shake the stereotype of sheltered, white, upper middle class, and conservative Christian. People homeschool for many reasons. I'm currently reading Freedom Challenge: African American Homeschoolers which is a series of essays by African American families about their homeschooling. Many of the essayists also discuss the socialization pressure. Why would school be the only place to meet the need of bringing people together? I've student taught in the public schools, and I didn't see a great deal of social mixing going on between different groups. It's not the only way, and it's not even the best way.