Too cool for (public) school?
by Morgan Davis

Don't you love getting the "socialization" question? In our house, we just refer to it as the question because everyone knows what it is.

When we first started homeschooling, this was a most irksome and difficult inquiry to field. You knew it was coming, and dreaded it when it did. No matter how well you explained that your kids seemed pretty normal, you would invariably get that "Uh huh, I see," response. Which politely meant: "Yeah, right. You're totally messing up your kids and you know it. Why don't you take them out of the cellar, put them in a real classroom, and stop playing teacher?"

These days, I don't mind getting the question. In fact, it's a rather pleasant experience.

"If I didn't know anything about someone other than their education, I'd rather hop into a foxhole with a homeschool kid than one from public school." -- Patricia Lines, former U.S. Department of Education researcher (from Home Is Where the School Is)

I enjoy pointing out the obvious — that kids tend to act like those they spend the bulk of their time with. With mainstream schoolers, that's other kids. It's a natural and important social survival skill. Parents whose children are fluent in mall-speak don't argue this point much. They know its true. They even admit that it would be nice if their kids behaved a little more mature ("kinda like your kids", they'd say). But they grill you just the same about your homeschoolers' socialization. It's as if they don't want to believe that our kids might be "OK" because we're doing this weird homeschool thing.

Now, thanks to recent studies that reveal what we've known for some time, there is increasing data showing that not only are homeschoolers able to mix and mingle perfectly well with normal children (which, by the way, is the sadly warped definition of being "socialized"), but they generally have a rare and valuable quality: the ability to communicate with adults. It's no surprise. After all, they spend a large percentage of time with their adult parents, conversing and interacting in a manner that will be expected of them throughout their adult lives.

This characteristic, and other good qualities bestowed by homeschooling, has caught the attention of college recruiters and smart businesses looking for that competitive advantage that homeschoolers seem to offer. Indeed, being "homeschooled" will be an advantageous credential on transcripts and resumes.

Homeschooling offers a reward that goes beyond achieving a good career. It is something we parents envy and appreciate, but it may evade our children until they are well into adulthood. That is, homeschooling creates an inherent love of learning. It grows a natural curiosity which becomes woven into the everyday fabric of life. To a homeschooler, there's really no such thing as "after school". And that's pretty cool.

This month, we showcase two contemporary reports on homeschooling that indicate a noticeable turning of the tide. We encourage you to read and share them. If you're already homeschooling, they are a great defense for the question. For those considering homeschooling, these articles will put your fears to rest. You won't be sentencing your kids to a life of social ineptitude, despite what others have believed.

Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream (PDF)
   - Fraser Institute