I’m about to tell you how homeschooling is exactly like summer break. I promise I’m not crazy (well…) so hear me out! After you’ve read this, then I’d love for you to weigh in and tell me what you think!
Our family is about to launch into our 17th year of homeschooling. As you can imagine, we have heard many comments and questions about our choice to go against the norm of “regular schooling.” Most people are very supportive and kind! But in general, if a person is unfamiliar with homeschooling, they might say statements that make it very clear that there is a lot of confusion about what homeschooling actually is.
Here are some of our favorite comments:
- “You homeschool?! I can’t even tell!” (Apparently, we still look like actual people.)
- “What grade are you in?” (I’m an eighth grader.) “Ok, but what grade would you be in if you actually went to school?” (I’m an eighth grader.)
- “But aren’t you worried about socialization?” (Don’t worry. We all call and talk to Grandma once a week.)
Ah, homeschoolers and socialization…
I used to become defensive and even angry about how often homeschoolers and socialization get brought up in worried conversation by well-meaning people. But now I realize that people can’t help knowing what they don’t know. After all, I don’t know what I don’t know, do you? (Huh?)
Homeschooling is unfamiliar territory to many. So it seems that often people assume that those who homeschool: always stay at home, do all things at home, never leave the home, and don’t really know how to function outside of the home. And also, we have no friends.
{Here is proof that one day when our kids were little,
we unlocked the door and let them outside.
Then we met some friends at the park for lunch.
The kids haven’t been outside since that day, of course,
because we homeschool and that means that we are always at home.}
Obviously, I can’t speak for everyone. Each homeschool family goes about life, education, and socialization just a bit differently. (Hold on. Each public/private school family goes about life, education, and socialization just a bit differently too. Can it be?!)
But allow me to share for a few moments about the social life of our family of homeschoolers. And as we all head into summer break, here are my thoughts on how homeschooling and summer break are much the same. Hear me out. I think my thoughts make sense!
Some call it “jumping on the trampoline.”
We call it “recess.” Or if we’re feeling extra homeschooly, “Physical Education.”
But usually, we just call it “jumping on the trampoline.”
How Homeschooling is Exactly Like Summer Break
Let’s go back to the fears people have about homeschooled kids not being at school all day, and therefore not being with people all day, or ever. Are you there in your mind? Are you picturing the pale, lonely children?
And now allow me to ask this: Why do people not have the same exact fears about kids being out of public/private school all summer long during break? “Oh no! The kids are not going to be in school for three entire months this summer! What will they do about socialization?!”
Said no one ever.
No one. Not one person is thinking or saying that. And do you know why? Because everyone knows that kids who are home from school during summer break are not just sitting at home day after day, night after night, all alone, doing nothing, and seeing no one.
Instead, what do kids and families do during summer break?
They go swimming with friends. They travel and see cool parts of the country and do things they may or may not have experienced before. They go to camps. They hang out at friend’s houses. They invite people over to hang out at their house. They go visit extended family. They celebrate special holidays. They work on exciting projects at home. They take part in the summer library programs. They take advantage of other special summer programs and activities their town offers. They have cook-outs with friends, and playdates with friends, and when all is said and done, they have been spending so much time with people that every once in a while, they need to take a day off to have a little break from being with so many people. It is, after all, summer break.
And this, my friends, is exactly what a homeschooler’s life is like during the school year. (Except for the swimming part. Because of the winter and the snow.)
What does my homeschooling family do all throughout the school year?
Well, indeed, we sit at home and do our school work. We do algebra and history and English and science and all the rest, just like a public school kid sits in a classroom quietly doing school work. But if we are disciplined and work hard, our school work only takes a few hours each day. So what else do we do?
We hang out with friends, at our house or at their house or at a park or at an event. We meet with other homeschoolers for special science presentation days, or for P.E. or for any number of educational activities. We go on field trips with other families.
We visit our elderly or disabled friends, helping them with jobs they are unable to do. We host or go to church activities and events, worship services, and youth group outings. We volunteer at the homeless shelter, visiting with them and feeding them meals.
We go to soccer or basketball practice, depending on the season, and sometimes spend entire weekends at tournaments with our kids’ teammates and their families. We discover the hobbies we love, and we spend hours creating and developing our talents. We invite friends to do this with us, because that makes it all more fun.
We learn necessary life skills like how to cook, how to budget, how to clean a toilet, how to shop wisely and save money, and how to make a deposit at the bank.
We have prom, jobs, ministries, and musicals. We have friends our own age, friends who are older, friends who are younger, friends who are a lot like us, and friends who are much different. We are friends with homeschoolers, public schoolers, and private schoolers. We have friends all over the state and in many other states (most of whom we’ve met at summer church camps).
We are often so busy being social, we have to intentionally set aside time to actually…
Stay home and do our school work.
True story.
So see? Homeschooling is exactly like summer break. (Except for the break part, ha!)
Just like most kids and families make all kinds of social plans and enjoy many outings during a summer break, so do most homeschooled kids and families during the school year.
No one worries about a kid “getting socialized” during their summer break away from school – because kids don’t just stay home and do nothing during summer break! In the same way, my homeschooled kids have more friends and activities and outings than I can even keep up with all year long!
What do you think? Obviously, summer break and homeschooling is not an apples-to-apples comparison!! I just wanted to have a little bit of fun explaining some similarities and logic behind why fearing for the social lives of a homeschooler is entirely unnecessary.
Now, if we could figure out how to make homeschooling actually as easy as lazing around in the sunshine on a hot summer day, that would be great. :)
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