Reasons to home educate No. 5

This next reason should really interest all those people who say: what about socialising?

Yes my next reason to home educate is...

 

socialisation!

First of all, as I'm sure most of you reading this know, socialisation and socialising are two very, very, different things.  Socialising does not teach one how to socialise.  For instance, lets look at two very large contrasts here:

1. Those who socialise with people who are negative to them, manipulative and who encourage actions that are unsociable are not going to teach your children the socialisation skills they will need to reach their full potential in this world. 
2. Those people around them showing kindness, helping out in their community and full of gentleness and kindness will teach a child positive socialisation skills. 

Some people might come out of a bad situation and decide to be the opposite of the people but that is not the case all the time and the process is always a stressful one, one I would prefer my children don't experience if I can help it.

A lot of people ask us home educators, 'what about socialisation?' or worse state 'that's the only trouble with home education, the lack of socialisation!'  To be honest I see home education as a way of having a better social life.  One where children are brought up in a place where the parent can nurture their socialisation skills, helping them to grow into caring kind adults ready to put something positive into the community.  It is also an environment that is easier to remove children from negative situations.

I really don't see how putting a child in a class room with 25 - 40 other children all of the same age and a teacher who doesn't love that child the way a parent does will ever be the best for my girls - never mind the things children often learn in a playground.  No, I think the socialisation skills my children learn from being home educated have a much greater chance of being positive ones.

That is without thinking about all the bullies in the playground - we all know they're there - what socialisation skills will a child pick up from being bullied exactly?  What socialisation skills with the child being bullied learn?  Not positive ones that is for certain.

It's not just children either, there are the adults around them; adults teaching children not only school subjects but their philosophises of life, sometimes ones that parents may completely disagree with, things they have no right to share but then again in their position it must feel only natural to feel this way.

 

Not only that but with all the pressures that are on teacher's heads these days, everybody seems so desperate to tick boxes, some teachers actions and words are not those we want our children to see.  Ok, as parents we have our off days but then we can spend time explaining our mistakes and cover them in kisses and cuddles to reassure they are loved and tell them that we are all human and make mistakes, teachers, who are also only human, simply can not do that.

So when people ask me 'what about socialising?' I answer with something more like this: oh yes, they pick up much better socialisation skills out of school, thank you.