Socialization & Burning Out

When the topic of homeschooling comes up amongst those who have very little experience and knowledge of the homeschool movement, the issue of socialization will inevitably come up. WHAT ABOUT SOCIALIZATION??

I'll be honest that in the years that I've homeschooled I have not incorporated enough social activities. That's not from lack of opportunity but from motivation on my part. Since moving to North Carolina, I became a published author and things got busy and crazy at my house. Is that an excuse--well, sort of. So, this year I decided to rectify that situation.

I signed up for several activities for both of my children. Field trips, park days, skating, bowling, etc...My oldest is taking band. The youngest is in Cub scouts. Then there is church. We had it covered. We were socializing!

The problem was we were socializing too much. By the weekend, I was burned out and I had schoolwork to look over and file. I had new lesson plans to write out and supplies to buy. When did I have time to breathe--let alone write?

Socialization is never a problem when homeschooling. The real problem is picking just a few activities and sticking to it. What I did is give each of my boys one long term activity that takes place weekly and then the occasional activity only one a week or every other week. It's enough to keep them involved without burning out.

When the socialization question comes up--remember to think about who you want socializing your children. Is it really important to have peers socialize your child? Just how long will your child be a child and an adolescent? And how long will he be an adult? Having your children learn to interact with kids and adults of all ages is much better for them in the long run. Gaining the ability to converse and interact with adults will prepare them more for life. And that's really what we are trying to do here--Train Up A Child In The Way He Should Go...Prov. 22:6