Reasons to NOT homeschool...?

I was thinking today about all of the responses I get from strangers who find out that we homeschool our children.  Many times when other parents hear that we homeschool, they say to me, "Oh, I wish I could do that, but..."  They then proceed with reasons that they would not or could not homeschool. 

For the next few weeks, I am going to share with you some of the reasons that I have been told as to why parents say that they cannot homeschool their children.  I will then share my feelings on that response. 

Today, I will tackle the socialization issue...

We really are a friendly people...well socialized, with many friends...  :)

* Probably the most popular reason that parents say that they cannot homeschool...  "They won't be socialized! Spending time with their friends at school teaches them how to socialize."  From my experience, if the socialization that occurs in the public school is the "only way" to be socialized, then I would rather my children be unsociable.  On my very first day of Kindergarten at a public school, I came home from school saying a "really bad" curse word to my family...  As soon as my mother heard me, she pulled me aside.  She asked, "WHERE did you hear that?"  I told her the name of the boy that said it at school in the classroom that day.  He hadn't only said it once that day...he repeated it throughout the day.  I had never heard this word before, so I had no idea that it was "bad."  My mother explained to me that it was a bad word and that she did not want to hear me say it ever again.  I listened and obeyed!  Also, in a Kindergarten classroom, a boy was taken out of the classroom after using God's name in a "bad" way aloud during a game that he and his classmates were playing.  He "lost" a round, and his reaction to losing was to use this vulgar language.  These are two small examples of what children hear at school.  If this is what they hear from their classmates, what do they see?  After all, if the children are around other children all day, where are they learning their social skills?  From the other children.  So, when I am given this as an answer, it does not make an impact at all because socialization is not something that children should be learning from other children.  Socialization should be taught at home whether you homeschool or not.  Teachers do not have the time to teach a classroom of 20+ socialization skills!


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