My main concern is whether the homeschooled kids are disadvantaged by the lack of the vital social component of school.
I’ve met a number of homeschooled kids but they always seem to have limited socialization opportunities.
I’ve met a number of homeschooled kids but they always seem to have limited socialization opportunities.
Honestly, the socialization is a myth. Homeschoolers socialize with all ages, that's healthy and educational from a huge amount of perspectives. e.g: kids can be become leaders by supporting younger or less able kids.
1. Mixed-age groups let you hear perspectives across age groups. You might also have one group helping another in their weak areas. That didn't happen as much in same-age groups I saw.
2. Same-age groups give you people who can relate to you and your life. That might not exist at all in mixed-age groups depending on the age distribution. Some people in mixed-age groups told me they switched to same-age groups for that reason.
I'd be interested in looking at any studies on this topic. Since you mentioned "plenty written," do you have any links we can look at?
We home school our 9 year (autistic) child and he's more socialable than I am (I was schooled prep to 12 at a relatively expensive private school).
Just the other we were at a wildlife sanctuary and he ran off in the bird enclosure. I went to check up on him and found with one of the keepers feeding live worms to the birds (one of a number of interactions he had).
Whereever we go, he has a tendency to walk up to workers and start conversations.
I'm not sure how much his autism diagnosis is at play, but he does seem to lack a lot of the inhibition and intimidation in interacting that a lot of other students his age display.