Friendships

One of the biggest criticisms that home educators face is that home educated children won't know how to socialise. So let's just deal with this criticism head on shall we?  Socialising = to "participate in social activities; mix socially with others; make someone behave in a way that is acceptable to their society." The critics' assumption must be that home educating families don't go shopping, or to the library or any other public place, because it is obvious that normal, everyday life activities present opportunities for socialising.  

Now, I admit that a home educated child has less opportunities to make friends away from their parents' gaze, but that isn't such a bad thing because the friendships that our children make, will have a huge impact on their character and choices.  Homeschooling is a way to train our children and young people how to invest in positive friendships.  They should be taught relational intelligence (see Dharius Daniels on YouTube); how to relate safely online and how to hold their own amidst a possible bullying situation. Yes, they should be left to discover for themselves but because human connection is so powerful, we owe it to them to share the wisdom we have gained from our most successful relationships, as well as the situationships!

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