"Socialization" and Homeschooling

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leonie said:
I freely admit that there are some skills it’s harder to teach the kids in a homeschool. For example, my kids have a harder time being bored. I’ve noticed this with other homeschooled kids. What I mean is that there are times in group activities in which you will be bored while business type things are going on. Or, even when things are just boring. Homeschool kids tend to not know how to sit and zone out. They don’t understand being bored.
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I’ve seen this in my niece and nephew but I never experienced it.

My mother routinely took me to adult bible studies and I HAD to sit quietly through the entire thing. The adults wouldn’t let me speak. So I did learn to be quiet and still for long periods of time through this and other activities she took me to that were adult centered. Perhaps that’s a way to teach kids to be bored? 😉
 
leonie said:
My experience is that when people ask this question, they are concerned that your kids aren’t spending time with other kids. Or with other kids who aren’t homeschooled. I usually just list our activities, emphasizing the ones that are community based. That usually satisfies them.

“Oh, the kids get out. In addition to their homeschool group activities, they do 4-H, library clubs, youth group, camps, CYO sports, little league, Vacation Bible School, and a few other things.”

Very few people are really interested in a discussion on formation of character.

I freely admit that there are some skills it’s harder to teach the kids in a homeschool. For example, my kids have a harder time being bored. I’ve noticed this with other homeschooled kids. What I mean is that there are times in group activities in which you will be bored while business type things are going on. Or, even when things are just boring. Homeschool kids tend to not know how to sit and zone out. They don’t understand being bored.

I’m not being sarcastic. I do think this is a skill that kids need to learn. To counter this, we make a point to include some group activities that are structured traditionally. So, in 4-H and Sunday School, they have to learn to sit and wait and not cause problems when things are just boring.

I don’t think it’s a vital skill really, but I want my kids to learn it because there will be many occasions in which they will have to be bored–esp. if they go into a career with lots of meetings. ugh. I hate meetings…
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I call it learning to wait. In school the kids have to wait for papers to be passed out, wait in line for the bathroom, wait for their turn with the linking cubes. It translates well into real life when they’ll need to wait in traffic and in line at the bank.

If I remember correctly you have 7 kids - so do I - on some level I am certain they know how to wait, or to be bored. I’m sure your kids have had to put their own desires aside while you nursed the baby, were late getting lunch, or helped a little one with math. They either had to wait, find someone else (like the other 6 people in the house) or they had to do it themselves.

Actually, it’s the virtue of temperance they are practicing.
 
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