I’m with scaredy on this one. There is nothing natural about “socialization” that consists of collecting kids in a very narrow age band and forcing them to follow along with what a teacher or their peers tell them to do for hours on end. That is not socialization, that’s preparing kids to be good little cubicle workers.
Socialization means that kids are exposed to a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, different ages, and different abilities. It also means that they interact with people in different venues.
Additionally, many people understate the *negative* socialization that occurs at public schools, which can often overwhelm any positive experiences:
“According to the U.S. DOE’s “Homeschooling in the United States: 2003”, 85 percent of homeschooling parents cited “the social environments of other forms of schooling” (including safety, drugs, sexual harassment, bullying and negative peer-pressure) as an important reason why they homeschool.”
Oftentimes, being forced to get along with bullies without affording kids the options available to adults sets a bad precedent for both the bully (who gets away with it) and the victim (who learns to give in because there are no other options). Adults are able to walk away or defend themselves in a really bad situation — you can do neither as a student in an institutionalized learning center, unfortunately.
What is taught in schools is conformity, which should not be confused with true socialization.
We homeschool, so I’m obviously biased, but I’ve also worked as a public school teacher. After having seen the different ways kids interact with one another, there is no doubt in my mind that homeschooled kids, in general, are much better able to communicate with people of varying ages and backgrounds. Their conversational skills are superior as they tend to be able to talk on a more adult level about different topics. They are more independent and have more self-confidence, in general.
OTOH, homeschoolers will never “fit in” because they were never trained to do that; but most homeschoolers value independent thinking (and acting) over “fitting in” with ones “peers.” Homeschoolers often look a bit odd, but if you talk to them, you’d be amazed at how differently they communicate with adults vs. their public school peers. Of course, these generalizations apply mostly to teenagers, as the younger homeschoolers haven’t had as many years of differentiation from their peers, and haven’t reached the rebellious stage yet (rebellion tends to manifest itself in the homeschoolers’ appearances rather then their attitude, though).
Of course, this is all just anecdotal, but I knew a number of homeschoolers when I was a kid, and they all turned out to be very successful adults, career-wise, and personally.
FWIW, homeschoolers also tend to do better academically.
Some interesting info about the history and philosophy behind homeschooling:
