Home Schoolers Stay Active and Debunk Socialization Myth
By Mimi Rothschild
One of the best aspects of homeschooling is that it allows families to have flexible schedules while also allowing home schooling students the opportunity to pursue their passions. If a student wants to learn more about World War Two then he or she can learn more. If a student wants to study the affects of new media on society then he or she can study it. If a student wants to learn an instrument or play a sport then they are certainly welcome to do so.
Home schooling students in central Pennsylvania exemplify this pro-active attitude of learning and doing. The Central Pennsylvania Homeschool Ensemble is alive and well according to The Patriot News. Some people worried that the home school ensemble would collapse after Pennsylvania finally allowed the state’s 25,000 home school students to participate in public school’s extracurricular activities in 2005. The orchestra is still going strong under the direction of its conductor Barry Clay. The central Pennsylvania Orchestra has twenty-four members, ages ranging from nine to nineteen.
It’s great that this ensemble is still going strong and it makes a statement too. Often times home schooling students get inaccurately labeled as not being properly “socialized”. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Home schoolers, on average, participate in five activities. That is a lot of venues for home schooling students to socialize with their peers.
Home schooling students, like the ones in the Central Pennsylvania Home School Ensemble, pursue their interests while socializing too. The bottom line is this: home schoolers are socially active amongst other home schoolers and also amongst non-home schooling students.
Thank you for this great post. I hate that people always assume that my children are lacking in social skills because I homeschool them. That is a huge “pet peeve” for me. I actually wrote an article about it on my blog called Social Skills and the Homeschooled Preschooler. It’s a good read if you are interested.
Great Blog…. keep up the great work!!
Shana
ABC Home Preschool
ABC Home Preschool’s Everything Preschool Blog
Comment by Shana — July 3, 2007 @ 8:32 pm
Shana, thanks for your support! It is still amazing to me how people continue to generalize about home schoolers. I’ll make sure I stop by and visit your blog soon! Have a great day!
Comment by Mimi Rothschild — July 5, 2007 @ 6:26 am