I have chosen to blog about the homeschooling a singleton. I have one eight year boy. He is generally a joy to teach, but like everyone he is a work in progress and some days are easier then others. Some of the things I will talk this week are socialization, curriculum, specialization, aloneness and whatever else I think of. :)
One of the things people mentioned over and over when we mentioned we planned to him school our son was what will we do for friends for him? Have to admit, the whole friendship thing hadn't even been a blip on the horizon for me before then. (after all I went through k-8 with a bunch of acquaintances NOT friends). Then if that weren't enough, people started querying how would he ever get used to learning with other people, and having to share time with the teacher and all that. This was another thing that I hadn't even remotely considered.
So would I be depriving my son if we chose to homeschool him?
No. That's plain and simple how I see it.
You see I love to read. Love it, you will rarely find me without at least three or four books on the go at any one time. I love to read about all sorts of things, but have a fondness for reading about life in the past...to that end I am currently reading the little house on the prairie series with my lad. In our not that distant past most children were taught at home, and yet those children went on and became inventors, leaders in their communities and more. Successful men and women in their day. Their parents didn't stress about the need of their children to have fun, or to learn with others, their stress was to teach their children to be productive members of society, able to hold their own.
This is my aim as well. I wish for my son to be a productive member of society, skilled in discernment, which I firmly believe a Caucasian, Christian male is going to need to be in our upcoming years. I need for him to be able to think his way through issues, to form thoughts based in research and thinking, having friends to walk with him through this would be benefit, but NOT as necessity. He will need to learn how to walk in communion with others (which will mostly be people of a variety of age groups) but his making friends now is not of paramount importance and therefore is not something that I would consider as a reason to NOT to homeschool him. Peer socialization would not be a make it or break it proposition for me at all.
That said.... does my lad have friends? Do I make a point of helping him make friends? For sure.
This boy has friends and it so pleases me that they range in age from 4 years old to 12 years old. They are male and female. He's not stuck in one age or gender bracket. There is learning and growing done when one has friends that range in age....sometimes he learns, sometimes he teaches. It's all good....and it's fun, and good times, and memory making opportunities. :)
But here are a few you might find interesting:
The Unschooling life.
Homeschooling and Socialization.
Social Skills and Homeschooling.