I figured I had to post this. I should be in bed, but I'm not.
Silly me.
If you don't think this is true, then you need to meet more homeschoolers. I assure you from personal experience with a variety of homeschooling groups, these things are generally true. So trust us. Really.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2009/09/the-oldest-one-in-the-book/
Thursday, September 17, 2009
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I thought comment #64 on that post was very enlightening. The person (pro-public school) was commenting on how socialization actually refers to things like showing up on time, dealing with teachers with bad temperaments, laying your clothes out the night before - basically, fitting in to "the system". She compared dealing with a bad teacher to dealing with a bad boss.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, that particular analogy especially does not work for all life paths. The way you were expected to deal with a bad teacher in school was to suck it up and do what you were told. Doing that in my career field shows that you lack initiative, and you will never get promoted past a certain point until you can be assertive with your boss. Saying 'no' to your boss is a key skill, and switching jobs or even companies is a great way to deal with a bad boss when all else fails - something most kids can't do. Entrapeneurs need to also be more creative in how they deal with difficult people, and homemakers get away from the rat-race as well. Not everyone needs that kind of socialization, and most employers already feel like they have enough "cogs".
On the other hand, employers are always looking for more people with leadership potential or good communication skills, which is what homeschoolers think of when they hear "socialization".
I'm wondering now how much of the public school / homeschool misunderstandings come down to this different understanding of "socialization". Is this what all parents who conciously public school think "socialization" means? Or is this a fringe view, from near-socialists or some other extremists?
It does make sense to me that the confusion could be over what it really takes to fit into society. It is obvious to you and I that socialization means communication skills, manners, and the like. Maybe it's as obvious to some anti-homeschool people that it means fitting in and following the rules. I wonder . . .