Today My Son Got Quizzed by a Random Person in the Post Office When They Found Out We Homeschool

My homeschooled son was randomly quizzed (yes, quizzed) while in line at the post office today by a random, middle-aged man who was standing in line behind us after he found out my son is homeschooled.

Man to my son: "Shouldn't you be in school today?"

Son: "No, homeschool."

Man: "Oh. Do you know your times tables?" (Note: My son is 6 and working on addition and subtraction.)

Son: "Um, what's that mean?"

Man: "What's 6 times 6?"

Son: "I don't know."

Man: "Who's the president of the United States?"

Son: "I don't know."

Me: "Who was the first president of the United States?"

Son: "George Washington!"

The older lady in front of us turns around and looks at me with a big smile.

Man: "Oh, well that's probably more important to know anyways."

Man to me: "What grade is he in?"

Me: "Kindergarten."

Man: "Oh." (You could tell he thought my son was a few grades older.) "Which school would your son be zoned for?"

Me: "-Told him the name of school.-"  (Writers note: This is one of the worst schools in the area with a Great School rating of 3 out of 10 which is based on test scores.)

Man: "Oh, I would send him."

Me: "Oh."

Man: "For the socialization, they need that."

Me: "He's in Cub Scouts and goes to library story time."

Man: "They get burned out of that."

Post Office Clerk: "Next!"

That would be me, so end of conversation.

Thinking back I wished I had smart-aleky replied, "And they don't get burnt out of public school?" Or also (after the socialization question): "I went to public school, I know all about its socialization. That's precisley why I'm not sending him."

Or: "We just left library storytime, we're at the post office and he's socializing with you right now and soon the post office clerk, plus he's in Cub Scouts and plays with kids at the park, in the neighborhood, etc. And not just age-segretated kids, but people of all ages in real life places."

The man even saw my son talking with the older man in a wheelchair in front of us about how he used to love getting packages in the mail with his mom when he was a kid as they both loved to pop the bubbles in the bubble wrap. I guess that doesn't count as "socialization" since the man wasn't calling him names, or telling him he's terrible at coloring, or that he's not cool enough to play with him.

I'll be better prepared next time, this was the first time I (or my son) has ever been quizzed like that about homeschooling. We've had a few questions but it usually ends at "Oh, you homeschool."

Single Parenting and Homeschooling: Free Curriculum, Printables, and Lesson Sites

Single Parenting and Homeschooling: Free Curriculum, Printables, and Lesson Sites: "Free stuff rules, right? Especially when going at it on a budget and having to invest some dollars in curriculum supplies has kicked us in t..."

Socializing the Single Child Homeschooler

Socialization will always come up when you homeschool, whether you have five kids or one, whether it's a comment from Grandma, the store clerk, or those unsure voices in your head (am I doing enough??). The problems can really arise when you're homeschooling an only child though. It's true they don't have the benefit of a sibling that is always around, whether they're playing nicely or arguing.

Being a homeschool mother of an only child I'm often faced with doubts and wonders in my own mind if I am doing enough for our son. He goes to karate practice once a week, has three wonderful public school cousins he plays with weekly and goes on outings with, and he has a good neighborhood public school friend he plays with almost every day for a few hours after she gets out of school. But is that enough? Public school kids are around other kids for 40 hours a week! We don't come close to matching that... and that is perfectly fine with us!

Although I have to admit, it took me a long time to come to terms with that. It is daunting to think of how much time public school kids are around other kids. But is it all roses? Probably not. In between being quiet in the hall (and sometimes at lunch), being even more quiet in class (how many public school kids come home with a "bad color" each day because they were talking in class?), bullies, to shorter and shorter recess times, and to being exposed to kids who are only within their specific age range (no where else in life will large groups of people be segregated based solely on age).

Most kids, no matter where they go to school, usually have "best friends" that they met somewhere outside of school anyways. Not even half of my childhood best friends were met at school and none of the ones I met outside of school were ever in the same grade as me, we were always one or two grades apart.

So what can you do to help your homeschooled child get around more kids and make some friends?

To start, it is very easy to replicate recess time in a homeschool enviroment because you are free to go to the park whenever you want. You can go during school hours and probably not run into many kids, but you can also go shortly after school lets out or on the weekends and have plenty of kids for you child to play with. And even better, you don't have to be done in 15 minutes if you don't want to be!

Local libraries often have story reading times (where singing and dancing games are usually incorporated) for free for younger children, tween game nights, teen anime and discussion groups. The events your library holds regularly are probably bountiful even if you don't live in a large city. (Our library is small and does all those mentioned above plus more.)

Extracurricular activities are of course another option (and usually a fun one at that). Karate, dance, gymnastics, boy/girl scouts, the local YMCA, little league, or any other team sport are just some of the great options that are offered in most any city in the U.S. that your child will have great opportunities to meet other children and form relationships (and also to work in a group setting).

Even a trip to close by but low cost places can help your child find friends. A trip to the beach, lake, children's museum (they sometimes have free or very low cost days once in awhile too), or even the local McDonald's play area all are opportunities to interact with other kids and possibly make a new friend.

So even if you don't have many cousins for your child, neighborhood kids around, money (remember the libraries events will be free and the YMCA has a low cost option for families that need it), or a local homeschool group, there are alot of opportunities for socializing your homeschooled child.

But the bottom line is, is your child happy? Even with everything my son was doing I was paranoid it wasn't enough. But I realized a couple weeks ago to just relax when I was worried and blurted out my thoughts: "He (my son) doesn't have enough friends". Well, let me tell you, he heard me and replied in an insulted kind of way: "Yes I do have friends!" and proudly proceeded to name off all of his cousins, his uncles and aunts, mom and dad, his neighborhood friend (who is three years older and a girl), and the kids at karate that he hasn't even played with outside of karate. He thinks he has alot of friends and he's perfectly content just the way it is. And he's an only child homeschooler.