Topic O' The Day- Getting out there......
AKA - Socialization
Is there a homeschooler out there that DOESN'T laugh when they hear this word? I used to burst into laughter, much to the chagrin of the asker, when asked that dreaded question (But, what about socialization?) after we pulled the kids out from school. No one knew what to say to me when I would respond with
"THAT is exactly the reason WHY we are bringing them home for school."
Honestly, the education they were receiving in public school was a decent one. It was more than a little dumbed down, repetitive and "Mickey Mouse", but they did learn and they have some good memories. A few years ago, we were studying something and the kids came to me and said "Do we HAVE to learn this again? We've studied this topic every year since 1st grade."
I said "You know, you're right. Lets skip it and move on to something else."
(DH about had a heart attack over that one. He's an ex-teacher and you. don't. skip. chapters. ever.)
Oh, wait. This post is supposed to be about socialization, not education. Sorry.
Some of the things we have done to get the kids out of the basement *wink* and out into the real world are-
Learning Co-ops
Sunday Morning Church
Church led activities- Sunday school, youth group, small groups, Wednesday night church programs, ministry activities such as yard work, passing out thanksgiving food baskets, Christmas caroling at nursing homes, passing out light bulbs, pumping gas and too many other to list
4-H groups/projects- Photography, Model building, cake decorating, shooting sports (rifle and shotgun)
Boy Scouts
Chess Club
Various Library Activities, StoryTime when they were little. VERY actively involved in our public library's Teen Council when they were big. They helped set up and run many a used book sale. Book discussions.
Music lessons
Summer Orchestra
Various gaming tournaments in various states
BotBall
Soccer, baseball, basketball, wrestling (when they were younger. We aren't a huge sports-based family.)
Various part-time and/or summer jobs.
3 comments:
My list would look very similar. I think the bigger question for most homeschoolers is--how do you CHOOSE and LIMIT your activities?
Jeanne
"out of the basement..."
I burst out laughing. Spoken like a true homeschooler, tired of the question. : )
I think it is awesome you put part time jobs in there. People act like I am insane when I say my kids will be getting part time jobs as soon as they can legally. I think it is good for them to know how to be an employee, personally.
Post a Comment