Before many families make the choice to change to homeschooling, they have concerns about the socialization their child will receive while being homeschooled. It can often seem like being at home all the time and not in a school environment would pause their social development with peers. However, this never has to be the case. Like everything with homeschooling, it just takes some planning and special effort to avoid this problem.
Homeschool Groups
Because Idaho has so many families who homeschool, it's easy in most areas to find a local homeschooling group. These groups get together for enrichment activities and to play together in a safe environment. The level of involvement varies from group to group, but many include kids who have been part of the group for years and know each other very well.
This provides the social net that children usually create at traditional schools without the problems of traditional schooling. With most of these groups, you can be as involved as you choose to be, bringing your kids often or scheduling it for a special activity. You can use these groups as a place for kids to make casual friends, or your kids may make life-long friendships.
Traditional Extracurriculars
In Idaho, homeschoolers have the right to participate in the local public school's extracurricular activities. This gives you an easy way to get your kids into a peer group for an activity. Many kids love to play sports, and that is available at every school. Simply find the school closest to you and let them know you have a homeschool student who would like to join an extracurricular.
There are also academic and social clubs that your kids can join to meet some of the kids from public school. The assortment of activities often depends on the size of the school, but all of them come with opportunities to meet other kids and interact with them to keep up with their social development.
Non-Traditional Extracurriculars
It isn't just in the public schools that you will find opportunities for extracurricular activities with other kids. With the open schedule of homeschooling, you can create your own schedule of activities with local resources. Many activities like martial arts and riding lessons have homeschool lesson times during the day because there are so many homeschooled kids looking for fun activities. And because you aren't limited by what a public school offers, you can be free to choose from among many interesting activities for your kids.
From fencing lessons to guitar to geology digs, there are always fun things to learn how to do, and there are often many other kids who want to do the same. Check your city's offerings, like Boise Parks and Recreation, which provides a range of classes, sports programs, and other activities.
Social development, like academic development, takes planning, but it can also happen when you least expect it. Many homeschooled students are in the library during the day, and this is one place of many that they can develop friendships as they grow and mature.
If you want an alternative to traditional schooling, contact us to find out more about how we can help.
