To answer your last question first, I don’t think you’ve done him a disservice in homeschooling, because the positives probably still outweigh the negatives. It would probably be difficult for him to be cooped up all day, and the influences can be particularly strong with happy, social children.

My heart goes out to your dear son– it’s so hard to be the active, imaginative one, with no one to play with. We were fortunate that the boys had compatible interests with at least one other sibling for at least a couple of years each. In the years that they didn’t, we tried to find others who would enjoy some of the same things. We were only occasionally successful.

Looking back (and I’d welcome other moms’ thoughts on this), there have been only a few friends in my life who shared a lot of my interests, and I think my boys would say the same thing. Although we aren’t necessarily a representative sampling, I’ve heard similar things from others. I think that the reality of life is that truly compatible friends are hard to find.

I tried to encourage my boys to make the most of the friends they had, and to always be ready to befriend new people in our fellowship. They’ve had older and younger friends, and I think that being willing to move outside their age group has really helped them find others who enjoy the things they are interested in.

If your son enjoyed the interaction with younger boys (who probably enjoyed it a great deal as well), perhaps he would enjoy organizing some sort of regular activity for a younger group. Informal re-enactments (aka playing Viking, C&I, etc.), fort construction– if you have space and raw materials (anything from dead trees, to dirt, to very tall weeds that can be tunneled through), whatever happy things he enjoys could probably be shared with younger guys who would appreciate his energy and enthusiasm. It would be nice if there were a co-op in your area where he might meet friends.

It’s a difficult thing, Elizabeth, and I hope he’s able to find more friends. For the long term, though, homeschooling is a good choice for many other reasons. I don’t think it will be long before his interests change a bit (with my guys, it was usually about 11), and this present difficulty will be largely past.

Blessings,
Janice

I just couldn’t agree more with both of these sentiments. Homeschooling IS real life – so much more so than institutional school. The moment that I learned that homeschooling existed 19 years ago, it immediately resonated with me due to my own school experiences. I have been so thankful that I found out about it in time to homeschool all my children. It has been such a huge blessing in our lives.

Sometimes I think we’re past the era when people reacted negatively to hearing that we home school, but then some brave soul will venture the socialization question. And that’s when our opportunity arrives!

You’re right that we need to be prepared, in order to give that soft answer, because it’s true that “the sweetness of lips increases learning.” (Proverbs 16:21– one of my favorite ‘homeschooling’ verses.)

Our children are our best testimonial, and their witness can be powerful. A couple of mine actually carry my business cards in their wallets, and hand them out to people who seem interested in homeschooling;-). The generations of homeschoolers who have grown up and are functioning perfectly-fine-thank-you will be the ultimate answer to the socialization question.

AMEN!

I so agree with your point.

I must admit, I haven’t had anyone directly confront me yet about my decision to homeschool. Most people we have told have been either neutral, or supportive.

I hope that when that day comes, I will be able to answer calmly and quietly (A soft answer turneth away wrath…Prov 15:1a KJV).

I also desire to be “wise as [a serpent], and harmless as [a dove]” (Matt 10:16 KJV).

Articles like this help me to be able to answer when the time comes.

Paul reminds us in 2 Tim 2:15 to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (KJV)

I don’t believe that pertains only to spiritual things, do you?
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