There are other ways to socialize that don't involve being a cog in the machine for half their waking day. Extracurriculars can fill that same need: boy scouts, sports teams, music lessons, whatever the kid's into.

Lol, my good friend was homeschooled and is successful and contrary to stereotypes a social-butterfly. Not sure where you get this "implore you" from.

So they can be socialized by their unsocialized peers? That’s a profoundly unnatural and destructive thing to do. Human children are supposed to be raised in mixed-age setting where they can learn from older children and young adults, under the supervision of not only parents and teachers but a spectrum of adults of different ages.

At least in the recent past Americans had large families and civic organizations like churches to expose children to normal social structures. Today we are losing even those, and age-segregated schooling is the dominant mode of socialization for children.

> Human children are supposed to be raised in mixed-age setting

Ah, right. The way they are designed.

Yes, we are better adapted to some conditions than to others. This is a result of a process known as biological evolution.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. Gave me a lot to think about. You're right about the current school system being contrived.

Like you say though, there's no real alternative. I wish there was something else with widespread adoption.

Lots to think about here.

Don't know if you're still following this thread, but I agree with the responder that the civic structures of society are increasingly replaced by schooling and subscription-based hobbies. I think there are many opportunities to socialize kids without school, but they're not quite as ubiquitous--and they won't become common until lots of people are doing them, like I plan to.

Also, speaking delicately, a lot of poorly-socialized homeschooled children have poorly-socialized parents, and were doomed from the start. I am gregarious and involved in many different social circles (athletics, music, engineering, etc.) and should be able to expose my kids pretty thoroughly to them.

Many home school kids are taught in co-ops, so the kids are mixing and socialising with other kids. Not every class is suited to being home schooled (some arts and sports come to mind) so for those classes you employ the services of local schools for those explicit requirements so the kids are socialising in those environments too except you are cherry picking the services/classes you want.

Home schooling isn’t for everyone and not everyone has the means (lots of ferrying around kids between activities as well as the time needed to educate, basically it’s a unpaid full time job and many families require those hours spent generating an income to survive) but the image of home schooled kids being unsocialised is pretty much a myth.

They will have peers outside of a seemingly prison like environment, it has never been easier to home school.