Homeschooling and Childhood Socialization

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Unlike many students, my first year of schooling was undertaken at home, rather than amongst my peers. My subsequent years of schooling were spent in a normal classroom environment; however, I often felt that this year at home, which was characterized by much less interaction with peers than I would have had if I was enrolled in traditional schooling, had left me at a social disadvantage, or slightly behind other children in terms of my level of socialization. I was much shyer than the other children who had already developed groups, friendships, who were much more adept at interacting amongst each other, and generally seemed more outgoing than myself. I often felt like an outsider, with feelings of self-consciousness and a lack of self-assurance, and additionally, towards the middle of my elementary school experience I began to develop problems with general anxiety as well as separation anxiety from my parents, which only served to exacerbate the feelings I already maintained. Basing my analysis on Chapter 4, Socialization, and Chapter 16, Education, in the text, I will attempt to analyze to what extent homeschooling affects the socialization of children. This will be conducted through an exploration of the arguments presented by both those who feel homeschooling is detrimental to the socialization of children and those who feel it actually provides benefits over the conventional methods of schooling.

Before the opposing arguments with regard to homeschooling’s effect on children are discussed, a more broad explanation of the interplay regarding children, school, and socialization as gathered from the text will first be presented. As noted by Murray, Linden, and Kendall (2011:87), there is increasing awareness of the way that ...

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