Socialization; It ain't just play.

Pardon the use of nonstandard English in the title. We thought it would grab your attention. So many people have been discouraged to homeschool or world school their children due to the idea that the child would miss out on the socialization of the "traditional" brick and mortar institutional setting.

Many in the home education movement have pointed out the fact that in traditional school settings, children are asked to sit quietly and still for at least 2 hours at a time, listen to someone else speak, and follow directions precisely in that setting. Later, they enjoy half an hour of opportunity to engage in social interactions with their peers. Additionally, it has been pointed out that they sit in a room of people who are all the same age, and in the neosegregation of the modern age, most come from the same racial or socioeconomic backgrounds and listen to an authority figure who often hails from a different background. Some have argued that both of these elements "traditional" schooling could be more harmful than helpful, especially to children whose ancestry is linked historically to modern poverty, discrimination, and sociocultural dependency.

Now that a global pandemic has caused many parents to reevaluate their course of action with regard to educating their own, the question has been raised, how can you teach your child from home and give them the socialization they need to grow up as healthy, mindful citizens of a global society? So, how do we incorporate socialization when we are teaching from home?

Before we really address that question, let's identify what socialization is and what it isn't.

According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, the first definition of socialization (n) is the process beginning during childhood by which individuals acquire the values, habits, and attitudes of a society. The second definition is social interaction with others. To further explore the meaning of socialize, one may want to define the root word, social, simply to determine if the meaning relates to whatever notion that exists as it relates to the meaning of the word. There are six definitions of the root word. Using the term as a noun, these definitions relate to friendships, society, status. None if these terms directly relate to a half hour of guided play under the direction of someone who is not a member of your community and with only people who share the same racial or neighborhood as you.

Socialization is easily done within the guidance of the family and safety of your child's community (your network of friends, trusted professionals, and elders). In your homeschool program, impressing upon your child the acceptable values, habits, and attitudes of your family is a priority. Do you want your child to learn to say please and thank you? Is it imperative for your child to learn to look others in the eye when they speak to them? Are you instilling values associated with your faith?

For a far too long period of time, our children have been taught the values, habits, and attitudes of a broader society that often does not have their best interest at heart. By happenstance, our children learn that vulgar language is how one should speak in order to be heard. They've learned that promiscuity is how we find acceptance or even love. We send our children to institutions to learn and still hope and pray that they will not adopt the behaviors of video chicks and crude individuals from media. These media images are often the same images their authority figures (teachers, principles, counselors) in brick and mortar institutions see and use to draw their perspectives of the families that their students come from and the behaviors that must be acceptable from these students. Additionally, the values that are introduced in these learning spaces may in fact, counter your own.

Here are some activities to do daily to help your child with socialization.

1. Wake up early and make breakfast with your child.

2. Call Grandma and/or Grandpa or another elder and allow your learner to tell them about their feelings, goals or accomplishments for a few minutes each day.

3. Allow your child to make purchases at the store on behalf of your household (if she's old enough send her into the store to make purchases independently)

4. Talk with your child about the things she sees on the news or in the YouTube videos and movie streams she watches.

5. Ask an elder to walk you both through a recipe, a gardening technique, or fixing something in the house.

All of these are important socialization strategies that help build your child into the person she is meant to become.