Do You Homeschool?

[PollyannaMom]

Kids need to be around kids their own age that is what school is for to learn from other people and to enjoy being in clubs and on teams.

At what other time in life are we around people of the exact same age & similar socioeconomic status every day, confined to 4 walls? It isn't natural.

when I started back in 2001 one of the things the homeschool community was emphasizing was NOT being stuck with kids their own age The emphasis was on giving the kids a well-rounded peer group. The reasoning was because in real life/adulthood you are rarely surrounded by people in your own age group.

This part of the discussion fascinates me as well. I can really see both sides.

As an adult, I definitely interact with people of all ages. But even when I was a kid, I was NOT one who gravitated to people my own age. - I often hung out with kids a couple of years older or younger than me. I think we can learn a lot that way - on both sides.

But my own son seems to gain from the social aspect of school. I think it reassures him to be around other kids who are going through the same things at the same time. (Dealing with braces come to mind as an example. He really picked up a lot of tips from having a large pool of kids in the same boat to talk to.)

I think a balance of both types of interaction is good (and like someone else said, no generalization will cover every kid neatly.)