Amy over at Heart of the Matter has a great post on why socialization at public schools is ridiculous anyway. Why would we want our kids to be socialized that way?

It got me thinking about how I answer that question. I think maybe I'm being too defensive.

I usually rattle off all the kids do with other kids during the week to show what an active life they have.

But instead maybe I should challenge the basic assumption that socialization at school is actually good! I guess I don't want to embarrass people or cause a ruckus, but really, isn't that the main issue? That we don't want the kids to learn the negative behaviour that's present at schools?

One woman once remarked that she didn't think my kids would learn how to deal with people who were dififcult or stupid. That's why we need school. But kids can learn that later. Why should we subject them to it now? And as an adult, they can learn to treat people with Christlike love, even if they aren't forced to sit next to an idiot every day of their grade 5 life.

Anyway, I like the socialization they're getting at home, and I like the fact that they're not being socialized at school. So next time someone asks me, "What about socialization!?" , I'll reply, "Exactly! That's why we homeschool!", and then wait for the puzzled look to appear.

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