The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling,   ISBN:9781600651076

Customer Rating: 

It's become more and more established in the knowledge of the general population in recent years that homeschooled children on average score at least as well as public-schooled children on measures of academic success. And, in fact, the research reveals that homeschooled children on average far outperform their public-schooled counterpart academically. However, it is also true, and research bears out, that homeschooled children are just as well adjusted socially, if not more so. But, the general population hasn't gotten this newsflash, and so the #1 question homeschoolers are asked is "What about socialization?"

Rachel Gathercole's book does an outstanding job of answering this question, with hard facts and references to the research and with the personal testimonies of many homeschooling children and parents. She points out that "socialization" means diferent things to different people. In a very eloquent manner, she looks at the question of socialization from every possible angle: friends, independence, learning to deal with bullying, freedom to be a kid, being "cool," relationships with adults, diversity, preparation for the "real world," citizenship, teenagers, the parents' social life, and socialization's influence on academic success. She argues convincingly that schools are not the natural way of socializing a child, and that in every way homeschooling benefits a child in terms of socialization (e.g. less inclined to just follow the crowd, more comfortable with a wide-range of people, etc.).

This is an excellent book for a parent that is sincerely interested in homeschooling, but concerned about socialization. In fact, that's probably the ideal audience for the book. However, it is also helpful in equipping the homeschooling parent with answers to the #1 question they'll hear or to have on hand to give to the family member or friend that is sincerely concerned but open to having their mind changed. I agree with the cover endorsement by Mike Smith, president of Home School Legal Defense Association, "Rachel Gathercole has provided the most complete answer to the socialization question that I have ever seen. HOMESCHOOLERS, YOU NEED THIS BOOK."

Customer Rating: 

This is a wonderful book that addresses the most often asked question to homeschoolers - what about socialization? Not only does the book show that public schools don't usually have good socialization, but it shows that homeschooling typically does have the potential for good socialization. Just because children are put together into a room for several hours a day, doesn't mean that they will become socialized, as most of society assumes. This is actually a horrible way to try to teach children how to live in our society.

In this book, Gathercole explains why the way public schools are set up actually make it harder to have a children have good socialization and why homeschoolers have more opportunities and exposure to good socialization. I didn't give it five stars because I thought parts of it were a little redundant and the book could have been slightly shorter. Yet, I still highly recommend this to all those interested in homeschooling and for any family members who seem to be concerned about the socialization aspect of it.

Customer Rating: 

Kudos to the author for producing an easy to read book addressing one of the biggest "objections" to homeschooling, and that is the ubiquitous question..."But what about socialization?"

The author challenges the reader to consider just what type of socialization is best for children. In this book, the author addresses a number of misconceptions about home education and socialization in general. She includes direct quotes and portions of author conducted interviews with real home school parents and students. Some of the issues covered include:

* Peer contact vs. peer dependence
* Family and Community based socialization
* Family time versus the cycle of detachment
* Bullying and safety
* Citizenship and civic involvement
* and much more.

Customer Rating: 

I have been thinking about homeschooling my son, and this book reassured my decision. This book is very informative, and entertaining with the anecdotes and real advice from homeschooling parents and their children. I highly recommend this book for anyone thinking of homeschooling, or anyone who is homeschooling. Not only does it reassure you that you are doing the right thing socially for your child, but also gives you ammunition to defend yourself when others will bring up the "socialization" question (and they will ask).

Customer Rating: 

If you've never picked up a book on homeschooling and don't know anything about it, this book will do an adequate job of explaining the "socialization" concern over homeschooled children. If you don't "get it" after reading this book, then you never will.

But for me, who is in the midst of researching homeschooling in general and whether it's right for me and our family, this book was like taking a club and bashing it repeatedly over my head just in case I didn't get the main point the first 351 times the author said it.

I did get a few good points out of the book, thus why I gave this 2 stars (2 stars to me means "It's OK"), but I'm beginning to wonder if there are any homeschooling books that don't take a Pollyanna approach to the whole thing. I want to hear it from someone who isn't afraid to "get real".

That aside, this book is a bit too long and didn't give as much helpful insight as I thought an entire book dedicated to one topic would provide. Wouldn't you just like to ask some of these families how they dealt with socialization for the reluctant child? How 'bout socialization for the family on a budget? Etcetera.....This book fails in the area of application and is just one extremely long winded account of how great homeschooled kids are socialized and here's the list of things you can do....and here the list is again.....oh, and here the list is again.......well, you get the idea.