Thread: Weekly Poll: Who do your homeschooled kids play/hang out with?

Goodness knows that homeschooling has become mainstream enough that it isn't difficult to "socialize" with other homeschoolers these days. But what if you are a secular homeschooler? Do your homeschooled children find it difficult to create a peer group? Who do they play with or hang out with most?

I chose "a mixture of public school and homeschooled children" because my other kids are public school students and obviously he socialized A LOT with his siblings and also we go to the playground after school is out so he can play with other boys his age. We also try to do weekly and monthly playdates with my secular group's kids and he attends a weekly PE class for homeschoolers where most kids aren't secular.

Well, here my son plays with a mix of children. I am the *only* secular homeschooler on base. The rest are Christian. Only one of those Christian families has been willing to become our friends (in fact, we have weekly Thursday playdates, so we're out of here after lunch to meet up with them).

The other children he plays with are fairly random - whomever is at the playground, mostly public school children.

But as far as friends, my son's friends would be the 5 children in the Christian homeschooling family we hang out with regularly, and one of the PS girls from his Tae Kwon Do class.

Wendy

Since my kids started their education in the public school system, they already had a core group of friends before we started home schooling. It takes a bit of effort to make sure they get to see them, but we make the effort to do it and it seems to work well.

My son does have some PS friends, but most are other secular homeschoolers. We're really lucky to have a large number of secular hsers in the area. This wasn't always the case, though. Before we moved back to Oregon (3 years ago) 99% of his friends were in public school. We didn't know ANY secular homeschoolers where we used to live, and most of the Christian ones we met were fundies. We tried to be friends with some, but it always devolved into me being cornered as to why I wasn't showing my son "the one true way". Cody also got cornered a few times by other kids because he didn't belong to their faith, and was told he was going to go to hell. It tended to make get togethers a little uncomfortable!

My sons' closest friends are the other members of our various secular homeschooling groups -- the playgroup they have been in since age three, the co-op they started this year, and their Destination ImagiNation team. They do have classes and activities with schooled kids -- T-ball, art class, and some other stuff -- but their best friends are from our homeschooling networks.

I guess we do more of a mix--HS kids both Christian and Secular, and a handful of younger non-school aged relatives.

There are no children in our neighborhood (lots of retired people). So I have a playgroup that I host with a friend. There is a mix of homeschoolers who come from ultra-conservative Christian to more secular.

Mine play with either the friends they've made from school, or the kids in the neighborhood. We're fortunate to have a slew of kids in our urban neighborhood, so it's usually just a matter of going outside now that the weather's getting nice. It's always fun to see people who've been hibernating for the last five months or so!

Once we begin homeschooling next fall, though, I'm going to make a concerted effort to have eldest keep in touch with his friends from school. I also hope that once we get more engaged in the homeschooling process we'll meet more friends that way, too...I suspect it'll be nice to have people to whom he won't have to explain why he's not in "school".

I put "Other" because my daughter plays with a mix of kids but we are having a difficult time finding friends for her. Her two best friends are her twin 7-year old aunts who go to public school. The spend some time over here, every Friday and some weekends. We joined a homeschool group, but we really can't make it to things that often with my lack of transportation. Also despite going to the playground we never really meet kids her age around.