Homeschool Question: How Will Your Children Ever Learn About Life?

My friend Rayven and her boys

Good grief, how can they NOT learn about life!

We are living our lives in our community every day!  Errands, lessons, household chores, friends, activities, and the other million myriad things that a family is involved in on a daily basis.  

What do you think, we live in a closet?!

Is this answer too snarky?

Look, According to the National Center For Education Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov/ ,  almost 1.1 million children were homeschooling in 2005 alone.  So families of almost 1.1 MILLION children have undertaken the responsibility of educating their children.  Doesn't it stand to reason that their SOLE PURPOSE for educating their beloved offspring is so that said offspring can learn about Life?

If a child learns from a family that is dedicated to their upbringing, don't you think they are learning how to live a healthy life?

So do I.

But what do schools really do? They separate their students by age and ability, reinforce class and gender stereotypes and prejudices, and limit "social" interactions to short recess periods. Schoolchildren are forced to socialize with children only their own age and are trapped in a building six to seven hours a day, allowed to view the outside world only through dirty windows and a textbook.  Dangerous school environments, extremely restrictive buildings, and teaching to the test...NOT a recipe for good "life learning".

Doesn't this bring up the question:  How will these children ever learn about LIFE?

Cheating, competition, bullying, consumerism, favoritism, addictions, cliques, and cruel teasing are often the social values children learn at school. Homeschooled children are more likely to base their decisions on values they learned from their family, friends, and unique preferences instead of feeling compelled to go along with the crowd and accept the behavior of what other children are displaying as the "norm". Clothes, music, books, art, goals, hobbies, activities, values.  These are places where I see such a wonderfully, vast array of interesting choices in the homeschooling children that I know. In fact, I can honestly say, my children are incredibly UNIQUE with such a variety of interests...all from following their own interests and seeing where they would lead.

Because homeschoolers spend so much time out in the real world, they are able to communicate well and get along with both adults and children. Research studies have often reported notably superior communication and social skills in homeschooled children. In fact, most even get along with their siblings! And this homeschooling family often receives  positive comments about our children's strong, warm sibling relationships.

So, are we still wondering if homeschooled children will learn about life?