How much "socializing" does everyone do? I'm just curious. We joined a homeschool group, but have not really been too involved with them yet. My dd goes to dancing about 3 times a week and that's the only extra curricular activity that she's in right now (spring is slow for activities). I guess I'm wondering if that's enough.
I have 4 kids. Ds 14 Ds 12 dd 9 and dd 6. So they socialize everyday. lol Winter is very slow for us. In the spring and fall we are involved in a Softball league that has a lot of homeschoolers. We practiclly live at the ball park. We also are invloved at our church. Thats been a little slow latley though. We were involved in a homeschool group, but this past year I did not join, because I could not give them the commitment they wanted from me.
Do you go out to eat ever? McDonalds if she plays in the tubes she talks with other kids and connects with them. Does she ever go to Walmart or a store and buy a pack of gum then she is talking and interacting with the cashier? I wouldn't worry about it alot. Church counts too--The library---The zoo----outings you go on as a family---etc. I would do what worked for my family and not worry. Most kids get way too much social time and that is where problems come into play----cell phones, emails, chats, gossip, peer pressure, boyfriends, etc. Lorna
We have four in our family, Two are in Basketball Two are in Ballet (my son will lift girls for the performance) My oldest is in a High School co-op Church Then of course if we run errands and maybe join a field trip which we have not done yet... HTH Lisa
Yes the library is good. I have 2 that are wall flowers and 2 who are social butterfyies. My 6 year old will play on the pc at the library with someone else there and leave with a new friend every time.
We're part of a homeschooling group that meets once a week for art, PE, and music classes. We try to have another friend over at least once a week (sometimes every other week) for playdates, or HS craft time, etc. We used to be really actively involved in our church, but it closed last August, and we have not found a new one yet. I'm hoping that we'll find one soon that we can plug into again. I miss that. Zach's starting to go to a guitar class on Saturdays, and will play flag football and possibly softball this spring. Eli starts soccer in about a month, and might play softball, too. Then of course we have time with our extended families, the library, park, etc. So my kids get quite a lot of social time.
We are part of a loose co-op that does service projects and get togethers every other month (one month is a service project, one month is a gettogether/field trip). I attend a women's bible study and my kids are in a class when I'm in mine. My eldest is in gymnastics (soon to be 2ce a week). My middle and my almost 3 year old are in a sports/music class each week. They are with each other all day long. We do a home-fellowship church which right now is basically just us! LOL...so church is not a biggie for them. We are hoping to get into a co-op next year where art, music and gym are covered as well as some electives. That would meet every other week.
Oh crap! We're supposed to have our children socialized?????? I'm joking. I have two girls and they socialize with our family everyday and most days with the nieghbor kids and adults too. Also church folks. Samantha takes ballet on Tuesdays with about 15 other people ranging in age from about 10 - 40. On Thursdays she also takes a Spanish class with 6 other kids from age 9 - 14 and an improvisational acting class with kids from aout 11 - 18. Then you have your normal stuff like going out and about shopping and eating out or visiting friends or giong to the library which we do about twice a week. She is also in a tween group at the library that meets once a month. Oh and I almost forgot sleepovers! She either has one or goes to one about once a week. I think it is safe to say my child is doing pretty well in the socialization department.
I agree with this 100%! With that being said... DS swims on the team at the Y, DS and DD go to church 3/week.
Winter is so slow for us. Right now, church is it. lol. However, normally son is in a sport and my dd does Karate. I think my toddler will start ballet. We do got out alot. We are not a part of any homeschool group but we have met other homeschoolers.
Hi My kids interact with people a few times a week. At church weekly (Sunday school) they get to talk to people of all ages. Usually once or twice a week we see my parents and/or my sister and her kids. My 7 y.o. son is now in musical practice almost nightly. He is now interacting with many college age students (including one of his aunts) and some other 7-12 year olds. At least once a month during the fall/winter my kids play with the neighborhood kids. They played outside in the snow with the kids the other day for an hour. During the summer my kids play with the neighborhood kids at least a couple of times a week. I must admit I haven't set up a playdate for my son or daughter in a long time. They probably do need to spend more time playing with some kids their ages. Of course, my 7 y.o. and my 4 y.o. play together everyday. My kids are the type that do not initiate conversations with other people/kids when we are on parks, playgrounds, indoor play areas or other such places. That is an area we need to work on.
My son is an only right now and is 3 years old. We are part of a moms group, so there are times we go to group events with them and then he has friends from there that we get together with one on one from time to time. We also go to the library at least once a week, and he has cousins that he plays with whenever we are home. We don't currently have a church home, but when we get settled and are actually in one place, I want to find a church with a good kids' program and maybe a homeschool group as he gets older.
My kids are 3 and 6 and we don't do a ton of outside socializing. One of the things we talked to the older one about when we were trying to decide whether to homeschool was the fact that at school he would have other kids his age to play with. His response was that he didn't need other kids, he had his little brother. I love the fact that they are best friends. Of course that doesn't mean they don't act like the want to kill each other half the time We do have church weekly, but there are not any kids near my older ones age. Our best friends have a 4 year old boy and the hree boys have a wonderful time when we get together, usually every week or two as well as at church.
Not enough for dd LOL. She really needs something every day and we just can't afford that. We have swimming on Tues., gymnastics on Weds, when the weather is nicer we have park day on Thurs. Plus we have church on Weds nights- all in our own groups. Only thing is, she's the only kid in her group so not much socializing for her there with kids her age, just with her teacher. She's also an only child- till July anyway. But really it's not enough for her.
While we're talking about the dreaded "S" word, I thought I'd mention this. My SIL and nephew just moved here this weekend, after she legally separated from her husband. They're renting our old house until we're able to sell it, so that's a good thing. Anyway, her 7 y.o. is homeschooled and has never really been around other children. He's an only child, and they moved every year or two because of her H's work. Plus, the husband was really controlling and weird about her having friends, and they aren't religious at all. So the little boy literally had only been around other children at Toys R Us or at the park, etc. I was worried about how he'd interact with my boys, as they've always been around lots of kids, from birth. I kinda prepped the kids, telling them ahead of time that their cousin might have a hard time sharing, or might be shy for a while, etc. Well, none of that materialized. They've played together well from the moment they met, and I have to say, seeing that has done a lot to make me realize how bogus the whole "Kids need school to socialize" argument really is! (Edited to add that I know some kids do need more daily interaction...I'm not saying that some don't. I am just saying that it disproves the notion that kids CAN'T learn proper social skills without being in big groups of children every day)
We have church 3x a week, there's no youth group or anything like that they all just play together after church. Field trips with our HS group once a month and parties several times throughout the year. Our local skating rink has a HS skate day once a month, we usually go to that. I also try to get them together with friends at least every other week, whether it's having friends over or meeting at McD's or the park. I really don't worry about the S word. We just do what ever comes up that we feel like doing. Maybe if there was just one it would matter more, but they are learning to interact with people by living with each other. It is sooo good to see them working together and being friends with each other. Lisa
