hardciderguy

I actually spent WAY more social time with other kids when I was homeschooled, because in public school I hid behind a book. I wasn't allowed to do that while homeschooled.

This is a key point. The quantity of time spent around other kids may be more in public school, but the quality of time is so much better. Our four boys (all secular homeschooling right now) have made more and better friends because they're participating in activities such as those provided by our local YMCA, while still maintaining friends made in school. The only difference is that they're spending time with these kids in a non-school setting, and instead of dealing with the typical school social hierarchy, they just have a lot of fun with their friends and don't have to deal with the angry kids who want to make other kids miserable because of their own problems.

You're absolutely right - and yes, they certainly do still have to deal with those things. Remember, they still interact with other humans who don't have their emotions in check any more than they do at their age. I don't advocate avoidance of difficult situations - as I mentioned there are plenty of opportunities for them to learn how to deal with conflict already between their siblings and their existing friend base. I do think that having them avoid a larger dose of bully behavior however will not put them at a loss.

Hi Jean! Nice to know you are doing well. Are you the Little Red-haired Girl? I always wondered if your husband's story lines were a type of catharsis for his personal life. Any truth to that idea?

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!

They're horrible in elementary school too. We had our oldest in a private school and it was absolutely the same (if not worse than) public school settings. They get plenty of conflict resolution dealing with their brothers and their regular friends outside of school, we don't miss out on opportunities to teach them social skills.

If you had an improvement as introverts, that's an even better indicator in my mind.