One of the biggest myths about homeschooled children is that they will lack social skills. This has been proven wrong. Homeschool children don’t spend their whole day with kids their own age. They interact with lots of ages. They learn how to carry conversations with adults. Because of this they actually score higher on social skills then most kids in regular public settings. I know there are those exceptions, where a child may have been so isolated from society, they seem awkward, but those are rare.
Okay, so let’s talk about me. I’m a true introvert. I feel socially awkward all the time, although I have made some progress. My husband, Jer, is the social one. I’ve attended church my entire life, sometimes multiple times on Sundays. It happens when your dad is a pastor. A lot of churches have this time where you turn and greet the people around you right before you sit down to hear the sermon. I personally hate this time. I’m not so good at small talk, not that I couldn’t talk your ear off but just not in this kind of setting. One spring season, while Jer worked several jobs, it was my duty to take the boys to their baseball games. At this time, three of our four boys were playing. I endure seven years of t-ball. Ugh! Springs were I live are not exactly warm. I sat freezing with multiple layers on me as the coaches would let all the players bat through each inning.First, I would drop the oldest, then the second oldest, finally, I would stay with the youngest ball player. Afterward I would run to pick them up in reverse order. I could go a whole season without speaking a word to anyone. All the mom’s lined up in their lawn chairs and would chat while I listened. One night two women next to me began talking about homeschooled children and how sad it was they weren't being socialized properly. By the way, my son was everyone’s favorite on this team. I finally couldn’t take the injustice of what they were saying and politely interrupted. I swiftly and expertly gave them the results of studies done and how they were gravely wrong. When I finished, they just said, “Oh.” We all turned back to the game and never spoke again. If anyone has deficiencies in social skill it's me, not my kids.
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