[Posted on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at 10:21 a.m.]
I got into an argument with someone about the benefits of homeschooling. This someone is an elementary-school teacher with loud convictions about what's right and wrong, good and bad, and while I normally see her as a commonsensical realist, she's got her head up her own ass when it comes to homeschooling, probably because she wants to defend the dying, rotten institution she represents (she herself is one of the good eggs, obviously, fighting the good fight on behalf of her kids). Homeschoolers, when the homeschooling is done right,* are usually much higher performers than kids who have the misfortune of going through the American public-school system. The focused attention that homeschooled kids receive, the immediate, unmediated, uninterrupted feedback they receive, is far superior to what a student in public school can expect to get, even from the best teachers. My interlocutor's argument against homeschooling, though, was the old lie that "the kids won't be socialized." This nonsense has been debunked over and over again, but in the heat of our argument, I couldn't recall any studies. The purpose of this post is to put a bunch of studies in one place and maybe to add to the list later. What follows, in no particular order, is a list of bibliographical entries plus a few choice quotes from the source. I have tried to be fair, including some resources that aren't so favorable on the question of socialization, and I've noted that many of the sources included here also have links pointing to yet more sources.
1. https://responsiblehomeschooling.org/research/summaries/homeschooling-socialization/
"What the Research Says on Socialization"
There is a large body of research focused on whether or not children who are homeschooled are well-socialized. Most of this research finds that being homeschooled does not harm children’s development of social skills, as measured in these studies. In fact, some research finds that homeschooled children score more highly than children who attend school on measurements of socialization.
However, this research has major limitations, and does not reflect the experiences of many homeschool alumni. In their 2020 review of the literature on homeschooling, researchers Robert Kunzman and Milton Gaither noted that studies of homeschooling and socialization have three major limitations:
- Studies typically draw on a volunteer sample of homeschooled students, and as a result likely oversample children whose parents are more engaged;
- Studies typically rely almost entirely on home educators’ and homeschooled children’s self-reports, and not on neutral assessments of children’s social skills;
- Studies typically “treat school attendance as a binary,” and do not take into account whether children attend school part-time or are enrolled in co-ops.
The two widest-reaching studies of homeschool graduates have had very different findings. In 2004, homeschooling parent Brian Ray recruited 5,254 homeschool graduates to participate in a study which he promised would show that homeschooling was effective; perhaps unsurprisingly, his findings were largely positive. In 2014, Homeschool Alumni Reaching Out (HARO) conducted its own survey of 3,702 homeschool graduates; when we analyzed this data for HARO, we found much more mixed results. In the HARO survey, roughly 25% of respondents reported poor or very poor socialization; the quality of socialization respondents reported predicted how prepared they felt for the future. However, even this study is likely limited by whether respondents interpreted socialization to mean only social interaction, or also the development of a greater social fluency.
Only one survey of homeschool graduates has used a randomly selected sample: the Cardus Education Survey (2011). This survey, which compared and contrasted the educational experiences of adults aged 24 to 39 who grew up in religious homes, found that graduates of homeschools were more likely to report “lack of clarity of goals and sense of direction” and “feelings of helplessness in dealing with life’s problems” than conventionally schooled graduates. However, homeschool graduates were also more likely to report that they felt “prepared for relationships.”
[ ... ] Conclusion:
For all the research on homeschooling and socialization, there has been little to no research on the question that might prove most useful to parents who homeschool: What factors contribute to a homeschooled child being more or less well socialized?
Homeschooling is not a monolith. One homeschooled child may be involved in a soccer club, a homeschool music co-op, and a writing class, and have their friends over regularly besides, while another homeschooled child may have no outside activities and little interaction with friends. Whether the homeschooled children examined in a particular study are more or less well socialized than children who attend public school does not give a conscientious homeschooling parent any helpful information on what practical actions they can take to ensure that their child receives the socialization they need. It would be useful to know, for example, whether children who participate in homeschool co-ops, or public school or community sports leagues, or clubs at their local libraries, report better social outcomes.
Research on the socialization of homeschooled children cannot tell an individual home educator what is best for an individual child, or whether an individual child who is homeschooled will be well socialized. In some cases, home educators later enroll their children in school because they find that they are unable to successfully meet their child’s social needs at home; in other cases, children who were bullied or experienced negative social environments in public school flourish in a homeschool setting.
Research on socialization needs to evolve to ask different questions. Given the individual nature of homeschooling, it is not as helpful to know whether homeschooled children overall perform well on specific academic measures of socialization as it would be to know what factors contribute to positive outcomes and what factors are associated with negative experiences.
2. https://www.stetson.edu/artsci/psychology/media/medlin-socialization-2000.pdf
"Home Schooling and the Question of Socialization"
Although there are still far too many unanswered questions about home schooling and socialization, some preliminary conclusions can be stated. Home-schooled children are taking part in the daily routines of their communities. They are certainly not isolated; in fact, they associate with—and feel close to—all sorts of people. Home schooling parents can take much of the credit for this. For, with their children’s long-term social development in mind, they actively encourage their children to take advantage of social opportunities outside the family. Home-schooled children are acquiring the rules of behavior and systems of beliefs and attitudes they need. They have good self-esteem and are likely to display fewer behavior problems than do other children. They may be more socially mature and have better leadership skills than other children as well. And they appear to be functioning effectively as members of adult society.
Perhaps the most intriguing unanswered question is, “Why?” Why should home-schooled children seem, in the words of Smedley (1992), to be “better socialized” (p. 12) than children attending conventional schools? Smedley speculated that the family “more accurately mirrors the outside society” (p. 13) than does the traditional school environment, with its “unnatural” age segregation. Galloway (Galloway, 1998; Galloway & Sutton, 1997) agreed, stating that because they are not peer-grouped in school, homeschooled children learn to get along with a variety of people, making them socially mature and able to adjust to new and challenging situations. She added two further explanations: She argued that the highly individualized academic program afforded by home schooling creates an ideal learning environment, giving children an excellent chance to do well both in college and in a career. She also said that because homeschooled children learn and grow in the nurturing environment of secure family relationships, they develop a confidence and resiliency that helps them to succeed as adults.
If Galloway proves to be right about the importance of family relationships, then much of the answer to the question “Why?” may have been found. Many parents choose to home school not for academic reasons at all but to surround their children with the kind of nurturing atmosphere that will support their development as individuals (Gustafson, 1988; Howell, 1989; Mayberry & Knowles, 1989; Van Galen, 1987). They believe this can be accomplished far better by situating their children’s education within the family rather than within an impersonal institution. As one home schooling mother said about her children, “It is my responsibility to see that they grow up to be conscientious, responsible and intelligent people. This is too important a job to be given to someone I don’t even know” (Mayberry et al., 1995, p. 39). Research on the question of socialization suggests that children are thriving in the home school environment and that much can be learned from looking more closely at what home schooling families are doing.
3. To cite this article: Richard G. Medlin (2013) Homeschooling and the Question of Socialization Revisited, Peabody Journal of Education, 88:3, 284-297, DOI: 10.1080/0161956X.2013.796825 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2013.796825
"Revisiting the Common Myths about Homeschooling"
...However, in the midst of a significant growth in this form of education and evidence demonstrating that homeschooling produces excellent students and citizens, many people, including educators, are still plagued by various myths regarding homeschooling. In what follows, I revisit four common myths that still influence individuals regarding their perspective and understanding of the role homeschooling plays in the education of American children.
Myth #1: Homeschooling Produces Social Misfits
This myth stems from the thought that homeschooled students lack the social skills needed to function “normally” in today’s society. Critics charge that homeschooled children are isolated from the outside world, rendering them socially and educationally handicapped. Among these critics are professional educators. Mayberry et al. (1995) found that 92 percent of public school superintendents surveyed believed homeschooled children do not receive adequate socialization experiences. The common argument is that by sheltering children from the real world, they are seldom presented with the opportunities to learn greatly needed knowledge and social interaction skills. Unless children are exposed to the social life found in public schools on a daily basis, they will lack the skills needed to successfully adapt to real-life situations when they are older.
Reality
Probably the most widely held misconception of homeschooling is the myth of socialization. This myth was born out of a misunderstanding of what homeschooling is really like and rests on the assumption that school is the only effective means for socializing children. The mistaken belief is that homeschooled children wake up and hit the books from 9:00 till 4:00, locked away in their homes with little interaction with the outside world. They are socially awkward, lack essential social skills, and have difficulty relating to others in social situations. However, this is simply an outdated stereotype. Yes, there are some homeschooled students who are social misfits, but there are also public school students who lack adequate social skills.
[ ... ]
It seems that most homeschool parents are aware of the issue of socialization and are strongly committed to providing positive socialization opportunities for their children. Homeschooled children are involved in numerous activities outside the home with peers, children of different ages, and adults (Ray 1999). On the average, homeschooled students are involved in 5.2 activities outside the home, with 98 percent engaged in two or more (Ray 1997). This range of activities includes scouting, dance classes, group sports, 4-H, and volunteer work, demonstrating that homeschoolers are not isolated from the outside world.
More important, the assumption that traditional schooling offers socialization experiences that homeschooling cannot is flawed. Schools are not the only place that children can learn these basic life skills. There are other institutions, groups, and activities outside the home that can provide students with age-integrated opportunities to gain needed socialization skills. Nelsen argues that “home schooled children are more frequently exposed to a wider variety of people and situations than could be expected in a traditional classroom environment where their exposure is limited to twenty-five to thirty-five people of similar age and socioeconomic background” (1998, 35). This seems to be an advantage for homeschoolers. From research findings, Galloway (as cited in Medlin 2000) concludes that because homeschooled students are not peer-grouped in school, they learn to get along with a variety of people, making them socially mature and able to adjust to new situations. The key question that should be raised is what kind of socialization does the public school offer? For homeschool parents, the home and not public schools offers the kind of socialization that they desire for their children.
4. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15582159.2022.2028338
"Homeschooling, Perceived Social Isolation, and Life Trajectories: An Analysis of Formerly Homeschooled Adults"
Abstract:
A longstanding critique of homeschooling is that it isolates children from mainstream society, depriving them of social experiences needed to thrive as adults. Although a small number of empirical studies challenge this criticism, this research tends to be derived from self-reports of homeschooling parents about their children. In this study, analyses of qualitative interviews (n = 31) and survey data (n = 140) of adults who were homeschooled as children are performed. Most interview participants described conventional and unconventional social experiences that they felt had satisfied their social needs while being homeschooled. Participants who were homeschooled for all or most of their K-12 education had less exposure to mainstream school-based social opportunities but reflected that homeschooling had not hindered their ability to navigate society effectively. Analyses of survey data seemed to echo this finding. Across four social and life outcomes (i.e. college attendance, household income, marital status, and subjective wellbeing), no statistical differences were observed between short-term homeschoolers (1–2 years) who spent nearly all of their K-12 education in brick-and-mortar schools and long-term (10–12 years) and substantial (3–9 years) homeschoolers who had less exposure to mainstream social opportunities available in brick-and mortar schools. This study advances the literature by drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from formerly homeschooled adults and by differentiating homeschoolers based on how many years they were homeschooled.
5. Google AI's overview:
The biggest disadvantage of homeschooling is the potential for limited socialization and interaction with peers from diverse backgrounds. Homeschooling can also lead to increased costs for resources and materials, and a significant time commitment for parents who take on the role of educators.
Here's a more detailed look at the disadvantages:
1. Socialization
Limited interaction:
Homeschooling can reduce opportunities for children to interact with peers from diverse backgrounds, which is crucial for developing social skills and understanding different perspectives.
Potential for isolation:
Homeschooled children may feel isolated from their peers and struggle to adapt to social environments.
Development of social skills:
While homeschooling can be beneficial, it's essential to ensure homeschooled children have opportunities for social interaction outside the home, such as through co-ops, extracurricular activities, or community events.
2. Cost and Resources
Curriculum and materials:
Homeschooling can be expensive, requiring parents to purchase curriculum, textbooks, and other learning materials.
Time commitment:
Parents must dedicate significant time to lesson planning, teaching, and grading, in addition to managing the home environment.
Lack of access to facilities:
Homeschoolers may not have access to school facilities like gymnasiums, science labs, or auditoriums, which can limit their educational options.
3. Other Potential Disadvantages
Parental workload:
Homeschooling can be a significant burden on parents, who may need to juggle teaching responsibilities with other household duties.
Legal challenges:
Homeschooling regulations can vary by state, and parents may face legal challenges if they don't meet specific requirements.
Potential for biased viewpoints:
Homeschooled children may have a limited exposure to diverse perspectives, potentially leading to a narrow worldview.
4. Benefits of Homeschooling
Personalized education:
Homeschooling allows parents to tailor education to their children's individual needs and learning styles.
Flexible schedule:
Homeschooling offers flexibility in scheduling and pace, allowing parents to adapt to their children's needs and interests.
Increased family time:
Homeschooling can provide more opportunities for families to spend quality time together.
5. Addressing Concerns
Socialization:
Parents can actively seek out opportunities for their children to socialize outside the home, such as through co-ops, extracurricular activities, or community events.
Cost:
Parents can explore affordable homeschooling resources, including free or low-cost curriculum options.
Workload:
Parents can seek support from other homeschooling families, online resources, or tutors to help manage their workload.
I just wanted to put these references down somewhere, both as a starting point for further research and as a way not to forget these references.
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•"Done right" could mean anything from not teaching your kids the world is only 6000 years old to not locking them inside the house to prevent them from ever learning about the world for themselves. Kids need their Rumspringa!