Sam the Volley Ball Ref or one homeschooled kid’s adventures in socialization.

One of the first objections people tend to have about homeschooling is that the kids won’t be “socialized!” I can tell you honestly now after 14 years of homeschooling that “socialization” shouldn’t be a huge consideration. My oldest child was homeschooled exclusively until 8th grade, attended a public charter school online and then went on to take his Emergency Medical Technician training and is now working with the public all of the time. Homeschooling never held him back at all when it came to being able to relate to other people outside of his family.

I’m getting a similar experience with my second son Sam. Sam has been homeschooled from kindergarten until his current 10th grade. He has played on community sports teams all of his life and last fall he even had an opportunity to start reffing soccer games for Catholic school kids. His homeschool background didn’t hold him back. He got along well with players,kids and coaches.

Unfortunately, this spring there was no opportunity for Sam to ref soccer games, but CYO was asking for volleyball refs! Sam had never played volley ball before, although he had watched it a little during the Olympics. So with a little prodding on my part Sam went for the training. He studied the rules and practiced the hand signals on his own. Luckily our neighbor is a volley ball ref and she had Sam come and help out at some of her practices and scrimmages and Sam was able to build his confidence.

This past Saturday Sam had his first chance at reffing volley ball. He had three games in a row and got good feedback from the event coordinator and the coaches. I doubt any of them knew that Sam was a homeschooler, and why should they? Sam fit in well, followed his training and did his job!

I think sometimes people who don’t know a lot of homeschoolers expect them to grow up and become like aliens from another planet or something. I hope this can reassure some new homeschooling moms that that isn’t the case at all! Older home schooled kids fit in and prosper in the community when given the opportunity.

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