My idyllic image of childhood is the sight of a large mob of children, happily laughing and playing together. I don't know where this came from. When I was in elementary school a long, long, long...long time ago, I was a loner. I liked playing with others, but really on a one to one basis. There weren't many kids on my street, and I had many bad experiences trying to fit in with big groups that met in the schoolyard or around the corner from my home. Some of us just don't do well in crowds. Which is fine.
I always thought it was my duty to make sure I exposed my children to lots of kids. Should the question ever come up, I wanted to be able to confidently answer, "Yes, they get plenty of socialization!" The only problem was that we often met extremely unsocialized children in the playground and other places after school hours. I also noticed my children preferred better quality time than the chaos that can be found on a sledding hill on a snow day. They like interacting one on one or with a small group of friends. They do have friends who prefer large groups, but for my own, that is unnecessary. Not every child interacts in the same way. I try to respect the unique way my own kids choose to be with others.
5 comments:
Even when my kids went to school my boy prefered quiet sorrounding. I think our culture have confused socialization with massive gatherins, is no the same, isn't it?
Your strip on a serious subject left me chuckling. I think you are correct. People socialize according to their personality styles, no matter how they are schooled. Love, Mom
I have the same experience! Neither of my kids enjoy big groups. Of course neither do I, so maybe that has something to do with it...
So true... I often cannot WAIT for school to start again so we can have all our places back! It's amazing, too, who you meet up with while the kids are in school. Last year, we went sledding and my kids ended up playing with a bunch of college kids who were (I suspect) ditching class. What's nice is, the college kids were wonderful with my kids, and my kids were totally capable of conversing with them. A highlight of last winter, for sure.
My oldest is especially like this. We went to a nearby state park the day after Thanksgiving thinking we might have some of the spots to ourselves. We especially hoped to see the 12 foot alligator who lives in the canal and also some manatees. There was a pretty large and very noisy bunch of kids around, so we spotted absolutely zero wildlife. He fussed, and fussed, and fussed about that. I know as a homeschooler he is spoiled on getting to enjoy many places with no one else around. At the same time I think it's wonderful he realizes you can really experience the magic of nature if you're quiet.
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