[jotakami]

The variety of social situations in typical schools is narrow and artificial. Once you leave school, never again in your adult life will you be forced to endure such a stifling environment.

If a homeschooled child never leaves the house, then yeah I can see it being a problem. But if they are allowed to go out and experience the world with their parents then they learn social skills by interacting with people of all ages, but mostly with adults who (most importantly) are already socialized and therefore model proper behavior instead of the insanity that goes on in age-segregated classrooms.

[EdwardDiego]

But by primarily socialising with adults, they aren't as successful when it comes time for socialising with people their own age.

[lmm]

Real life socialising is done with adults who are probably not exactly the same age as you. The kind of interactions a homeschooled child will have are a much closer model of the kind of interactions everyone has post-school than what happens in school is.

[matchbok]

That's not what the previous poster said. They were talking about socializing with people your own age, which is critically important. When I was 18 if I acted like a 40 year old I would have never made friends or found a girlfriend.

[lmm]

But relative age is not what makes the difference. Interacting with 20 year olds as a 20 year old is much more like interacting with 20 year olds as a 10 year old than it is like interacting with 10 year olds as a 10 year old.

[EdwardDiego]

Depends. Will you know the slang your 20 year old peers use if your main source of socialization is 30 year olds? Did you go through all the same cultural crazes and fads?

A shared culture is important, and each generation has their own touchstones.

[Auracle]

That’s not what dating or friendships are like though, which are pretty damned important for happiness.

[watwut]

The difference is between peer relationship. Adult friend is not a peer and has different level of authority.

[astura]

How's this at all different from traditionally schooled children? Nothing you said applies to homeschooled kids at all.

You're basically just saying "if your parents socialize you then you'd be socialized." Sure, but if your parents don't socialize you then at least you'd have a slight chance to pick it up at school, if you're also kept away from school then you're just completely fucked.

I'm speaking as someone whose parents didn't socialize me.