From the author of "Home Education With Confidence" comes the revised edition of another outstanding book addressing arguably the #1 objection to homeschooling today; "What about socialization?"

When I first began to voice our decision to homeschool, the questions from astonished family members (once they got over their initial shock) was "He won't have any friends," or "He won't learn to get along with other kids," or some similar variation of the socialization question. My standard answer, having already raised three boys that went through the public school system, was "Yeah, I've seen that socialization, No thank you!" in a sarcastic tone of voice. I'd get a brief confused look, but the questions would cease in all but the most persistent person. This book gives me the ammunition to expound on my stock answer for those persistent detractors that still occasionally pop up with a more carefully worded question about socialization, especially since our son is effectively an only child with the others all having grown and flown the coop.

As you get further in the book, however, you realize that Rick is taking you into the deeper levels of the socialization question. Why do most people, including home educators, assume that social learning takes place anywhere but at home? Rick cites scripture and science as well as his personal experience to make his point "because of the prevalent tendency among home educators is to rebuild for home taught students the same damaging, age peer-oriented social environment they had escaped by staying out of school." I would encourage all home educators to read this, digest this, and then assess their own situations from this perspective. This is a very insightful and thought provoking book.



--Product Review by: Nancy Wagner, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine