{"id":953,"date":"2014-12-07T13:16:56","date_gmt":"2014-12-07T20:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/?page_id=953"},"modified":"2015-07-04T07:16:15","modified_gmt":"2015-07-04T13:16:15","slug":"but-what-about-social-life-by-daniel-hopkins-at-age-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/but-what-about-social-life-by-daniel-hopkins-at-age-17\/","title":{"rendered":"But What About Social Life?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"studying-703002_1280\"Contributed by Daniel Hopkins (age 17)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBut, what about social life?\u201d This question is one of the most often asked questions regarding homeschooling. It\u2019s the reason many homeschooled teens go back to public school.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I first started homeschool, I was anxious to make friends and be accepted. My Mom helped out a lot with this problem. She helped me organize activities with other homeschooled teens so I could make friends. We also had a regular \u201cpark day\u201d\u2014we all went to the park and played volleyball while the moms talked and the little kids played on the playground. These activities helped me feel comfortable and helped me make some friends. After that, we just did a lot of stuff together on our own. When new homeschoolers came to the activities, we\u2019d include them in our \u201cgroup\u201d and try to make them feel welcome, too.<\/p>\n

Another thing I did to try to make friends, was go part-time to high school. I took a few easy classes\u2014my main reason for going was to get a social life. I soon found out, however, that the kids I was hanging out with at school were not the right type of friends. Also, I learned that if you want to make friends at school, go to the activities, not the classes. School for me wasn\u2019t the answer to making friends.<\/p>\n

There are so many homeschooled teens who feel inadequate, like they don\u2019t fit in, because they don\u2019t have a group of friends they can relate to.<\/strong> Often, when I work in our business, people will ask me, \u201cHow do you get friends?\u201d \u201cWhat do you do for your social life?\u201d Here are some of the things I\u2019ve learned from my own experience: First of all, plan activities. Nothing happens when nothing is planned. Take the lead. Parents can help in this too. Think up fun activities, call your friends (or just all the homeschoolers you can find) and make it happen. Don\u2019t be afraid to make calls or invite people you don\u2019t know\u2014how else will you get to know them?<\/p>\n

In our area, we\u2019ve organized a homeschool teen committee\u20143 or 4 others and I have regular meetings and plan out fun activities for the homeschooled teens. We try to invite everyone\u2014it\u2019s great to meet new people! Some examples of activities we\u2019ve planned are dances, skating, sledding, riding horses, canoeing, swimming, sports and service projects. Usually we have a service project before the fun part of our get-together.<\/p>\n

When you plan activities, keep in mind their purpose: to get homeschooled teens together and make them feel accepted, that it\u2019s cool to homeschool, and to have fun! Also, don\u2019t fall into the trap of having a clique or not welcoming newcomers. Don\u2019t be afraid to expand the group.<\/p>\n

I hope that some of these ideas will help you make friends and feel content with your social life. It has certainly helped me feel confident and accepted to have friends who think the way I do. It\u2019s a lot more fun to homeschool when you have friends to go out with on Friday nights!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May I recommend:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"lonely
\nLonely, Lonely Child
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"holdinghands\"
\nMaking Friends
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"12319\"
\nExtraordinary Manners
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contributed by Daniel Hopkins (age 17) \u201cBut, what about social life?\u201d This question is one of the most often asked questions regarding homeschooling. It\u2019s the reason many homeschooled teens go back to public school. When I first started homeschool, I was anxious to make friends and be accepted. My Mom helped out a lot with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[131],"class_list":["post-953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-homeschool","category-homeschooling-social","tag-friends","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/studying-703002_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C856&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-fn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1105,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/homeschooled-teen\/","url_meta":{"origin":953,"position":0},"title":"The Homeschooled Teen: Surviving or Thriving?","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"by Daniel Hopkins, teen Being a homeschooled teenager isn\u2019t always easy. There are many problems that can arise. Some of these may be familiar to you: \u201cAll I do is just sit at home all day\u2014I never get out of the house,\u201d \u201cAll my friends are at school,\u201d and \u201cThis\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerns"","block_context":{"text":"Concerns","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/homeschooling-concerns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hikingDadAmmon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/hikingDadAmmon-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1299,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/junior-high-high-school\/","url_meta":{"origin":953,"position":1},"title":"Junior High Years . . . and on into High School","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Junior high years, the grades 7th and 8th, are usually a \"make it or break it\" for your homeschool. This seems to be the time when most children exit homeschool for that big public school. And it may be\u00a0the worst time they could possibly attend school! Children are easily influenced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to Homeschool"","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"prom2009-10","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/prom2009-10-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":536,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/social-life-the-real-need\/","url_meta":{"origin":953,"position":2},"title":"Social Life: The Real Need","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"When I first began homeschooling, all I could think of was academics. 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As the years have filed by and I have gained confidence in my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to Homeschool"","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/campfire1.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/campfire1.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/campfire1.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1040,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/facing-the-first-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":953,"position":3},"title":"Facing the First Day","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s fall time\u2014back-to-school season\u2014and many mothers are facing the first day of homeschool for the very first time. 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