In the last year I have heard some interesting questions when I share with others that we homeschool. The one that is the highest on the list is, ‘What about socialization?’ This question is most often asked when they find out I have teens in my homeschool. If you were to talk to anyone in person about my children, you’ll know that my teens don’t have any issues with socializing. They talk to people everywhere we go. Often times they choose to be amidst the adults when we are fellowshipping with other families.

‘But what about socializing with other teens?’ In this world today there aren’t too many choices on safe teen circles. We need to be careful who our teens socialize with. I had a long conversation with my husband about this and here is what I said, ‘How do we expect our teens to become responsible, mature young people if they spend so much time with irresponsible, immature teens?’ Have you ever been just around the corner of a room where teens congregated alone without adult supervision and listen to what they talk about?

It’s rare to find a group of teens that speak in a mature manner and keep on a proper topic, but add a wise adult to the room who knows how to guide conversations and you’ll find teens who open up and talk about mature topics. We do all we can to surround our teens with adults who are like minded with us and who we can trust to be a good influence on our teens.

I have come to the point where I dislike the term, ’socialize’ and have come to embrace the terms ‘fellowship’ and ‘people skills’. Learning how to handle relationships is a practice that must be taught by the parent and having trusted friends can help enhance these skills in our teens lives.

Here are some ways you can get these people skills.

1. Volunteer- Find organizations in your community that you can participate in with your teen. In our community we have an animal shelter, soup kitchen, community clean ups, local drama theater, church, etc.

2. Create a community calendar for young people and their parents to participate in. You can use a yahoo group or Meet Up to create your group and make flyers. Places like the library will allow you to leave a stack there and the chamber of commerce may be able to assist you as well.

3. Community Sports- See if your community has a sports league or activity center that your family can get involved with. Volunteer to be the leader so you can be sure the group stays on track with the guidelines you require for participation.

4. Backyard Bible Club- Create a Backyard Bible Club and invite the neighborhood children to come over. Teach them Sunday School songs, teach them a mini-lesson, have crafts, and snacks. Some call it a 5-day club as well. You can find lots of information by just doing a search in your search engine. Train your teens to be the leaders and be there to assist them as needed.

5. Spend time with them yourself- You are their primary influence. If they grow up to be just like you what kind of adult will they be? Get involved in your community as well and be their example. We volunteered to be the community coordinator for Toys for Tots. This is a three month commitment for our family from October-December 24th. We work in the community together and meet a lot of very caring people. Toys for Tots and various organizations like them are always looking for volunteers to help. Find something you can do together as family and enjoy the time you’ll have before they grow up and become parents themselves.

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