Homeschoolers being young for their ages or oblivious to peer pressure - Page 3

[PumpkinSeeds]

OK, my son just convinced the neighbor girl (same age) to ride her bike with a cape, swim goggles and a pair of binoculars.

It's all good I guess.... I worried for nothing.

[Village Mama]

Pumpkinseeds! You make me laugh! You have no idea how much our boys are alike! (The outfit to a tee, except my son rolls up his shorts at the top because he is so slim, until they are wayyy too short!) Our boys are the same age too! lol
I worry about my boys " coolness " factor much more than they ever would... and it doest creep into my thoughts even very often. My almost 6 year old still has training wheels on his bike... ( he is so in his head much of the time and always has been so careful physically) When the neighbourhood boys were trying to tease him he just shrugged and said " yep... still got them. Just not interested in taking them off yet!"

[sebrinaw]

I haven't read all of the replys yet, but I am homeschooling my 4 children. My oldest son is 7 years old and I see a definate difference when he gets together with other schooled children his age. He will go to the park and just ask some of the kids if he can be their friend or if they will play with him, the other kids look at him weird because you don't do that in school apparently. He has no idea why the boys won't play with the girls at the park or why some kids won't play with other kids. I love this about him though!!!

Oh and he also loves pink, lol. When I asked him what color Crocs he wanted he said pink

[sagira]

My son is only 3 1/2 and I already see he looks more immature and marches to the beat of a different drummer! He dances to classical music, loves to watch people bellydance, sings loud songs and is very clear about what he wants and doesn't want -- which doesn't have anything to do with what anyone else wants usually

He's the only kid I know who, when everyone says "you put your left foot in" and all those instructional dances, never does what they say -- since he was of walking age. He is definitely not swayed by the crowd.

Ds always tries to negotiate too, and it makes it hard for him to take lessons from anybody. We're trying swimming lessons for the first time now, and it's funny watching the young lady chase him around the pool and dealing with how strong-willed he is. But I do worry about him.

[khenn]

I was homeschooled from 3rd grade through 12th and this is an issue that concerns me greatly with my kids! I'm not worried about how they are now per say with their friends but when they are young adults. I was fine and never knew how naive I was to things that other kids were so aware of until I went to work at McDonald's when I was 16 years old. That was a huge eye opener for me! I heard the word "rubber" for the first time and literally was picturing some form of rubber being on the drive through speaker until a guy told me what it actually was. I heard bad language and repeated it at home not realizing it was a bad word -- that got my mother on the band wagon to end my job there.

Let's see...I went on to college and had no issues really as it was a Christian college and my friends were in line with my upbringing basically. Then I entered the workforce at 19 after getting my associate's degree. Thank God, I made great friends there who loved me despite how clueless I was. They did laugh when I would say inappropriate things but not so much in a making fun of me way but in a -- we need to protect this poor thing kind of way. I think they secretly envied my naiveity (sp?) as it was such a rare thing for sure. I endured the endless mistakes I made but wished that I was more aware of things in the world as I would rather not open my mouth and say something so totally inappropriate in public. There were times when I was annoyed with them because I felt they had trashy minds and why couldn't they just accept that what I was saying was not a filthy statement but just me talking. There were many times when my co workers jaws would drop, they would turn bright red, and then as the shock wore off they would just start laughing endlessly at what I had said while I sat there looking dumbfounded.

I don't know if this was different for my brother or not. Maybe he learned this mature lingo earlier on somehow and was spared the mistakes I made. Maybe it's a boy / girl difference and I was just not in the right circles to pick things up.

I don't know but I do know that I don't want my kids to go through that as young adults. I don't know how to make them aware of this mature talk when they are older but I know they need to know. Maybe it's just an issue of my being aware of what is appropriate or not now and correcting them at home before they say something in public. Maybe my parents were clueless to these sayings as well and thus, weren't able to correct me at home if I happened to say the same sayings at home.

Sorry -- I know this is jumbled but just wanted to share my experiences. I haven't read all the posts yet but will do so. Again, I'm not worried about this with my kids right now but will be more so when they are teens.

Kellie

[LavenderMae]

Thank you so much for this discussion. I can relate to so much that has been 'said' here.
I am relieved that my children are maturing at their own pace and at the right time for them naturally.

We have had many issues with the neighbor children ,they bully and make fun of my children for being weird. It's a yucky situation and too much to get into on this thread. But it has given me a clear view of how my children act compared to their schooled peers (not all of course).

It can be hard, heartbreaking and frusterating to raise our children against the grain but the rewards greatly out weigh all that. And in the end I hope it gives my children the courage, peace and space to be true to themselves.

[dharmamama]

Interesting situation that reminded me of this discussion.

I am watching the girl next door, who is one day older than Ramona and who has been in preschool for three years, for a few hours this morning. When her dad brought her over, I mentioned that Efram wanted to watch Dragon Tales and Ramona wanted to watch It's a Big Big World, and was he ok with his daughter watching those.

The dad said, "Oh, she can watch whatever she wants, but she's bored with those baby shows now."

The little girl watched both shows with my kids, sang and danced, and laughed hysterically at the funny parts. She didn't look bored with those baby shows to me! Of course, the other day when I was over there talking to her mom, the little girl was watching The Goonies. (Don't get me wrong, The Goonies is one of my absolute favoritest movies, but it would scare the pants off Efram and Ramona!)

dm