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Scandalized at the very idea of homeschooling an only child, many concerned friends and family members rushed to remind me how big of a change this would be for my daughter. I tried to appease them with the reminder of how naturally social she already was, and how this would provide her with more chances, not fewer, to socialize in the real world.

"But she's an only child, she won't even have siblings to play with!"

"

I heard this exclamation too many times to count. I was, at first, thrown off by this type of argument. It was our first year of homeschooling and we'd just made the decision to take our daughter out of a wonderful private school, that nonetheless, couldn't keep my 8-year-old's attention. Every day, when I picked her up from school and asked her how her day was, I was met with the same exact response I'd been receiving since 1st grade: "Mommy, I hate school."

What?! She was enrolled in the best of the best. The teacher only had 18 students and my daughter still felt ignored. Asking myself what socialization really was, I concluded that I could offer her more chances to live amongst real people and learn how to "socialize" myself. Thus, began the barrage of questions and concerns by our loved ones.

After the initial shock of the lack of support I was getting, I started to explain that my daughter had zero problems making friends and had been accused by her peers of being "too friendly." What a perfect candidate for homeschool. The ones who struggle are not the ones who have great social skills already, but those who lag in social development (even then - I utterly agree that homeschool is still the answer). My point of view was very difficult if not impossible to get across.

"Sports! She's in sports," I argued. She was part of a peer group, which actually appeased a few. I grasped at any counter-argument I could find. She was going to be involved with a local theater group as well. At this, a few more concluded that it was probably okay then.

Still, no matter how many outside activities I put her in, or planned to, at the heart of the entire argument - even I had it all wrong. I knew it was going to be okay, I just couldn't put my finger on why, just yet.

A few months into her new 3rd grade education at home, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of compliments I began to receive about my daughters maturity and social skills. What?! Social skills? Wait!

It wasn't the sports, nor the theater group, it had absolutely

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