This summer I learned what my kids don’t need from a school: socialization. What I don’t provide my children at home (but schools can): marimbas, of every size, shape, or number. I don’tlead a children’s choir (nor could I). I don’t have a drama club (though I probably could). And I don’t oversee two hundred children at a time (& I definitely wouldn’t want to). So we registered our oldest daughter in a summer music school for a few weeks in July, instead. So what did I learn about why kids don’t need school socialization? Download your Homeschool Mama Reading List She lovedit. She loved the class offerings: marimba, choir, backstage prep, and piano lessons. Her gregarious nature loved to meet new people, watch kids her age mix with different ages, see how they think, and learn what they value. She loves dancing and performing and singing at the final pep-rally-like party. She had a grand time. And I loved it too. These music school people knew what they were doing. Since I’m unwilling to purchase, or even rent, a xylophone for my home, or teach my children to stay on pitch (I don’t even really know what that means), off to summer music school she goes. It was an experience like nothing I would provide at home. But what I didn’t sign up for, though I should have known that I would have signed up for, was the incredible drain it would be on my daughter. * It wasn’t just because she had to be up early, by 7 am at the latest. * It wasn’t just because she needed to have her chores completed before she left, or pack lunch (she kinda liked having cheese strings and pre-packaged food, though). * It wasn’t because she needed to do her paper route after her full day of school. I saw that she was drained because she was surrounded by people. * people thatdemanded her attention,* people thatindirectly, or directly, suggested how she must be, act, dress, or talk. She didn’t have time to process all the information rushing at her. She didn’t have someone to process that with. She didn’t have a quiet moment to just think, to be lost in her thoughts (like she could be at home). You might say these experiences are normal. Download your Deschool your Homeschool Checklist The school experience is normal. In our culture, it is the norm.