How to Make Friends When You’re Homeschooled
Struggling to make friends isn’t unique to being homeschooled. Everyone everywhere struggles with finding real human connection, but homeschoolers are in a unique situation that can sometimes make finding friends more challenging. If you are a parent looking to help your child learn how to make friends when you’re homeschooled, I hope you will find some encouragement and resources in what I have to share.
Every child is unique in their needs when it comes to wanting friends. If you have a child that is an introvert, they are most likely on the hunt for just one or two good friends that they can connect with in a sincere meaningful way.
On the other hand, if you are raising a social butterfly, they probably are going to be on the lookout for a community of friends that are always hanging out and finding the next adventure together.
Either way, homeschool friends are hard to find and making new friends is going to require your child to step out of their comfort zone and try new experiences. Having children on all sides of this spectrum, we have had to be more intentional at getting involved in different activities and places to allow our children the opportunity to expand their social circles and meet new people.
Find Friends by Getting Involved in Activities and Clubs
Your children probably have many different interests and there is most likely a club or sport that would allow them the opportunity to explore those interests with other children their age. Start by doing a google search in your area, or asking at your local library, YMCA or youth sports complex.
If you aren’t already involved in a homeschool group or co-op, this would be a perfect time to consider joining one, you shouldn’t homeschool alone. Most groups have clubs or extracurricular activities that could be of interest.
If your children don’t have any specific hobbies or interests, now is a good time to find one. Make a list of all the things that might interest them and start researching places that they could go to learn more with people their age.
Related Post: Starting a Homeschool Club
Have you consider joining clubs like; Girls and Boys Scouts, American Heritage Girls, Trail life, 4H, Debate team, Robotics Club
Utilize Community Resources for finding friends
There is one thing about homeschoolers- they love to take advantage of free things and are usually aware of community offerings. The chances are high that if you go looking for them for your children, you will find yourselves among other homeschool families.
Our local libraries offer all kinds of activities for kids: chess clubs, crafting clubs, dungeons and dragons meet ups, game days, etc.
Our community center has classes in painting, gymnastics, physical education, and more.
Look for volunteer opportunities at food pantries, animal shelters, park clean ups
Keep an eye on your local Facebook groups, Instagram pages and newspapers for workshops and community offerings that might land yourself with other homeschoolers looking to expand on their interest.
Connect with Other Homeschoolers
Chances are that your town or city has some kind of homeschool group and probably has some kind of community forum or Facebook group, if not- maybe consider starting one so that you can start making some connections.
Ask around about park days, play dates or other group activities that your homeschooler might be interested in.
If you have a neighborhood page, ask on there if there are other homeschoolers in the neighborhood that might want to meet up regularly.
Take the Initiative to find friends
Friendship isn’t likely to develop just overnight. It is going to take consistent effort and time together to develop into the type of relationship that your homeschooler is looking for. Encourage them to strike up conversations with kids that appear to be around their age, discuss conversation starters and maybe even practice how to make small talk.
Help your kiddo understand the importance of being themselves and showing genuine interest in others. This is such an important skill to teach. Teach them how to ask questions that show that they are interested in the other person and more importantly how to listen.
Encourage them to take the initiative to set dates for getting together and if you have a child that is a little bit socially awkward, help them to come up with some ideas where they can be successful. Going to the movies or finding an activity that they can do is easier than going out for a meal. It requires less face-to-face contact for those first few times.
Leverage Existing Connections
There is probably a good chance that you are already connected to people in some parts of your life. Whether that is church, sports, your neighborhood, etc. It is much easier to grow a relationship with people you are already familiar with than it is to start from zero.
Spend some time thinking through the people that your children already have in their lives and make a list of those that they might be interested in getting to know more. Then be intentional about spending time with them.
Time +Effort= Relationship
Find other Homeschool Resources Below
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Angela is the Homeschool Encourager for the Overwhelmed & Under-Caffeinated and the Chaos-to-Confidence Specialist behind Schooling with Grace. With a no-fluff approach, a dash of humor, and a whole lot of heart, she helps homeschool moms cut through the chaos, ditch unrealistic expectations, and teach with confidence.