Q: Does home schooling negatively impact the socialization process? Read the answer to this question provided by 
Psychologist and best-selling author, Dr. James Dobson

Online Resources
Listed below are just some of the resources I have found to be helpful as a homeschool mom.

Associations & Helpful Homeschool Sites

http://www.americanhomeschoolassociation.org

http://www.hslda.org/ (Homeschool Legal Defense Fund)

http://www.aahnet.org  (African American Homeschoolers Network)

http://www.elijahco.com/help/index2.htm

http://disc.server.com/Indices/200612.html  Michigan Message Board  (Support groups, etc)

http://www.youcanhomeschool.org/starthere/default.asp?bhcp=1  (You Can HOmeschool, by HSLDA)

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Typical Course of Study/Scope and Sequence

Abeka Books Educational Resources

http://www.abeka.com/Resources/Default.html (Phonics guide, scope & sequence and parents homeschooling guide to curriculum and scheduling)

Worldbook Parent Resource Center

http://worldbook.com/wc/browse?id=pa (Typical course of study for all grade levels plus other helpful ideas)

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Online Worksheets/Printouts/Lessons

http://www.donnayoung.org 
(there's enough worksheets here to get you through the basics of K-3 if you read a ton of good books) 

http://www.titus2.com  (chore charts) 

http://www.geobee.com  (Five geography bee questions a day) 

http://edhelper.com

http://www.freeworksheets.com/ (lots of free worksheets by category)

http://www.theteachersguide.com/printouts.htm

http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/index.shtml  (Ask ERIC lesson plans)

http://lessonplansearch.com

http://www.funlessonplans.com  (Preschool lesson plans)

http://www.school.discovery.com/lessonplans  (Discovery channel lesson plans—Science & history)

http://www.coreknowledge.org/CKproto2/resrcs

http://www.abcteach.com

http://www.unitstudy.com  (Unit Studies available for purchase)

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Coloring Pages & Tracer Pages

http://www.outer-limit.net/coloring   (scroll down for Bible coloring pages)

Printable Calendars

http://www.calendarhome.com/tyc/

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Foreign Language

http://www.studyspanish.com  (Free online tutorial)

http://www.literacycenter.net  (Free online tutorial—English, Spanish, German, French)

http://www.jvlnet.com/~liliana/flashcards/abcdays.html (Learn days of the week in Spanish)

http://www.learnspanishtoday.com/free_vocabulary.htm  (**GREAT SITE** Learn conversational Spanish!)   

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Record Keeping Forms

http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/recordkeeping/qt/reckeep.htm

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Other Interesting Sites

http://www.fieldtrip.com/

http://www.homeschoolingonashoestring.com/hslinks.html  (homeschool on a budget)

http://www.christiananswers.net

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Books you can purchase at your local teacher's store or grocery store

School Zone publishing company—Get Ready Books  http://schoolzone.com

Preschool workbooks and beyond (available everywhere—even grocery stores)

Bright and colorful.  About $2.49 each

Brighter Vision Publications— http://brightervision.com

Math-A-Magic makes math fun!

$2.25

HomeWorkbooks—Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company, Inc.

$2.99.  Entire language arts in one workbook.  Cut and paste too.

“Preschool and Kindergarten Skills” (additional levels as well)

Comes with 140 stickers—nice touch!

Available at KnowPlace

Sing, Spell, Read and Write—A Total Language Arts Curriculum

Pearson Education, Inc.  http://Pearsonlearning.com

Sing, Spell, Read and Write Student pack $25.50

Phonics Workbook (color)  $6.50                                 

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Recommended Online Reading

http://www.fiveinarow.com  (easy simple curriculum for K-3, just add math and phonics)

http://www.thewelltrainedmind.com (looking to crank out a genius? Start here!)

http://www.triviumpursuit.com  (relaxed classical Christian homeschooling. Check out "10 things to Do Before Age 10-one of the most freeing articles I ever read.)

http://ww.vegesource.com  (click on homeschooling and go to the swap boards for great deals on used curriculum)   

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Best Practices for Teaching Young Children

http://www.osr.state.ga.us/bestprac/tools/tool_toc.htm

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HOME SCHOOLING CAN CREATE RIGHT KIND OF SOCIALIZATION

QUESTION: Don't you think home schooling might negatively impact the socialization process? I don't want my children growing up to be misfits.

DR. DOBSON: This is the question home-schooling parents hear most often from curious (or critical) friends, relatives and neighbors. "Socialization" is a vague, dark cloud hanging over their heads. What if teaching at home somehow isolates the kids and turns them into oddballs? For you and all those parents who see this issue as the great danger of home education, I would respectfully disagree for these reasons.

To remove a child from the classroom is not necessarily to confine him or her to the house! And once beyond the school-yard gate, the options are practically unlimited. Home-school "support groups" are surfacing in community after community across the country. Some are highly organized and offer field trips, teaching co-ops, tutoring services, social activities and various other resources. There are home-schooling athletic leagues, orchestras and other activities.

Even if you're operating completely on your own, there are outings to museums, parks, visits to farms, factories, hospitals, seats of local government, days with Dad at "the office," trips to Grandma's house, extracurricular activities such as sports and music, church youth groups, service organizations and special-interest clubs. There are friends to be invited over, relatives to visit and parties to attend. The list is limitless.

Even a trip with Mom to the market can provide youngsters with invaluable exposure to the lives and daily tasks of adults in the real world. While they're there, a multitude of lessons can be learned about math (pricing, fractions, pints vs. gallons, etc.), addition, subtraction, reading labels and other subjects. And without the strictures of schedule and formal curricula, it can all be considered part of the educational process. That's what I'd call "socialization" at its best!

To accuse home schoolers of creating strange little people in solitary confinement is nonsense. The great advantage of home schooling, in fact, is the protection it provides to vulnerable children from the wrong kind of socialization. When children interact in large groups, the strongest and most aggressive kids quickly intimidate the weak and vulnerable.

I am absolutely convinced that bad things happen to immature and "different" boys and girls when they are thrown into the highly competitive world of other children. When this occurs in nursery school or in kindergarten, they learn to fear their peers. There stands this knobby-legged little girl who doesn't have a clue about life or how to cope with things that scare her. It's sink or swim, kid. Go for it!

It is easy to see why such children tend to become more peer-dependent because of the jostling they get at too early an age. Research shows that if these tender little boys and girls can be kept at home for a few more years and shielded from the impact of social pressure, they tend to be more confident, more independent, and often emerge as leaders three or four years later. If acquainting them with ridicule, rejection, physical threats and the rigors of the pecking order is necessary to "socialize" our children, I'd recommend that we keep them unsocialized for a little longer.

COPYRIGHT 2004 JAMES DOBSON INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.