It has been estimated that the current number of children being taught at home in the United States is in excess of a million. The increasingly popular trend has become a concern to local and national school officials, teachers, legislators, and parents. The concerns generally stemmed from the idea that home based education does not offer children the opportunity to develop socially. Social Development Research has shown us that Home Educated Children are in fact exposed to nearly the same number of social contacts as public educated children. There are two types of socialism, positive and negative.
Positive socialization is developed from a positive warm environment of love and acceptance.
Social behaviors are developed while children interact with others. As a result, there has been a shift away from parental relationships to peer relationships. Additionally, a negative factor of socialization in public education is conformity. Conforming to the values and behavior of other students is usually destructive to the relationships between child and parent. Parents should be considered the best social mentors for their children.