As I observed the children who came to the party, something occurred to me. I've often heard people say that homeschoolers are not exposed to anyone who is different from them in any way. That they are secluded and have only a few select friends, and are not exposed to people of other ethnic backgrounds or social classes or whatever. But as I was observing this party I was struck by the, for lack of a better word, variety of guests.
First the children, they ranged in age from considerably younger than my daughter, to quite a bit older. The youngest is, I think, in Kindergarten, and she was invited by my daughter, she didn't just tag along with an older sibling. She was asked to come, and her grandma brought her, no older siblings with her at all. The oldest is, I believe, in Junior High or possibly in the first year of High School, I'm not sure... but either way, older than my daughter by at least a few years. In between that were kids closer to my daughter's age, and they all played together nicely, included each other, and celebrated together. The one commonality between all of them was that they were all girls, except for my son, but I know that my daughter did invite a few boys too, they just couldn't make it. As for ethnicity, there were several white, one African American, and one child with a Hispanic/Native American background. There was also a fairly even mix of homeschoolers and publicly schooled children present at the party.
Now to the adults. There were adult guests, who my daughter invited, who weren't even there with children. They were invited because my daughter considers them to be her friends as much as the children who came. There was quite a bit of diversity there too, including a Messianic Jewish friend, however, the main thing that stuck out to me was that was daughter wanted to invite adults to her party.
Like most homeschoolers, she is equally comfortable interacting with another 11 year old, or 5 year old, or a 50 year old. She isn't afraid to be seen playing with a Kindergartner, not worried that it won't be considered "cool" or whatever the current term is. She is also quite capable of carrying on a conversation with a 30, 40, or 50 year old and not be shy. She will sit and exchange words and ideas with them like an equal, while still (usually) showing them the respect that a child should show to an adult.
Now I'm not saying that she is perfect socially. Like all children, she gets in arguments with her friends, and even the occasional physical scuffle. Her closest friend and her often get in arguments, and struggle to get along at times, but all children have those moments. I feel that she interacts naturally with a wider variety of people than most children I've seen though.
Just my observations!
Anyway, below are some photos of the party!
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| The bird is one of her presents, his name is fidget. |
