Practical Concerns about Homeschooling: Socialization, Time, and College
by Ari Armstrong
Families considering homeschooling often raise practical questions about socialization, parental time commitments, and college preparation. This page addresses those concerns based on our family's experience and publicly available information.
Socialization
Homeschooling children can find many opportunities for social engagement through park days, clubs, sports, informal hang-outs, and more.
Homeschool park days have been a major part of our child's early years. At these meet-ups, children of mixed ages play in parks or other outdoor areas, often for hours at a time, play games, and make new friends.
As children get older, many join sports teams, dance troupes, art clubs, theater groups, lego teams, or other organized groups. Our child has thoroughly enjoyed going on field trips, attending monthly meetings, and earning merit badges through his geology club.
Like all kids, homeschooling children often enjoy one-on-one meetups with friends, sleepovers, bike rides, shopping trips, Minecraft events, and the usual.
Despite common stereotypes, the norm for homeschooling families is to regularly get together so children can form deep, meaningful social connections.
As with school-based students, social experiences vary by child and family.
Time Requirements for Parents
Homeschooling is time-consuming for parents, no doubt. I work part-time and so have time to help our child with schoolwork in the mornings and take him to park days and other events during the day. My wife Jennifer works remotely most days and so has some time during the day to help with some of the schoolwork, plus often she reads with our son in the evenings. She also takes him to various events during evenings and weekends.
The model I've most often seen is that one parent—who either works part-time or in the home—takes lead on homeschooling. If both parents have flexible schedules, often they can divide homeschooling time more evenly. Some single parents are able to manage homeschooling and a flexible job. Some families have access to help from a grandparent or other family member. Some families can afford extra help around the house.
Parents' time constraints are an important consideration in deciding whether homeschooling is feasible for a particular family.
What about College?
Going through high school while homeschooling under Colorado law and then getting into college is very do-able. In 2024, I contacted various colleges in Colorado and asked them about their admissions policies for homeschoolers, and the upshot is that all the colleges that commented will accept a parent-generated transcript for homeschooled students. As always, families should verify current admissions requirements with individual institutions.
Various alternatives are available. Hybrid programs such as Summit (Westminster and Littleton) and APEX (Longmont) offer part-time and full-time public high school programs. Colorado Early Colleges is a public charter school that allows students to earn college credit through community college courses. Some private "umbrella" schools provide high school transcripts.
According to the National Home Education Research Institute, colleges are increasingly familiar with homeschooled applicants. NHERI reports that homeschooled students enroll in and succeed at college at rates similar to—or in some cases higher than—the general population.
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Colorado Homeschool Law: Statutory Overview
Practical Concerns about Homeschooling: Socialization, Time, and College
Why Homeschooling Families Choose That Path
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