I have been a home-schooling mom for the past eight years. Currently, I home school my 9-year-old daughter, Brooke. I had home-schooled my 12-year-old son, Reece, until he entered public school in fifth grade in 2007.

One of my main motivations for home schooling was that I wanted to be the biggest influence on my children — especially during their early and formative years — and I felt that would be difficult if the majority of their day was spent away from me.

I have found that home schooling elicits a lot of questions. Many people ask how it affects my children’s socialization skills.

It’s true that home-schoolers don’t receive the same socialization as children in school, but I question whether that’s such a bad thing. Many parents chose to home-school to avoid negative influences their children might encounter at school from classmates. Home schooling also provides individualized learning and fosters mentoring from older to younger siblings.

Nevertheless, providing ample socialization is a priority for most home-schooling parents. But through technology and home-schooling organizations, there are many opportunities for home-schoolers to network with each other. National and local home-school groups offer co-ops with other families and even group field trips. Home-schoolers usually have a bit more time on their hands and tend to be active in scouting, church, sports clubs and civic theater.

Julie Martin, a local home-school mom shared some of her 17-year-old home-schooled daughter accomplishments. Molly is president of the home-school 4-H club for McLennan County, she attends Leaders 4 Life meetings and competes in 4-H competitions. She also is working on a 4-H project through Texas A&M that will enable her to become a certified veterinarian technician, which requires 500 to 800 hours of community service at a veterinarian’s office. That led to her getting a part-time job working for a veterinarian. “And, of course, she does her school work,” Julie told me.

My son participates in a Junior Toastmasters group, which has several home-schooled children and fosters leadership and public speaking skills. While he was home schooling, he also was involved in a local drama club comprising home-schoolers. It performs Shakespeare plays.

Home-schooled children may struggle a bit with socialization upon entering public school. This is particularly true if they have never been exposed to the competitive atmosphere that exists when large groups of children of the same age get together. But those who have been home-schooled have benefited from a different set of socialization skills that encourages individual mentoring and fosters less division among children.

Robin Ameny is a home-schooling mom who lives in Hewitt with her son Reece, daughter Brooke and husband Aaron.