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This article, Socialization: Tackling Homeschooling’s “S” Word on the PBS web site, claims,

The mainstream perception of homeschool students is that they are an antisocial bunch, toiling away lonely hours at a kitchen table with only their parents for friends. But homeschoolers themselves will tell you that socialization—the “S-word,” as some call it—is really a nonissue.

National Home Education Research Institute president Brian Ray agrees. He says socialization is not a problem for the vast majority of homeschool students, many of whom are involved in community sports, volunteer activities, book groups or homeschool co-ops. “Research shows that in terms of self-concept, self-esteem and the ability to get along in groups, homeschoolers do just as well as their public school peers,” says Ray.

As the title asks, are home schooled kids more likely to be less socially adept than non-home schooled kids?

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  • @Oddthinking Why didn't you think that this is one of those question which should have been accepted without its providing any specific notable claim? – ChrisW Apr 06 '15 at 17:49
  • @ChrisW: I'll confess I was editing on my phone on the way to my desktop. I closed it and planned (and did) come back to it a few minutes later. – Oddthinking Apr 06 '15 at 17:51
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    @ChrisW: At first glance, the reference you've added might be enough to *answer* the question to the satisfaction of the OP - effectively raising the bar much higher for the answerers. "Fortunately", the article only quotes anecdotal evidence and the Discovery Institute, who I wouldn't trust to research their way out of a wet paper bag, so now I would love to see that bar jumped. – Oddthinking Apr 06 '15 at 17:59
  • @Oddthinking Would it be better to rollback to the original version of the question, leave it more open? What I added doesn't serve very much purpose, IMO, except to prove notability and perhaps to help define "socially adept". – ChrisW Apr 06 '15 at 18:05
  • @ChrisW: I personally prefer this version - but I won't object to a rollback PLUS a comment from someone confirming they have heard the same claim. – Oddthinking Apr 06 '15 at 18:32
  • I'll keep it as is; in either case I do think it's a good question (and a notable claim: that schooling helps socialization and so does home-schooling lack it). A slight ambiguity is that the state of the art in homeschooling might have changed, e.g. perhaps there are more home-schoolers now, and typically more peer socialization (e.g. trips to other people's homes, and group/educational outings with other home-schooled children), than a few decades ago. – ChrisW Apr 06 '15 at 18:57
  • I know locally we have many Co-ops were groups of "homeschooled" kids come together and essentially have school, but in a controlled environment. i have numerous friends that went to school in these co-ops their social skills were all normal, the only difference i saw between them and other public school friends of mine, was that they had less exposure to more mainstream topics stuff like celeb gossip, music. – Himarm Apr 06 '15 at 20:28
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    What is socialization? Is it covered during teacher training? Does it figure in any end-of-school exams? Most often it seems to me that the definition is "I don't know really, but it only properly happens at school". – Benjol Apr 07 '15 at 13:10
  • @Benjol i always think of it as social etiquette. You don't say whatever comes to mind, you follow a conversation, your respectful of others. – Himarm Apr 07 '15 at 13:15
  • @Himarm, my question stands, if school aren't actively *teaching* it (not part of the curriculum, not tested), then it seems it's something which 'just happens' when people spend time together. In which case why would anyone imagine that it could only 'just happen' in a school? – Benjol Apr 07 '15 at 13:21
  • the difference i would see, is being homeschooled by your parents is a 1 on 1 interaction where you can both speak freely. In school you get punished for talking out of turn, talking off topic, talking while others are talking, yadda yadda. the few weird homeschoolers i knew who would occasionally show up to things at the church i attended would just talk through everything, ignore others, argue, interrupt other conversations asking off topic questions. Say socially unacceptable things to people, that while true, shouldn't be spoken aloud. this is what I feel like they mean by socialization. – Himarm Apr 07 '15 at 13:29
  • A person who has not been socialized, or is responsible for not socializing the kids, self-reporting that their level of socialization is quite high would seem to be an inherently unreliable metric. – PoloHoleSet Aug 20 '18 at 15:55

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Searching around a bit, I found this which looks something like a meta-something of the question, though slightly dated.

I don't have access to it other than where I saw it quoted.

Susan McDowell, author of "But What About Socialization? Answering the Perpetual Home Schooling Question: A Review of the Literature,” has researched 24 studies on the socialization of homeschoolers, according to Bristol Herald Courier.

"It’s a non-issue today," said McDowell, who earned Ph.D. in educational leadership from Vanderbilt University. "All the research shows children are doing well."

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