When I say I Home School, The first thing anyone ever brings up is friends. Yes it does have home in the title but we are rarely at home, and actually rarely without friends.
During the course of an average week we go to a local meet, trampoline, skateboarding and then there is the day I turn him over to the Wood School in Didsbury. Each of these classes are organized by, and for home edders finding resources within the community at large. No he doesn't see the same kids day in day out but he does see the same kids nearly weekly in a mostly predicable pattern.
I actually think this is better, he gets to socialize differently in each environment. I also find it a bit funny that somehow school is seen as normal socializing, when it will be the only time in your life when you are in one room with 30 people of the same age, All working on the same project all day. Its hardly real life. One of the things I think Rueben would really struggle with in school is the socialization, all though they are in mostly larger groups they are not meant to interact for most of the day. They are actually meant to ignore each other except for lunch time.
One of the things about home educated kids, is they see you not as someone's parent but another human they meet regularly, so Rueben is friends with some of my friends, some of the other parents too . My son is very social and makes friends everywhere we go, he will sit and talk to near anyone who will talk back. He can hang out with adults and find common ground with babies.
This multi age thing is true of all the kids I have met in the Home educating community, perhaps it is partly bore from necessity but it is also part of a wildly held ethos that children are in fact just small people, who have interesting and valid contributions to make to the world at large.
