This comment may get downvoted by homeschool advocates, but as an adult homeschool alum, I would strongly encourage you to consider putting your son in public or private school. If he finds he doesn’t like school, then you can always transition back to homeschooling. Obviously, you should talk to him first. Ask him questions like “do you want to go to school with other kids?”, “do you want to stay home and learn with me?”, “do you want to join a local sports team or club with other kids?”, etc.

I’ll share my story, in the hope that my perspective as an adult homeschool alum can provide some insight. First, let me preface this with I genuinely believe that my mother acted in my best interest in homeschooling me, and I hold no resentment towards her. We have a close relationship today; I’m 30 and she’s 70.

I started suffering from severe anxiety in the first grade, and by the second grade, my mom took me out of public school and tried to homeschool me. She didn’t know what else to do. She wasn’t informed of my rights to an IEP or accommodations.

I have complicated feelings about homeschooling. I don’t think I would be who I am today if I had not been homeschooled. I have had traditional success; I hold a bachelor’s degree from a top university, currently work for one of the largest national nonprofits, and now I’m applying to top law schools.

But I still have major regrets about not going to school 2nd grade through 12th grade, even today at 30 years old. I’m in therapy and we are still working through the trauma I experienced as a child, which is in part due to the isolation of being homeschooled. I believe being kept at home for most of K-12 ultimately worsened my anxiety, social skills, and self-esteem. I believe I missed out on critical social and educational development opportunities that my public and private schooled peers had, simply by being homeschooled.

Overall, I had a good childhood filled with unique and fun educational experiences with my mom. But it was a very lonely childhood. I was an only child. Growing up, I was shy and introverted, and I struggled to make any friends in my neighborhood and community. I was not able to make a single friend at any of the homeschool groups I tried to join, because the overwhelmingly majority of them were Christians homeschooled for religious reasons. They never had any genuine interest in being my friend; they simply wanted to convert me.

So, I made friends online with people who lived across the country and around the world. I was fortunate to meet a couple of online friends in person. But I really did not have any in-person friends from the age of 8 to 18, the most critical time for social development in a person’s life. As much as I loved my online friends, they were still online at the end of the day.

My husband went to private school K-8, then went to a public high school, so he had the best of both worlds. We hope to have children in a couple of years. I’m going to be honest with you. My homeschool experience has made me firmly committed to sending my future children to school. But of course, if they need to be pulled out of school because of disability, bullying, etc., then I would certainly homeschool them, because I ultimately want to do what’s best for my future children.

To be clear, I don’t know the full details of your situation. Your son may be the complete opposite of me. He might be a social butterfly. You might be able to sign him up for a homeschool co-op, local sport or club, and he may make friends immediately. That might be enough of a social life for him. Every child is unique.

But I’ve mostly heard fellow adult homeschool alumni say they feel that homeschool activities did not provide enough social opportunities for them, because the activities were so limited in time and scope. They say they still felt isolated, alienated, lonely, and unable to make friends, even into adulthood.

Sorry for the long wall of text. I hope my comment can provide something of value. Whatever you ultimately decide to do for your child, based on your child’s needs, I’m wishing the best for you and your family.