Once dismissed as a fringe movement for left-wing hippies and right-wing Bible thumpers, homeschooling has gone mainstream. In fact, several recent news stories report that more than 1 million young people in America are now being homeschooled. And these reports suggest that home
schooling increasingly appeals to a broad array of families.
     Indeed, a Newsweek cover story on the topic probably should have been titled, "Homeschooling: It Isn't Just For Freaks and Geeks Anymore." And a similar Washington Post news story easily could have been headlined, "Homeschooling: Now Normal People Are Doing It, Too."
     All of this media enthusiasm for homeschooling has me and my wife wishing that Barbara Mandrell would release a new recording titled, "I Was Homeschooling When Homeschooling Wasn't Cool." That's because my wife and I are part of that cultural riff-raff who got involved in homeschooling back when it was considered gauche to do so.
     Oddly enough, part of the reason we began homeschooling seven years ago is because we don't want our children to become social retards. Now, to some people, I am sure that probably sounds as weird as the recent hit song by that homeschooled trio, Hanson.
     But my wife and I are convinced that, properly understood, homeschooling actually offers young people some significant social advantages. I say "properly understood" because most folks who have never met a homeschooling family imagine that the kids are about as socially isolated (and as socially awkward) as Bobby Boucher, the Cajun "momma's boy" Adam Sandler portrays in the hit film, "The Waterboy."
In truth, the home-schooled child is regularly involved in 5.2 social activities outside the home, on average, according to a recent study by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute. 
     These activities include

Homeschooled children tend to interact with people of different ages, like the "real world."

afternoon and weekend programs with conventionally schooled kids, such as ballet classes, Little League Teams, Scout troops, church groups and neighborhood play. And they also often include midday field trips and cooperative programs organized by groups of homeschooling families. For example, my wife and daughter are currently taking a foreign-language class from a French woman who lives nearby. And our daughter is also part of a homeschool drama troupe.
     So, what most distinguishes a homeschoolers' social lifes from that of a conventionally schooled child? Two things stand out in my mind. First, homeschooled children tend to interact more with people of different ages. This is actually more like the "real world:" What businessperson's social interaction is largely restricted to those born in the same year? And it reduces the degree to which children find themselves constantly and obsessively being compared to, and comparing themselves with, other children their age. (From an educational standpoint, this reduced consciousness about age also means that homeschooled "late bloomers" tend to avoid being stigmatized as "learning-disabled" or "slow learners" which is no doubt one of the many reasons why Ray found average test scores for homeschooled kids are 30 to 37 percentile points higher thanfor conventionally schooled students.)
     Second, homeschooled children tend to draw their primary social identity from their membership in a particular family rather than from their membership in a particular peer group. This increases the likelihood that young people will see themselves as a vital member of an intergenerational community rather than as a member of "A Tribe Apart." That's the phrase author Patricia Hersch uses to describe the conventionally schooled suburban kids she followed through adolescence recently. According to Hersch, many schoolkids today feel isolated from the grown-up world, and alienated from 

patents who fail to take an interest in their lives and to set boundaries for their behavior. Now, Hersch's intention isn't to make a case for home- schooling. (She doesn't significantly address the issue.) But the angst-ridden teens she describes in "A Tribe Apart" closely resemble the peer- obsessed students Seattle public high school teacher David Guterson talks about in his compelling book "Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense." Guterson reports that the kids in his conventional school often have difficulty navigating the turbulent social scene at school, with "its cliques, rumors and relentless gossip, its shifting alliances and expedient betrayals."
     Guterson writes, "Peer obsessiveness and the clique mentality are the natural responses of children to mass schooling, which in essence removes adults from their lives or rather puts them there at a ratio of one to 30 and in an authoritarian role not entirely conducive to the forming of meaningful relationships."
     Moreover, Guterson says that preoccupation with peer acceptance often encourages young people to become "acutely attuned to a pre-adult commercial culture that usurps their attention (MTV, Nintendo, fashion magazines, teen cinema)."
     Now, none of this means that every homeschooler is socially well-adjusted. Or that homeschooling is the only way for parents to raise children successfully. Or that good things never happen in conventional schools. Indeed, if our own experience is any indication (our two oldest children have each spent a year or two in public school), there are many outstanding teacher and principals involved in conventional schools today who really do make a significant difference in the lives of their students.
     Nevertheless, a number of re cent research studies suggest that homeschooling offers some significant educational and social benefits. No wonder so many "normal" people are starting to give homeschooling a try.

William R. Mattox Jr. of Montclair, Va., is an award-winning writer who frequently reports on new research findings.