Most people don’t have trouble understanding that it’s possible for children to learn reading and writing at home but they often do wonder about the socialization of un-schooling children. They wonder if un-schooling childeren will be able to interact with other children, if they will have enough friends or if they might get lonely. I believe that we often see our own reflection when we look at our children and a lot of us, adults, only feel comfortable when we are surrounded by others most of the time. Although I can truly enjoy the company of a good friend I also really enjoy spending time alone. I don’t need others to make me happy because I know I can find happiness within myself. I can see this same attitude reflected in my children. We have four boys and they are really close and love to learn and play together; but they also enjoy playing alone. They are excited when we get other children over to play but they don’t depend on it because they are also comfortable by themselves. The great thing about un-schooling is that children aren’t confined to a small group of classmates for friendships but can be friends with people of all ages, including their parents. In conventional schools you see a lot of peerpressure and because of that, children find it very important to be accepted and to fit in at school. Our children don’t have this need to fit in because they have a very strong sense of who they are and what’s important to them. They don’t feel the need to be accepted by others because they have learned to accept themselves. My son Rutger who had a very difficult start in life often expressed the need to spend time alone and it seemed to me that he needed that time to restore his own inner balance. I think that it’s really important to give our children the chance to spend time by themselves if they want to. There’s so much talk about socialization nowadays that we would almost forget how important it is to spend time by ourselves so we can find out who we really are. Once you’re comfortable being you, you will be comfortable around others as well. Here, in the USA, there are lots of ways in which un-schooling children can meet other children.There are all sorts of home-schooling groups and if you can’t find the right one for you, you can always start your own. The big advantage of this approach is that you can customize the amount of social time to fit your childs needs.