Socialization is the most persistent myth. What we mean by socialization is NOT, "the ability to live successfully in the adult world," for then it would be obvious that being an adult is best learned from adults, not other children. We mean, "The ability to get along with other children the same age," a situation which only occurs in schools.

Think about it for a minute. Under this theory children learn from each other how to behave constructively. If that were true, then we should be able to put a group of 20 or so 8-year-olds (substitute any age from 3 to 19) in a room, and, over time, their behavior would improve. But nobody expects that to happen. We expect an adult to supervise those kids, modeling and enforcing adult norms. The adult actually does the socializing. So, is it better to have one adult to twenty children for socializtion, or one adult to one childd or one to three children? No, your children covet your time and attention, and will develop best under those circumstances.