Here are some kid-tested ideas for finding them, but when looking for new friends, always keep your parents involved.
Contributed by Caroline, Gr. 2
I am 7-years-old and homeschooled. Some people think that homeschoolers don’t have many friends, but that is not true. We're not in school every day with the same kids, though, so we need to find friends in other places. The way I find friends will work for anyone, even if you are in school. I have lots of friends and I like them a lot. Friends mean fun.
Look in the neighborhood. I play with my neighborhood friends Bobby and Katelyn the most. Neighborhood friends are great because you can see them every day. One way to find a friend in your neighborhood is to take walks or bike rides and introduce yourself to the kids you see.
Join a club. I also have friends I see every week at clubs. Clubs are a good way to make friends. I belong to a 4-H club that is for homeschoolers and meets during the day. My friends at 4-H are Katie, Victoria, Chelsea, Hayley, Kathryn, Amy, and Jamie. I see them at least once a week on Wednesday. We also get together for ice-skating, and I see some of these same friends at AWANA every week. AWANA is another club like 4-H where we get together once a week to play games and learn Bible verses.
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Share your interests. You can use the things that interest you to make friends, too. I am in ballet class once a week and have friends there. My brothers like to play Star Wars Cards and have met people who also like to play. What do you like to do? You can use that interest to find people who like the same things.
Don't forget your family. And speaking of brothers, my two brothers are my friends too. We do fight sometimes, but we also play games together. We talk a lot and have lunch together every day. We also do part of our school together: Spanish, science labs, geography, history videos, and phys ed. So don’t forget about your own family when you are looking for friends. What if you are an only child? How about being friends with your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins?
Look at church. I also have friends at my church. I am in the choir there too. My church friends and I see each other once a week. A place where other people believe what you do is a good starting place to look for friends.
Keep long distance
friendships. Some friends I don’t see, but we keep
in touch in other ways.
Some friends I talk to on the phone, like my friend
Rebecca. I don’t see her a lot, but I talk to her a lot on
the phone. She lives in New Jersey and I live in Pennsylvania.
Find some penpals. I write to friends that are even further away than Rebecca, like my friend Hayley. She lives in Arizona. She used to live really close to me, but then she moved away. She sends me beautiful post cards of the Arizona desert. And my friends Magdalena and Rashmi are penpals I met through the Internet. They live really far away! Magdalena lives in Uraguay. Rashmi lives in the United Arab Emirates. My friends live all over the world. With the Internet, you can have friends from anywhere and chat with them or email them every day if you like!
Would you like to find an Internet penpal? I have included some web sites below for you to try. Want some new friends? Why don't you try some of the ideas here?
G.I.R.L.: Girls Internationally wRiting Letters http://worldkids.net/girl/welcom2.htm
Pen Pal Box http://www.ks-connection.com/penpal/penpal.html
Keypals Club International - club for kids ages 8 to 16 years old from over 46 countries http://www.worldkids.net/clubs/kci/
Kids' Internetional Penpals http://www.angelfire.com/wa/ipals/
Kidlink (Find a global pen-pal with Kidlink) http://www.kidlink.org/
Homeschool Penpals http://www.visi.com/~nelson//penpals.htm
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