tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post2139557658069509771..comments2024-01-04T05:57:26.735-06:00Comments on Education Policy Blog: Hosted by the Forum on the Future of Public Education: Regulating Homeschooling?Craig A. Cunninghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18160288758906798678noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-75553138829674210872007-06-06T20:17:00.000-05:002007-06-06T20:17:00.000-05:00As I noted, I don't know a lot about homeschooling...As I noted, I don't know a lot about homeschooling.<BR/><BR/>I would say, however, that I know there is still a minority group of very liberal parents out there who follow a 1960s vision of what John Holt among others called "unschooling." This is different, I think, than assuming that parents can teach them better.<BR/><BR/>I've been meaning to write a post about this, and I think I've said it before, but I bet that the children of middle class professionals actually don't need much school. If you don't let them watch much TV, if they learn to read through you reading to them, mostly, and you give them some math, then they may do better just doing what they want then going to school. As someone said in Repo Man (I paraphrase) "[School] makes you stupid." Summerhill in England, among other places (some in the US) have been testing this successfully for a long time.<BR/><BR/>In other words, middle class kids get comparatively great education (along with all kinds of other expensive enrichment stuff) when they really don't need it, while poor kids get limited education even though they actually do need it. <BR/><BR/>Not that I'm planning to home school. It's a lot of work just keeping track of them all the time. . . . :)Aaron Schutzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667097977144954236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-3961493017136624732007-06-06T19:18:00.000-05:002007-06-06T19:18:00.000-05:00I haven't read the paper you cite...but I'm pretty...I haven't read the paper you cite...but I'm pretty sure homeschooling is regulated. In PA, which I know a little about, homeschooling parents must submit their curricula to the state for approval; there are also visits by a State DOE representative. This doesn't address the larger philosophical argument being put forward, but at least the debate shouldn't be framed in such a stark "lord of the flies" way.<BR/><BR/>DanDan W. Butinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08543447769350980289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-16624273165038723092007-06-06T19:17:00.000-05:002007-06-06T19:17:00.000-05:00This posting is fascinating, especially about the ...This posting is fascinating, especially about the abdication of control over homeschooling by the state. <BR/><BR/>From a personal, nitty gritty perspective of actually TEACHING at home, I have cautious respect for folks who homeschool, but it is certainly not my cup of tea, for some of these reasons. Aside from the fact that it would have driven me crazy to teach my kid at home, I find most homeschoolers where I have lived to be religious fundamentalists or at least conservatives, and they teach their kids from a narrow, out of the box (literally, in some cases) curriculum approved by their church. I find any sort of religious literalism highly depressing, and all the more so when in education.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, some other homeschoolers (mind you, in my experience only) think that their precious kids are too good for the public school, and they can teach them better. I just don't know where these people find the time to do this, and I question their motives, frankly. I guess too I find homeschooling to often smack of antidemocratic leanings, though I am sure someone can correct me and point out how homeschoolers learn more deeply about community involvement, etc., etc.A. G. Rudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065737458510256119noreply@blogger.com