I think I would have enjoyed being homeschooled on the basics: spelling, mathematics, geography, history, etc. Both my parents would have been well-equipped to teach those, along with more real-world applications than are typically taught in schools (budgeting, basic car repair, etc.).

Homeschooling during early puberty would have been a nightmare, though, as I was already in pursuit of more worldly pursuits (smoking, drinking beer, having sex) which were easy to conceal during a public high school day but would have been harder if Mom was the teacher.

In any case, I am assured at every turn that Parents Know What's Best For Their Children, so I have no opinion in this matter beyond "do whatever you want to do, as long as I don't have to pay for it under the rubric of 'school choice.'"

My son’s chess coach is homeschooled and the toughest choice he’ll have this coming year is whether to go to MIT or Cal Tech. Homeschooling allows him to learn at his own pace - if he went to public school, he’d be bored out of his mind and nowhere near as ‘educated’ as he is now. In a counter intuitive way, homeschooling actually allows him access to a whole lot more resources then he would at a traditional school. We point to him as a role model for my son.

My son’s chess coach is homeschooled and the toughest choice he’ll have this coming year is whether to go to MIT or Cal Tech. Homeschooling allows him to learn at his own pace - if he went to public school, he’d be bored out of his mind and nowhere near as ‘educated’ as he is now. In a counter intuitive way, homeschooling actually allows him access to a whole lot more resources then he would at a traditional school. We point to him as a role model for my son.

The homeschool experience is vastly different for each kid. I’ve had contact with several homeschooled students. One was probably autistic. His parents were educated and he was doing high level work, attuned to his special interests. Two others had educated parents and were at the top of their class and participated in high level sports just going to school 2-3 hours per day. Another student, diagnosed with autism, was pulled out of school because of bullying. Homeschool was positive for all of these students I believe.

On the other hand, right now I’m working with two students who were “homeschooled” for a year. The girl was able to survive pretty well and doesn’t have large gaps. Her brother says they didn’t do anything and he is learning the basic skills of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing in 6th grade. One well meaning parent adapted to her youngest child’s needs and had her big sister help her. When they got back into regular school, the older sister was on track but the younger one was behind 5 grade levels in reading. She may have had an undiagnosed disability but it went unnoticed. Two others received no education. With one, at first, I thought it was a language barrier, but after having her tested in Spanish, I realized that she couldn’t even count to 10 in English or Spanish. Our principal suggested that for our school demographics, we should just assume to homeschool means no school.

"do whatever you want to do, as long as I don't have to pay for it under the rubric of 'school choice.'"

Oh, that ship sailed a long time ago. You're paying for it - take a look at your local property taxes. At least if the parents are involved and are investing their own time, there is a pretty fair chance that the exchange will be a net positive.

Again: if the typical public school system put out a solid if uninspiring product, most home schoolers wouldn't deal with the hassle. But they don't, and so home schooling is an appropriate response.

I would have been far ahead of where I was allowed to be in public school, because I had to slog along with the class -- just sit there and wait, for example, when I'd finished the required reading.

Every student learns in his own way and at his own pace. The trick is to match your learning style to the teaching style of the instructor. In public schools, with rigid rules and procedures, that's not always easily done.

I remember struggling with Calculus in college. For my major, I had to take a survey class which "dumbed down" the subject. I had to drop the class, completely lost in why we were flipping triangles to create rectangles in order to measure the area under a curve. Luckily, it was college and I was able to match teaching style with learning style. I later took regular Calculus - the same introductory class engineering and science majors took - where the subject matter was taught in a straightforward manner and easily passed the class.

Public schools need to find a way to deal with the fact that kids learn at different paces. Like Amy, I found myself bored in high school classes when I'd finished the reading or the assignment faster than the rest of the class and had to just sit there while the other students caught up. I'd read the entire history textbook by the end of the first week and was correcting the teacher by the end of the second.

By high school, I had been studying grammar and punctuation for so long that I was easily conversant in what it was taking the rest of the class an entire semester to grasp. Part of that fluency came from a Catholic school education in middle school - diagramming sentences under the direction of a ruler-wielding ex-nun.

One thing I will say for the socialization one gets from public schools is that it kept me from thinking my viewpoint was the only one; introducing me to the fact that not everyone saw the world in the same way I did and that those alternate views were not, simply by virtue of not being mine, illegitimate.

In public schools, I also learned to swear in three languages, read dozens of books in the school library, tested myself on the playing fields, and learned that girls were not mysterious intimidating creatures, but people with struggles, fears, and hopes.

However, I don't think homeschooling would have solved my issues with public education. My father was an engineer, and pretty smart. He looked at math problems and derived a solution in his head. His preferred electives in college had been applied math courses. However smart he was in solving the problems, he struggled in trying to teach the solution methodology to others. When others asked how he got to a solution, his answer was invariably "the answer's obvious," when it clearly wasn't obvious to others, even to other engineers.

From him, I learned that the trick to successfully teaching technical subjects lies not in knowing the solution, but in knowing how to impart the solution methodology to students, teaching them to solve problems themselves.

I'll admit that I don't know many people who homeschool. The few people I do know who homeschool are not math prodigies. Many of them never went to college. They homeschool for religious reasons, regarding public schools as dens of vice and iniquity.

According to Business Insider, "Research suggests homeschooled children tend to do better on standardized tests, stick around longer in college, and do better once they're enrolled. A 2009 study showed that the proportion of homeschoolers who graduated from college was about 67%, while among public school students it was 59%."

Shut up TRANNY!

Shut up TRANNY!

While I am a bit fearful, I wouldn't mind some regulation when it comes to home schooling , like having the parents or guardians teaching the kids to have a minimum of the high school diploma or its equivalent. I also think that 25% of homeschooling would actually be knocked out if the money issued to each student would be attached to the student in the form of state sponsored scholarship or tax credit (my vote is tax credit). One of the reasons that parents homeschool their children is because private education is so expensive. If state regulation stick to science and classical education, and not worry about the community service and gym requirements. There would be experimentation in education and maybe a return to the multi grade classrooms, where older students help younger students learn, which is the number #1 to hammer in learning.

Shut up TRANNY!

Stop yelling, and change your transmission fluid. Problem solved, QEFin'D.

My love for education explains my hatred of schooling. Especially government schooling or anything based on the Prussian system of indoctrination and child abuse.

My youngest daughter wanted to go to school, since we live right across a small street from the local elementary school's playground. Her mom enjoyed school (yet apparently avoided learning to read or write about an elementary level) and demanded that our daughter go to school.

It has been a tragedy.

Before she started school she was already learning to read and write and loved to learn. Kindergarten put a rapid end to that. By first grade she already avoided anything that seemed educational. Once I was just going to point out a plant to her and she said: "I don't want to learn anything today!"

In fourth grade, the bullying began in earnest. One girl bullied her for a year and a half to try to force her into a lesbian relationship. All the school would say was that the bully was "such a good person and a great friend to her". They didn't see the notes (which my daughter's mom destroyed) that said "I wish you would f---ing die!" and all the other abuse. We've fought the school for almost 2 years over this. My daughter is generally happy during summer break and during this pandemic vacation, but gets dark and depressed as soon as she's back in school. Even her mother is starting to see the difference. So, maybe her schooling won't be imposed again next fall.

I HATED school, for the same reasons (basically) as Amy mentioned. I loved learning-- and still do. But I've seen how all of my kids were damaged by school, and I thought I could save my youngest from the same fate and I'm angry that her mother didn't stand with me for education and against schooling.

Oh, that ship sailed a long time ago. You're paying for it - take a look at your local property taxes. At least if the parents are involved and are investing their own time, there is a pretty fair chance that the exchange will be a net positive.

Meh. If the parents are 'involved and investing their own time' (talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations there!), I'd expect positive results in the kids regardless of their schooling.

Thank you for posting this, Amy. I've been communicating about this a lot lately.

My two daughters are homeschooled. I specifically talked about how calling it a "regime" is utter nonsense. We choose to educate them ourselves, and partner with others in the community for socialization, outings, and tutoring for subjects the parent-teacher may struggle with. The group also provides the truancy protection required by State law.

In other words, we have no power over the schools in our community. We're quite powerless for a "regime." But we aren't the ones convening biased "invitation only" conferences trying to make everyone else conform to our way of thinking.

I should have added a link to Harvard's upcoming anti-homeschool summit:

Homeschooling Summit: Problems, Politics, and Prospects for Reform – June 18-19, 2020
https://cap.law.harvard.edu/events-and-conferences/homeschooling-summit-june-18-19-2020/

I haven't read the article Amy discussed, but I've been sounding alarms over their upcoming Summit. Funny how the tolerant side of the aisle cannot leave anyone else alone.

But, if you home-school, how will the kids get the indoctrination required to turn them into complacent, compliant sheeple?

Depends on the parents Kevin. Some are pretty worthless.

@Jay R: But, if you home-school, how will the kids get the indoctrination required to turn them into complacent, compliant sheeple?
_____________

Movies. Television. Newspapers. Magazines. Most universities when they get that old.

To say nothing of all the government programs that will entice them (you know the old saying: A Mousetrap works because the most doesn't know why the cheese is free, it's the same with socialism.)

A lot of wonderful people send their kids to public schools, and a lot of these public schools are good. I want to be clear on that.

With that said, if a parent was lazy or neglectful, why wouldn't they have their kid get on the school bus and let someone else feed them breakfast and lunch, educate them, and keep them out of their hair?

To repeat (it's necessary because the other side misrepresents everything we say): I'm not saying that parents who send their kids to public schools are neglectful, I'm simply pointing out that, if parents were neglectful, why wouldn't they take the government-provided option for someone else to take care of their kids all day?

Kent, do you think you would unschool your kids or would you be doing a more structured model? Is your job flexible enough to have enough free hours to do it?

Trust, I think some people might be so lazy and neglectful that putting them on the bus would betoo much work

I remember in 5th grade we had an IBM reading program called SRA that we could do in our free time. When I finished the 12th grade material after a few months I was so disappointed. I was so bored and uninterested that I actually thought my grades of B and C meant I wasn't very smart. Standard tests showed me this idea was wrong and in college I aced calculus and so on. And this was all in good schools really. School is a big mess but having Harvard come out against home schooling can only mean that Harvard loves rules and indoctrination more than learning.

@NicoleK:
Trust, I think some people might be so lazy and neglectful that putting them on the bus would betoo much work
_______________

I'm sure such people muster the strength to vote Democrat.

I'm sure such people muster the strength to vote Democrat.

Trust at April 21, 2020 1:23 PM

Most of them don’t, which is why the Democratic Party is working so hard to subvert Registration and mail in ballots

That way the party can effectively, and much more easily vote for them.

We homeschooled our three daughters, all for very different reasons. Our oldest had some learning difficulties, but the school started just basically having her teachers do all her work for her. She was learning nothing.
One of the twins was being bullied constantly, so we pulled her out of public school.
Her sister was in advanced placement classes, but when that ceased to be challenging enough, we brought her home.
We used a mixture of a mail-order curriculum that gave them a certified high school diploma, a local homeschool co-op for some classes, and classes we taught. They also participated in youth theater.
We were able to give them a well-rounded education, as well as teach them things not taught in public schools. They could also pursue activities such as special exhibits at local museums without having to go through all the red tape the school district would have required.
All the arguments against homeschooling is based on the few bad apples. There are an equal (if not larger) number of bad incidents that happen in public school, which I'm sure will be glossed over to ensure that all us evil homeschoolers will be shown to be just waiting to force you all to join a cult and made to have babies for Jesus or something.

I homeschooled my kids (and some others) for a couple years. They used some of the same curriculum as the public and private schools. They did co-op classes and swim lessons. They took online classes (like just about every public school kid in the country at the moment). At one point, they did most of the curriculum online. For about $30 a month.

Until you get to middle school, most of school is reading, writing (sentences), and basic arithmetic. They jazz it up (complicate it), but that's 90 percent of it.

In public school, they will learn whatever the state mandates in history (ancient Mali is somehow important, although I never learned about it). You can easily pick some relevant history topics. Same with science (how many years do they cover the butterfly life cycle? Just about all of them).

It is really simple to do if your kids are youngish. As they get older, if you have a modicum of resources, it can be done well and simply if they are remotely motivated.

Look, you can't depend on the public school system to teach a child about Jesus riding a dinosaur, or that the nonbelievers started putting skeletons in the ground to "prove" evolution, or how Obama fooled America and made Christians the number-one oppressed group in the country.

Plus a good homeschooling program can prevent kids from using 5G wireless services which suck the oxygen out of the body and make us more susceptible to viruses.

So, yeah, I'm all for home schooling. Send your kids over. I'll learn 'em.

I have been around quite a few home schooled people. I know there used to be some standards by the state though if you were sneaky you could get around them -- my ex-SIL and her family did that.

My experience has been that home schooled are either really knowledgeable and smart or really not. My ex-SIL for example could do addition, could manage subtraction but not do fractions or beyond. She was exceptionally good at grammar though.

I can think of only one exception. The daughter of one of my parents' friends whose mother thought she and I would make a great couple. She seemed really smart though there was lots of holes in her knowledge. Like she had never heard of Plato's allegory of the cave...which in our group everyone else was familiar with even the two raised in Vietnam.

I don't know how good of teachers my parents would have been. I believe socialization would have been...it was as it was as we lived away from town and there were only a few kids around -- in high school there was only one other person my age in walking distance.

I reminded by the stories here of one of my calculus profs. I had him for Calc 100 and struggled...I learned more from the book and other students. Then as a senior had him for Calc 492 (something like - almost graduate level) and he was much better at explaining things so we could understand. The other stuff was just so obvious to him he couldn't explain it.

Ironically, all the kids I know who were homeschooled in Boston took classes at the Harvard Extension School when they were in High School.

There's still the dinner table. That's for..."The teacher said WHAT?"cars

NicoleK: Is your job flexible enough to have enough free hours to do it?

It doesn't take very many hours for a kid to surpass a public school. Your kids can go further in two or three hours three days a week at home than they can in six hours a day five days a week at a public school.

Kent McManigal: My daughter is generally happy during summer break and during this pandemic vacation, but gets dark and depressed as soon as she's back in school.

I am charge nurse on an adolescent psych unit. Nine months of the year my unit is filled to capacity; every bed taken; every bed filled the same day it's emptied. During the summer it's different. During the summer, when school is out, our census drops by more than half. One summer we had no kids - zero admissions - for two-and-a-half months.

When I admit a kid to my unit I spend a good two hours with them listening to their story. The most common problems are overwhelming depression and anxiety. The most common reason for a kid to be admitted to my psych unit - about 90% - is a suicide attempt or suicide gesture. A lot of them very nearly killed themselves (of course I never see the ones who did kill themselves) The most common event precipitating a suicide attempt is a conflict with a family member, usually parents, and the close second is a conflict with peers. And the majority of those conflicts, with parents and peers, have something to do with school.

School is way too stressful. Way more than it was one or two generations ago. Kids have way too much homework (when did assigning homework become such a high priority?) - way too much pressure to maintain grades and keep up. There's way too much peer pressure and drama, and way more bullying than there was in past generations (which could itself be a symptom of too much stress) Kids have very little time to just chill with their friends, play and socialize with other kids for hours at a time, have part time jobs, earn their own money and buy their own things, do lots of fun things, and just have a kid's life that's worth living.

I think stress from school is the biggest reason rates of depression, anxiety and suicide in kids have been going steadily up for decades. Nearly one in three teenagers meet diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder, which is almost always accompanied by depression and suicidal thoughts.

If you can home school your kids please do. I can assure you from experience (both of my daughters and all eight of my grandchildren), it's not that hard; it doesn't take anywhere near the amount of time kids spend in school, so there's plenty of time for lots of stress-free fun.

Fun and joy - not stress, anxiety and depression - should be the predominate characteristics of every childhood.

Elizabeth Bartholet says homeschooling violates children's right to be protected from potential child abuse. She says that one benefit of sending children to school at age four or five is that teachers are mandated reporters, required to alert authorities to evidence of child abuse or neglect.

A report put out about ten years ago by the American Association of University Women (not a group I admire, but maybe Bartholet does) found that of 8th through 11th graders in public schools: 81% experience sexual harassment in school; 83% of girls and 78% of boys have been sexually harassed; 38% of students were harassed by teachers or school employees; 36% of school employees or teachers were harassed by students; 42% of school employees or teachers had been harassed by each other. This doesn't include other common types of abuse, like verbal harassment, bullying and physical assaults. Reports of female teachers sexually abusing male students have become so common they don’t even get much media attention anymore; and I’ve heard that sexual abuse by male teachers is three times more common (though I question that based on some other things I've read about institutions that confine children)

I’ve worked as an RN, MHP with adolescent patients for several years. As a mandated reporter, I have a few times had to make reports against other mandated reporters who also happened to be school teachers. This is not uncommon. The vast majority of children are much safer at home with their own families than they are in school.

Elizabeth Bartholet says, "...some of these parents are ‘extreme religious ideologues’ who question science and promote female subservience and white supremacy."

That is a bigoted stereotype.

I’ve been directly involved in homeschooling for two generations. My daughters were home schooled until they were 15 and started college. My wife and I had high school educations when we started homeschooling; we all went to college, my wife, my girls and I, around the same time. My eight grandchildren are currently home schooled.

In college we learned that at any point in time half of everything we know about healthcare and medicine will be obsolete in five years. If you can’t question, challenge, test, improve or disprove science - if all you can do is believe what the scientists say - then it’s not science, it’s religion and dogma. Science is not everyone’s forte, but most students whose education is home and family based are competent at science. Science is interesting, and children who are home schooled are free to pursue whatever they find interesting on their own schedule to their heart’s content. When home schooled kids go to college they disproportionately choose majors in science and technology.

I’ve never met a conservative Christian home schooled white supremacist. Leftist liberals who believe that minorities are unable to succeed in an advanced, first world society without the help and support of kind, progressive, woke white people like themselves are literally white supremacists. That kind of thinking is ubiquitous in the public education system, from kindergarten through graduate school. Home school parents I know want to protect their children from false, racist ideas. Instead of teaching their children to patronize people of other races, they can teach them to respect and engage with them as equal in the sight of God and enjoy their differences.

Bartholet says, "Children should grow up exposed to community values, social values, democratic values, ideas about nondiscrimination and tolerance of other people's viewpoints.”

The lack of those values in the public schools, especially the aggressive, often official, discrimination against differing values and beliefs, and the sometimes violent intolerance of other people's viewpoints is what motivated a lot of homeschooling parents to get their kids out of public schools.

"do you think you would unschool your kids or would you be doing a more structured model?"

I would let her try both and see what works best for her. I'm a HUGE fan of unschooling, personally, but I know some people prefer more structure. To each their own (just don't demand I fund your anti-educational schooling through "taxation"!).

My job, such that it is, is pretty flexible. But I've never had a job that would prevent me from spending the hour or two per day that would help her exceed the education she gets from kinderprison.

We've had fun this past month and a half with the home school thing.

The school gave just enough work to give a little struture, but not so much we couldn't experiment.

We went to the river and learned about caddis flies,found a slow worm, saw some water snakes and tadpoles...

We picked flowers and identified them (they're drying now)

We looked at the stars and used an app to identify them.

We made music videos...

We played with cuisinaire rods...

We wrote letters...

Good times.