 |
| Photo credit: Liz Copeland. |
The Last Radicals - NR / Digital Articles - National Review Online:
There is exactly one authentically radical social movement of any real significance in the United States, and it is not Occupy, the Tea Party, or the Ron Paul faction. It is homeschoolers, who, by the simple act of instructing their children at home, pose an intellectual, moral, and political challenge to the government-monopoly schools, which are one of our most fundamental institutions and one of our most dysfunctional. Like all radical movements, homeschoolers drive the establishment bats.
'via Blog this'
***
GJ - I usually ignore National Review, for many reasons. However, this author makes a good point.
We home-schooled about 30 years ago and loved it. People wondered about how that could possibly work out. I suggested that most wealthy people had their children tutored at home, that Alexander the Great was educated that way. Alex did well, and so did our son.
---
Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "The Last Radicals - NR / Digital Articles - Nation...":
Ichabod -
Wonderful feline pic! Looks just like our domestic shorthair!
***
GJ - Liz is a childhood friend of the family. My mother and her mother taught in the same gradeschool, Garfield. I grew up among teachers and teachers' kids, went to PTA meetings for the desserts, studied in the school library during teachers' meetings. The Jackson kids went to school early, walking to Garfield with mom. It was more like a forced march in the military.
Liz is a very talented nature photographer, and she is a retired teacher.
---
rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "The Last Radicals - NR / Digital Articles - Nation...":
Thank you for posting this. We were placed into a position where my wife is now home schooling our autistic son. There is a very active home schooling association near us, which draws from a large geographical area. Our son's former senior behavioral therapist, now a public school teacher, could not grasp the home schooling concept. She kept inferring that their is no regulation in place to deal with "deadbeat parents" who homeschool their children. I countered that with the suggestion that there are many deadbeat parents who send their children to public schools, which are highly regulated. It seems that homeschooling is done by parents who are willing to take on tremendous sacrifice because they love the children that the Lord has blessed them with.
***
GJ - I was homeschooled in a sense. My mother made sure I grew up with a library of books for all ages, subscribing to several different book clubs for youth. My father was very interested in politics and read in that area all the time. I attended many extra educational events, sometimes voluntarily.
My argument for homeschooling is - the teachers love their children, which is often not the case in the public system. There are head-cases in parochial schools too. Our son's teachers in two parochial schools were 50% - half of them terrific, half of them awful. I interviewed potential teachers for an area Christian school - dumber than rocks. I asked, "Who is C. S. Lewis?" Anger erupted - "Why do I need to know that?"
I am not surprised at the therapist's reaction, above. Homeschooling is a major threat to our socialist educational system, which is no better under the banner of charter schools. "Where the money is, there will the apostates be gathered." - The Gospel of Mark Jeske, 3:14.
Homeschooling means tailoring the education to the individual student and spending far more hours in education. We ran our effort seven days a week, all year, by request. Some results: fluency in Latin and Greek, a beginning in Hebrew. At least 100 significant books were read, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. It also creates priceless moments.
I would dismantle 90% of the educational system and give the tax money back to the parents. The recipients could then spend the money exactly as they wished. No govmint charter schools. No requirement for a phony, bad education.
