Lift Up Your Hearts!

Two recent articles on homeschooling were brought to my attention; specifically, they are about unschooling, that branch of the homeschooling movement that seeks to liberate students from the oppressive assumptions and restrictions of schooling as much as from schools themselves. Each article was reasonably positive, yet was too short to be of much use, and included a few blood pressure-raising statements.

From the Orlando Sentinel (originally the Chicago Tribune):

A significant part of the growth in home-schooling has been among Christian conservatives who shunned public and private schools for reasons that included curriculum, school violence and social trends. These parents often seek highly structured curricula suited to their conservative beliefs.

But those who practice unschooling tend to do so because they think the school system does not allow children to learn to their full potential.

This ranks right up in fatuousness with such statements as "blacks do better at athletics, and Asians do better at academics." As a Christian conservative who chose to homeschool because the school system does not allow children to learn to their full potential, and whose educational philosophy leans much more toward unschooling than not, I find the characterization insulting.

And from CNN:

"There is nothing like the texture of kids having contact with each other, making friends and relating to different adults in a school setting," said David Tokofsky, a longtime educator and member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.

He may be right; there is nothing like it. Making friends and relating to people of all ages outside of a school setting is so far superior to what goes by that name in school that I'm surprised he dared mention the subject.