Does homeschooling violate liberal values?

That's what Slate asks today:

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/02/homeschooling_and_unschooling_among_liberals_and_progressives_.html

In a country increasingly separated by cultural chasms—Christian conservatives vs. secular humanists; Tea Partiers vs. Occupiers—should we really encourage children to trust only their parents or those hand-selected by them, and to mistrust civic life and public institutions?

As I said on an education thread that (most likely) became a shitstorm as they often can, a couple of my wife's second cousins were home schooled. One is 18 and one is 21. Talking to them is like talking to two 40-year-olds. It is remarkable how they carry themselves, at least anecdotally shattering the stereotype of antisocial shut-ins. The parents both went to Northwestern, I believe. The girl goes to King College in NYC and the boy is looking for conservatives private schools - Wheaton College in Illinois, for example.

On the other hand, I am at least somewhat suspicious of what kind of science education they've had, for example, among other questions.

 

What a load of crap.

 

If armed guards were good enough for Amy Carter, they should be good enough for all of us.

We do public schools, but not out of some huge sense of social obligation. Our public school works pretty well. Have a real mix of kids, but there's a path there for a high academic achiever.

A lot of people want the religious connection and the greater sense of community of a private school. That's fine. I think they're throwing their money away by putting $150,000 into a K-12 education that isn't really better than the public schools, but whatever. I do wish they'd realize that it isn't the private school making their kids "smarter," it's the affluence and education level of the parents who chose the school in the first place.

 

What is?

 

I pretty much agree all the way. I think one thing that you might get out of a good private school is the benefits of being around kids who mostly care about their education - I doubt that you get made fun of for being smart at a lot of these places as much as you do your average public school. On the other hand, you could just go to a good public school system (although by the time you factor in the cost of living in those towns, you end up spending more than you would at a private school).

It is going to be a tough line to walk with my children between trying not to control their lives to making sure that they are hanging out in social circles that help elevate them academically, not bring them down.

 

Simple solution: Require all homeschool parents to teach to the values of the state. That way, they can't unduly influence their children.

 

I don't think that the idea is that the values of the state are impeccable. I think the idea is that part of liberal/progressive orthodoxy is that we should trust ourselves to come into contact with public institutions without risking moral or intellectual ruin.

 

I can't see homeschooling a child myself, but has it been proven that homeschooling includes a fundamental mistrust of civic institutions? Seems the fundamental mistrust is coming from the other side.

 

I doubt that you get made fun of for being smart at a lot of these places as much as you do your average public school.

a gross overexaggeration.

 

Not at my public school.

 

YGBFKM, when your child gets old enough for school, if you do check out a public school, you're going to be shocked at how little indoctrination goes on there. Unless you count that they don't teach math the same way we were taught. I can't help my kids past, say, fourth grade, because the methods they use are completely different than what I used. I remember having a small tiff with my then-fifth-grade son because I was helped him with multiplying two-digit numbers, and I was getting the right answer, but he said I was wrong because that wasn't how he was taught.

Damn Commie Math. Though I guess how math is taught has always driven people crazy.

(Tom Lehrer -- "New Math")

 

If you think all kids at a private school value education, you're sorely off track.