The Risks of Homeschooling

[Smokin Joe]

That may be a quarter step farther than what will happen over the next couple of years, not that I'd mind being proven wrong. What I think this prof fears are: homeschooling will seem to many, less weird; some parents will realize that while they would not be able to handle a class of 20-40 students they have known for just a few weeks or months, they know their own children well and are well able to instruct them; some parents will realize that one-on-one instruction tailored to their children's abilities and learning style does more/better than one-size-fits-all herd instruction with occasional individual interaction.

My thinking (which with $10 will get you a venti latte and change at Starchucks) is that:

* Homeschooling will generally be less viewed as mysterious and weird;

* Many parents who were thinking of homeschooling and wondering if they could do it will decide to do it; I don't this these folks are numerous;

* Really good public and private classroom teachers will see an increase in respect from students' parents;

* Some/many parents will want to be more involved in their children's schools in ways kingdom-builder-inclined educrats will find uncomfortable (but educrats and teachers whose focus in educating students will appreciate).

What I am hoping is that parents will begin to see that Public Schools (and to some extent, any schools) are state mandated pathogen exchanges.
This time, something appeared that there was no vaccine for, and they shut down. Even the teachers recognize that they, too, are at risk. 

If you don't have your 'shots', you can't even attend in some states.

[mystery-ak]

Harvard prof calls homeschooling ‘dangerous,’ says it gives parents ‘authoritarian control’ over kids

By Caleb Parke | Fox News

A Harvard law professor is under fire for her comments in an article about the "risks" of homeschooling as parents face closed public schools because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Harvard Magazine's May-June issue, Elizabeth Bartholet, a law professor and faculty director of the school’s Child Advocacy Program, worried homeschooled children will not be able to contribute to a democratic society.

"The issue is, do we think that parents should have 24/7, essentially authoritarian control over their children from ages zero to 18?" Bartholet asked. "I think that's dangerous. I think it's always dangerous to put powerful people in charge of the powerless, and to give the powerful ones total authority."

more
https://www.foxnews.com/us/harvard-homeschool-article-dangerous-parents-risk

[Hoodat]

Clearly, this professor believes that only she (and her peers) should be the ones to have 'authoritarian control' over other people's kids.

[mystery-ak]

 Harvard Law Professor Wants To Ban Homeschooling Because Christians Do It
It’s very difficult to argue you’re just trying to protect the kids when the biggest worry you can conjure is that some students may still need to interact with religious folk.
Kelly Marcum
By Kelly Marcum
April 23, 2020

Elizabeth Bartholet, a professor at Harvard Law School, managed to break through the endless COVID-19 news cycle when she was quoted extensively by Harvard Magazine, citing her recently published article: “Homeschooling: Parents Rights Absolutism vs. Child Rights to Education & Protection.”

Tragically, Bartholet’s concern for children, which she is using as a bludgeon to attack conservative Christians, is authentic but horribly corrupted. Bartholet is a woman who by all accounts truly cares about children ahead of politics or agendas, yet has fallen prey to the left’s manic need to substitute the state for the parent, or more accurately, for the traditional Christian parent.

Masking her disdain for conservatives behind a veneer of concern for children’s welfare, Bartholet’s argument concludes that homeschooling threatens not just children, but society, because the majority of homeschoolers are conservative Christians, and thus indoctrinate their children with religious ideology and antidemocratic notions.

“It’s also important that children grow up exposed to community values, social values, democratic values, ideas about nondiscrimination and tolerance of other people’s viewpoints,” Bartholet asserts, before arguing for a presumptive ban on homeschooling parents, specifically those guilty of not agreeing with tolerant progressives.

more
https://thefederalist.com/2020/04/23/harvard-law-professor-wants-to-ban-homeschooling-because-christians-do-it/

[MOD3]

Two recent threads have been merged into this original thread. Because of apparent ongoing interest it has been moved from Health and Education to Editorials.

[Absalom]

From his first days, Man was self-educated, spanning multiple thousands of years,
until the 18th Century Enlightenment.
Then the latter ushered in formalized and structured learning along w/its pretensions
of credentials, documentation and testimonials, summarized by the descriptive"degree".
A measure of the worth of all learning are its achievements and by that standard, those
of Classical Greece are unsurpassed; among them those of Art (History and Literature)
and of Science ( Architecture, Geometry, Medicine and Physics).
Contrast what the Renaissance accomplished in Art and compare it to anything since the
Enlightenment. For example;
* Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, arguably the greatest of portraits; is 3/4 meter by 1/2 meter in size.
* Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling and upper Walls aggregate 12,000 meters square!
Bozo Bartholet is only shilling for the leftist agenda which begins w/sanctimony and ends w/control.

[Smokin Joe]

From his first days, Man was self-educated, spanning multiple thousands of years,
until the 18th Century Enlightenment.
Then the latter ushered in formalized and structured learning along w/its pretensions
of credentials, documentation and testimonials, summarized by the descriptive"degree".
A measure of the worth of all learning are its achievements and by that standard, those
of Classical Greece are unsurpassed; among them those of Art (History and Literature)
and of Science ( Architecture, Geometry, Medicine and Physics).
Contrast what the Renaissance accomplished in Art and compare it to anything since the
Enlightenment. For example;
* Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, arguably the greatest of portraits; is 3/4 meter by 1/2 meter in size.
* Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling and upper Walls aggregate 12,000 meters square!
Bozo Bartholet is only shilling for the leftist agenda which begins w/sanctimony and ends w/control.

Well put.
How telling that those who would control, who shout the battle cry "for the children" and who howl for the "right" to slaughter 50 million babies annually worldwide, would take up their rhetorical arms against those who believe in The One who said, "Suffer the children to come unto me."

[goatprairie]

“It’s also important that children grow up exposed to community values, social values, democratic values, ideas about nondiscrimination and tolerance of other people’s viewpoints,"

Yes indeed. Except my parents taught me and my siblings those things. My father once chewed out one of my aunts for her using the n word in our presence.
I went to twelve years of Catholic schools, grade and high school, and talk about those particular things was rare. At school we were basically taught about the three Rs and a few other things.
In religion class, the priests rarely or never said anything about social values and non discrimination, tolerance, etc.
I wish they would have, because they usually only talked about occasions of sin and your eternal soul being damned for sinning.

[Sighlass]

My four homeschooled children are tested every other year, and have ranked above average (often far above average). How is that possible when one of the teachers is just an old puddin-head like me? I guess it is just that sweet intelligent wife making up for my slack. Lol, the kids are not digging the garden class I put in place this year. I keep reminding them that if they don't like manual labor, then hit the books like it is personal, cause a lack of education gets them lots of digging jobs.

[Smokin Joe]

“It’s also important that children grow up exposed to community values, social values, democratic values, ideas about nondiscrimination and tolerance of other people’s viewpoints,"

Yes indeed. Except my parents taught me and my siblings those things. My father once chewed out one of my aunts for her using the n word in our presence.
I went to twelve years of Catholic schools, grade and high school, and talk about those particular things was rare. At school we were basically taught about the three Rs and a few other things.
In religion class, the priests rarely or never said anything about social values and non discrimination, tolerance, etc.
I wish they would have, because they usually only talked about occasions of sin and your eternal soul being damned for sinning.

I had four years of Catholic Schooling, with eight years of public schools sandwiched in between. The Catholic schools were my salvation academically, while, in the public schools, I got the education Mark Twain referred to in "Never let your schooling interfere with your education." (A quote that got me kicked out of an English Class in Public School, but would have launched a class discussion of the difference in the Catholic School I graduated from).

Religion was mentioned and revered in those last two years of (Catholic) Schooling, but the stress was even more on morals, on doing the Right Thing, whether it was popular, trendy, or met with resistance at every turn. (I presume I missed years laced with heavier dogma and catechism as there was no Sunday School for handful of us in our Parish in the higher grades.)
In the presence of an Omnipotent and Omniscient Deity, we were brought to understand that those fundamental rules applied to all, that legal was not the same as moral or right, that if you did wrong and no one saw, it was still wrong, and that despite any thing we individually may have felt, the source of our strength was not only limitless but a power not within us, instead granted to us by His Grace when we needed it.
Humbling? Yes, and intended to be. Yet (to use an overused word in this day and age) empowering as well.

[Smokin Joe]

My four homeschooled children are tested every other year, and have ranked above average (often far above average). How is that possible when one of the teachers is just an old puddin-head like me? I guess it is just that sweet intelligent wife making up for my slack. Lol, the kids are not digging the garden class I put in place this year. I keep reminding them that if they don't like manual labor, then hit the books like it is personal, cause a lack of education gets them lots of digging jobs.

Skills, even manual labor, can be useful. Some years, regardless of education, one is thankful for digging jobs to pay the bills.

[PeteS in CA]

My parents never said a thing to me about racism until TV news started carrying stories about the Civil Rights Movement. But by that time my parents had already taught me all I really needed to know. They chit-chatted about classmates and people they did business with - people whose ancestors came from Mexico, China, the Philippines, etc.. These people were as much a part of my parents' (and therefore, my) "us" as anyone of German or British ancestry.

My first three elementary school years were in a Lutheran parochial school. The Ten Commandments (along with Martin Luther's rather insightful explanations) were taught as universally (= not ethnicity-dependent) true, and the foci were understanding them and obeying God. While not explicitly expressed, that meant treating people well, regardless of ethnic background.

[Smokin Joe]

My parents never said a thing to me about racism until TV news started carrying stories about the Civil Rights Movement. But by that time my parents had already taught me all I really needed to know. They chit-chatted about classmates and people they did business with - people whose ancestors came from Mexico, China, the Philippines, etc.. These people were as much a part of my parents' (and therefore, my) "us" as anyone of German or British ancestry.

My first three elementary school years were in a Lutheran parochial school. The Ten Commandments (along with Martin Luther's rather insightful explanations) were taught as universally (= not ethnicity-dependent) true, and the foci were understanding them and obeying God. While not explicitly expressed, that meant treating people well, regardless of ethnic background.

My mother had that knack for treating people equally, with respect enough that no matter who they were, how they were dressed, what their background, they stood a little taller as a result.
I watched her, and only hope I am at least half as good.
I recall being surprised that there were only a couple of black kids in my parochial school classes, when where I lived, there were black kids everywhere (rural setting), once we got off the farm.

The cure for intellectual snootiness, is to realize that everyone has some thing they know better than anyone else. It may or may not be useful to me in whatever context I operate in, but it is relevant to them. If the tables were turned, and the things they know were suddenly more relevant to survival, (as unimaginable as that may be in some instances), I would be the dumbass, the moron, the one who didn't know squat. About some things we are all 'smart', others excel in something, some in a few things, but only One knows it all.

[Absalom]

My four homeschooled children are tested every other year, and have ranked above average (often far above average). How is that possible when one of the teachers is just an old puddin-head like me? I guess it is just that sweet intelligent wife making up for my slack. Lol, the kids are not digging the garden class I put in place this year. I keep reminding them that if they don't like manual labor, then hit the books like it is personal, cause a lack of education gets them lots of digging jobs.

----------------------------
To your great credit, your children's achievement level is a function of far more than
classroom blackboard exercises, as your tone/temperament surely played a major role.
Socrates was revered by his followers for the attitudes/behaviors he modeled, as much as
for the wisdom he articulated; which a "student" of his named Plato, affirmed!!!

[GtHawk]

I have two nieces that were home schooled in a very Conservative Catholic home, they excelled and were accepted into excellent but liberal Universities. Today they are still very Catholic but blindly accept any crap that pope socialista spouts and after years of liberal/socialist university they are anything but conservative. So much for public schooling and the main reason liberals detest home schooling..................missed year of indoctrination.

[PeteS in CA]

Some Twitter posts about the Harvard magazine cover:



By my count, an Oops! and two stereotypes - one demonstrating the author's ignorance, one ludicrous.

Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ... Arithmetic ...

Near what I think was the height of homescooling-for-religious-reasons, the mid-late 90s, Michael Farris of Home School Legal Defense Association estimated that ~7/8 of homeschoolers were doing so "for religious reasons". That phrase included Jews, Muslims, etc., all of whom HSLDA had opportunity to defend or contribute Amicus briefs at one time or other. I think the percentage of secular (= religion not a significant consideration) homeschoolers is higher now, probably in the 65%-75% range. So having the Bible as one of the books forming the homeschoolers' house is an exaggeration/stereotype that demonstrates the author is ignorant of the viewpoint diversity among homeschoolers.

The ludicrous stereotype, however is that of the homeschooled kid trapped inside the house while "normal" kids were playing outside. Reality Part 1, classroom-schooled kids get morning recess, lunchtime, and afternoon recess, with the rest of their school time inside their classrooms. Reality Part 2, and a bit more to the point .... well every area is different, and what homeschooling parents do is different. For our family here in Silicon Valley, we had so many out-of-the-home activities available that we had to limit those activities. We had multiple sports leagues (for homeschooled kids), support group park days, support group organized and individual family field trips, a homeschool choir, art and journalism classes, and a regionally/nationally competitive debate club. Just off the top of my head. That is in addition to community activities such as Little League, soccer leagues, Boy and Girl Scouts (my son earned Eagle rank in a troop that included but was not homeshoolers only), etc..

An update on this aspect of the article from https://arcdigital.media/a-bad-time-to-hate-homeschool-ae8f7e7dbee3

The piece is headed by an illustration of several children playing outside while one child, from behind the barred window of a house constructed of books, looks forlornly on. The inversion of reality (as public schools cut recess time to increase instruction hours) is stark, and the books are, without apparent irony, titled Reading, Writing, Arithmatic, and Bible. (The misspelling of “arithmetic” was later stealth edited, as Corey DeAngelis documents here. The version below, which is current, contains the correct spelling.)

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Wish we had an investigative reporter to dig into this professor's personal story.

Bet that she has sent her kids to private school, not public school.

[LegalAmerican]

(1) What a load of male bovine excrement. Homeschoolers have been excelling academically for decades. And Elizabeth Bartholet tacitly assumes public schools are doing well, which is -worthy. If she wanted to learn actual facts about homeschoolers, she might start with Dr. Brian Ray's https://www.nheri.org . He's been doing research and testifying in court as an expert witness for decades.

 (2) What a load of male bovine excrement. Teachers and educrats are not the only mandatory reporters of child abuse in the US. Doctors and nurses are as well. Many clergy readily report possible abuse, voluntarily. And there are neighbors, extended family, friends ...

 (3) What a load of male bovine excrement. Young adults who were homeschooled are all over society, in all kinds of career fields. One of my three homeschooled K-12 children is a preschool teacher. Another of my homeschooled K-12 children has a business degree from our local state university and is working in the software industry (much of the time using skills he started to develop when he was in high school, self-taught). And the third, also homeschooled K-12, is currently studying Chinese Language and Culture, in China, in Mandarin. Among them they have spent significant time in at least a dozen countries (not counting the US). One of them earned Eagle Scout rank, learned drums well enough to play in our church's worship team, advanced several belts in Karate, and became an assistant manager at a fast food place, all while in high school.

High five!  .    What is means is, that children will not be indoctrinated into LIBERALISM.  OR SOCIALISM.

[Hoodat]

Wish we had an investigative reporter to dig into this professor's personal story.

Bet that she has sent her kids to private school, not public school.

I can't even find out if she is married.  However, Bartholet believes that anyone with a young child should be subjected to mandatory government surveillance.  Seriously.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I can't even find out if she is married.  However, Bartholet believes that anyone with a young child should be subjected to mandatory government surveillance.  Seriously.

I think I did read somewhere she raised one or more children.

This is an old 79 year old woman who is out to pasture and is attempting to come in from comfortably grazing and make herself noticeable once again.