Homeschooling, Unschooling
by David Atkins
There's a great article in the New York Times today about homeschooling and unschooling from a non-religious, non-fundie angle. It's a really good read, and hits close to home for me, since I was liberally homeschooled right up until I entered UCLA.
Progressives tend to be open-minded about most things, but there's a significant number of people on the left who are fiercely and dogmatically anti-homeschooling. It's worth pointing out that homeschool isn't all about religious fundamentalists, and that homeschooled children are very often well socially adjusted. I'm grateful every day that I wasn't subjected to the same peer pressure that my age-mates were, that I was allowed to pursue less than socially popular interests without constant teasing and humiliation, and that my socialization examples were adults rather than other children.
Obviously, there needs to be regulation and oversight to make sure kids are learning what they are supposed to. There should be regular testing. But the homeschooling movement is much more diverse than the stereotypes suggest, and its products are often much better adjusted than people give it credit for.
As with so many other things in life, the issue is not what is done, but how it's done.
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