Putting Parents In The Education Loop

One of the bright spots to these house arrests is that children are now being home schooled.  I had a walk with my grand daughter the other day, and I was asking her about being schooled at home.  She averred that she did enjoy it generally, though the lack of a sports program was a definite problem.  She is very athletic.

I suggested that she could also undertake some independent study. For instance, she could read the Illiad and the Odyssey, or read the Federalist Papers. The sky is really the limit, only limited by her own imagination and obviously limited time.  But that is the point, that the education is finally undergoing a renaissance.

We have the technology that permits anyone, anywhere to access the greatest books ever written, much as the renaissance was kicked off by the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle and the ancient Greeks.  Certainly, the Bible could be one of the great books studied.  But a parent could design a curriculum for each of his or her children.  As the child grows in knowledge and understanding, he or she could have ever more say so over that curriculum, giving him buy in to the process of education.

But, while I see a potentially beneficial effect of this period of lock down, apparently a Harvard professor is appalled.  According to an article by Katie Jay and Sarah Campbell today, in The Federalist entitled Harvard Attack On Homeschooling Has Nothing To Do With Children's Best Interests.

As Americans get a mandatory crash course in teaching their children at home, one Harvard Law professor is running the other way, arguing homeschooling should be banned. Elizabeth Bartholet, the faculty director of Harvard Law School’s Child Advocacy Program, was recently interviewed for an incendiary Harvard Magazine article titled “The Risks of Homeschooling,” but she fleshes out her case in the Arizona Law Review.

In an 80-page screed against conservative Christian homeschoolers, Bartholet proposes a “presumptive ban” on homeschooling, alleging that some parents choose homeschooling to (1) abuse their children, and (2) provide religious instruction. The article also appears to conflate religious instruction with child abuse: Bartholet maintains that the fact that conservative Christians were among the first to embrace homeschooling is itself reason enough to discredit this educational model. She has planned a Harvard Law symposium this summer, solely for homeschooling opponents to support her misguided proposal.

Go read the whole article. Please ponder the possibilities Maybe now is the time to transfer process back to parents. Parents have the responsibility. We should put them back in the loop.