A previous post by Robert Morrison sparked an interesting discussion regarding the value of homeschooling. The details discussed in the various comments ranged from the willingness of learners, to the possibly ambiguous qualifications for being a homeschool instructor, to the ultimate intentions of parents who choose to homeschool their children. The general consensus seemed to believe there was some merit, somewhere, in homeschooling, but that the practice, more often than not, is not carried out with proper intentions and does more harm than good.
In light of this skepticism a lot of us (myself included) seem to have regarding homeschooling, I thought it was worth mentioning an article I found at CNN.com which lists ten historically accomplished homeschoolers. Included on the list were authors Robert Frost, Pearl S. Buck, and Laura Ingalls Wilder, artist Ansel Adams, and Mozart. It’s interesting to note the number of arts-focused people on the list, given our recent discussion of the value of arts in school. Would an education in today’s public schools have done more harm than good for these people? Not limited to artists, the list also includes Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison.
Looking at this list, two things came to mind. One, evidently homeschooling does have value when handled properly, and two, all of these people are dead, implying to me that maybe today’s concept of homeschooling isn’t what it used to be. Certainly, times were different a century or two ago, when many of these people were children in school, but has the potential of education changed much? While we can’t all have Louisa May Alcott’s fortune of being taught by the likes of Thoreau, Emerson, and Hawthorne, valuable, qualified homeschool instructors must still exist.
It's worth noting that several of the people mentioned on the list had some sort of social problem, which certainly wouldn’t be overcome through continued isolation from one’s peers. Agatha Christie was socially withdrawn, Edison was likely ADD, and Frost became ill at the very thought of going to school (a sentiment I’m sure we’ve ALL experienced at some point in our lives).
The article can be found here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/04/22/mf.home.schooled/index.html?iref=newssearch
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2 comments:
I think it is great for parents to want to do what is best for their children, and some feel that they could provide a better education for their children at home than at the public schools. Yet, I truly believe this is detrimental to the child. Children benefit greatly from socialization - seeing how they relate to others and where they fit among a group helps them to form an identity. Being in a true school environment with other students and adults other than ones parents IS an element of education, one being overlooked by homeschoolers. My argument is for parents to allow their children to attend public schools and supplement their education with tutoring.
I wonder if these prominent people, who are on this list, would have ever accomplished the things that they accomplished had they not been home schooled. Honestly, I hope that they would have because no one wants to think that public education would have stunted their intellectual growth in some way. The only thing that I personally have against home schooling is the lack of social interaction with one's peers and the fact that many home school "instructors" are not really qualified to teach children. Also, when children have to report to school each day this is a safety net for them. For example, if a child is being abused and they are "home schooled" that child has no other adult person or teacher that is looking after their well-being. When children come to school each day they are guaranteed at least two balanced meals whereas a homeschooled child has no one else except their parents watching out for them.
Nora Stewart-Ricks
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