Home is no place for school - Homeschool Alert

USA Today Op Ed ^ | September 3, 2003 | Dennis Evans

[Damocles]

Home is no place for school
Wed Sep 3, 6:49 AM ET


By Dennis L. Evans 

The popularity of home schooling, while not significant in terms of the number of children involved, is attracting growing attention from the media, which create the impression that a "movement" is underway. Movement or not, there are compelling reasons to oppose home teaching both for the sake of the children involved and for society.

Home schooling is an extension of the misguided notion that "anyone can teach." That notion is simply wrong. Recently, some of our best and brightest college graduates, responding to the altruistic call to "Teach for America," failed as teachers because they lacked training. Good teaching is a complex act that involves more than simply loving children. Research on student achievement overwhelmingly supports the "common-sense" logic that the most important factor affecting student learning is teacher competency. While some parents may be competent to teach very young children, that competence will wane in more advanced grades as the content and complexity increases. 

But schools serve important functions far beyond academic learning. Attending school is an important element in the development of the "whole child." Schools, particularly public schools, are the one place where "all of the children of all of the people come together." Can there be anything more important to each child and thus to our democratic society than to develop virtues and values such as respect for others, the ability to communicate and collaborate and an openness to diversity and new ideas? Such virtues and values cannot be accessed on the Internet. 

The isolation implicit in home teaching is anathema to socialization and citizenship. It is a rejection of community and makes the home-schooler the captive of the orthodoxies of the parents.

One of the strengths of our educational system is the wide range of legitimate forms of public, private or parochial schooling available for parental choice.

With that in mind, those contemplating home teaching might heed the words of the Roman educator, Quintilian (A.D. 95). In opposing home schooling, he wrote, "It is one thing to shun schools entirely, another to choose from them."

Dennis L. Evans directs doctoral programs in education leadership at the University of California, Irvine.

[Damocles]

It is a rejection of community and makes the home-schooler the captive of the orthodoxies of the parents.

It's all about indoctrination...

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Homeschool ping.

[Puppage]

It's all about indoctrination...

BINGO!

Ya beat me to it. The headline should read...."Home is no place for indoctrination, because we can't GET to them".

[Damocles]

Homeschool Alert! Please ping anyone else you think would be interested in dissecting this article...

[alnick]

Home schooling is an extension of the misguided notion that "anyone can teach."

I haven't seen any stats on this, but I am of the impression that home-schooled children consistently score higher on SATs and other placement tests than children educated by public schools.

[AngryJawa]

Dennis L. Evans directs doctoral programs in education leadership at the University of California, Irvine.

I'm quite sure his is a completely unbiased opinion. {sarcasm off}

Poor Mr. Evans. Perhaps he hasn't noticed, but the "professional educators" he's training are failing miserably.

[goldstategop]

Translation: liberals are terrified of losing their monopoly over captive young minds.

[SauronOfMordor]

Can there be anything more important to each child and thus to our democratic society than to develop virtues and values such as respect for others, the ability to communicate and collaborate and an openness to diversity and new ideas?

The purpose of public school is political indoctrination. Teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic is left for the parents via homework

[tbpiper]

Home schooling is an extension of the misguided notion that "anyone can teach."

Somehow, the students of these 'anyones' seem to consistently kick the academic a$$es of the public school students. Hmmm.

[EdReform]

I SUPPORT HOMESCHOOLERS BUMP!

[Cheapskate]

Egghead,statist ping

[Pan_Yans Wife]

It is a rejection of community and makes the home-schooler the captive of the orthodoxies of the parents.

In the remaining sixteen hours of the day, when the child is not being subjected to the orthodoxies of the public schools, they must then become exposed to the orthodoxies of the parents. What horrors!

And the children whose parents' work, are then enrolled in "after school" programs, and sports and church activities. Perhaps if we are diligent, we can clutter their schedules enough, so that we only see our children during the eight hours while they are sleeping!?

Wait a minute... there is always boarding school! We could see them on holidays and during the summer.

[nmh]

LOL! Then why is PUBLIC SCHOOL failing? WHY can't PUBLIC SCHOOL teachers speak ENGLISH as in the Boston situtaion. WHY are public school kids SOOO STUPID? Is it because of the STUPID teachers that are CERTIFIED (insane)?WHY is it that HOMESCHOOLED children ALWAYS test HIGHER than PUBLIC schooled children and they ALSO win the MAJORITY of spelling bees?

[LurkedLongEnough]

"It is one thing to shun schools entirely, another to choose from them."

An offer to approve of the dreaded vouchers rather than submit to home schooling?

[BibChr]

In a way, you kind of have to marvel at the chutzpah of a guy who is willing to stand up in public, fly in the face of all evidence and reason, and make a barking, drooling fool out of himself for statism.

Wow.

Pinhead.

Dan

[JohnGalt]

Public schools are working just fine.

Almost everyone now grows up believing FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, Lincoln, to a lesser extent Wilson, were 'great Presidents', MLK was a great man, and anyone who disagrees is a racist or anti-Semite.

Its not the liberals, its the statists who fear challenges to their orthodoxy.

[Moose4]

Glenn Beck tore this op-ed apart quite forcefully on his show this morning. Although when he kept saying "Dennis" I thought this thing was written by Dennis Kucinich!

}:-)4

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Do public schools still have spelling bees?

[Mad Dawgg]

"I haven't seen any stats on this, but I am of the impression that home-schooled children consistently score higher on SATs and other placement tests than children educated by public schools."

I think you are right but see homeschoolers tend not to vote Democrat or be PC in their thinking. Which is something the left cannot allow! Therefore it is imperative that the liberals quash the homeschool movement!

[SauronOfMordor]

I haven't seen any stats on this, but I am of the impression that home-schooled children consistently score higher on SATs and other placement tests than children educated by public schools.

Consistently MUCH higher than public school student average. My oldest got a 1300 -- as an 8th-grader

What happens is homeschoolers can focus on reading, writing and math much more than public schools because we don't spend time on "diversity indoctrination"