GREG JINKERSON writes:

My wife and I have a baby boy so far, with hopes of having several more kids. She is a full-time mom. I am absolutely bound and determined to keep our children out of state schools, and my wife is to a great extent in agreement with me. However, she is having doubts and anxieties about her ability to educate our kids herself. I have told her my opinion: that simply by virtue of being protected from statist brainwashing and kept in our family orbit, our children will wind up perfectly civilized, especially in comparison with what government schools are turning out. But this idea of mine is has not yet convinced my wife of her fitness to meet the task. She seems to think that we will have to spend hours trying to comply with all kinds of government requirements, but I have researched this and I have discovered that our state is one of the least onerous in its regulation of homeschoolers. I have also assured her about how enthusiastic I myself am about the prospect of teaching and learning with our kids when I’m not at work, and I do have some work experience working as a private tutor with families. What should I tell her to help her understand that she is eminently more qualified for the job of educating our kids than the state babysitters?

Laura writes:

The desire to teach is instinctive. It is at the very least latent in all human beings, in such a way that we are not always conscious that it is there.

Animals possess the inclination too, and, as we all know, it is basic to their survival. I once watched male and female wrens teach their fledglings to fly. The parents stood on a low wall below the nest and cackled and chirped when the fledglings stood one at a time on the edge of the nesting box. “Just drop to the ground!” They were insistent in their directions. They knew that if the baby birds dropped they would get a sense of the potential uplift of their wings.

The ability to teach children even in their utter helplessness, when they are unable to walk yet and before they are able to communicate in sentences, arises so spontaneously and automatically that we barely notice it is there.

Every home is a school. Some homes are very bad schools, but they are still schools.

As children change and develop, the teaching faculties of the parent often respond to changes in the child so that teacher and student evolve simultaneously. The child gives birth to the teacher. With children of different ages, the parent draws on different facets of himself, just as a musician would use the same musical faculties and knowledge to play different instruments. Much of this occurs without our even noticing. My older son learned to read when he was two and teaching him was effortless and natural. He asked what signs on the street said; he asked what the letters in the books we read were; we sang the alphabet and in a short time, he was reprimanding my husband for parking in an illegal space based on his reading of the parking sign. I’m not saying that all children learn to read so effortlessly, but all parents, except the incompetent, teach their children some things in this effortless way and most parents can teach their children many more things than they are accustomed to teaching them now that childhood education has been professionalized.

So the question of whether your wife will be an important teacher in her children’s lives is settled. She will. Even a parent who fails to fully respond to the typical child’s avid desire to learn and know is in some sense teaching. Since you and your wife could never in yourselves be sufficient as teachers of your children, the question is how much teaching you will do, as well as how much choice you will have in their other teachers, in what and how their other teachers teach them and in what they learn from other children.

I think your wife’s hesitation, especially when she still has her first baby and is adjusting to so much change, is good. It’s best to approach homeschooling with humility, a sense of one’s own limitations, and the understanding that while parents are the primary teachers in childhood, especially until the ages of ten to twelve, they can never be sufficient as teachers or teach everything. Your children will learn many things from others, especially from some of the greatest teachers of all, those found in books. The most important role of all teachers is to help the child learn on his own. The whole thrust of education should be this.

The desire to teach one’s own children is so basic and primary that when it is frustrated parents become unnaturally detached from their children. In many schools, you find parents hovering around, doing often mindless and menial activities at the request of the school because they desire to be involved and engaged with their children and they are trying to prevent this state of detachment. They are often expressing, I believe, a frustrated desire to be more involved in their child’s learning. Even if you do not homeschool your children, your wife will probably find herself hovering on the outskirts of your children’s education, trying to find a door in, and this hovering will in itself be time-consuming and demanding, particularly because of the boredom of the menial tasks that schools create for parents.

I once asked a mother of three children why she was homeschooling. She said, “Because it’s easier.” Having her children in school was just too much work (her children had been in a Catholic school). The modern school is not just a place a child goes for a few hours a day. It is an entire way of life. It invades virtually every hour of a family’s life, if only in its constant organization of free time. The school has no sense of its own limits, and that is because it is founded on the presumed incapacity of the parent and the learner. Neither should be left to their own devices. The parent must obey the school teacher, and help the child complete the huge amount of paperwork that in many cases is sent home.   

I agree with the mother I mentioned. While homeschooling is a great responsibility and a lot of work, especially in a state which requires a fair amount of paperwork, it is not always more difficult than having a child in school. And it is much more satisfying.

In the first five or six years of public schooling, children learn how to read, write and do basic math. They also learn a smattering of U.S. and world history and some basic science. All of what they learn can be taught to most children in a couple of hours four days a week at home. Anyone of average intelligence can teach a child to read, write and do basic math. The resources available today  are staggering. I suggest anyone with a baby who is interested in homeschooling get in touch with the homeschooling organization in their state or immediate area. There is probably an organization nearby with an active chatboard and it’s worth listening in. I’m sure your wife will find that other parents do not possess some magic skills that she does not have. They learn from their children how to be teachers.

In school, children are deprived of some essential things that a home can supply easily and without special expertise.

The sheer ugliness children are exposed to in school classrooms, the cinder-block walls and fluorescent lights, the absence of pleasing images and music, is harmful to the spirit of learning. The birds in the field are surrounded with glory. Why is the child denied it? Perhaps we should argue that a child is as good as a bird or as good as a dog, who delights in being outdoors. You can teach your child some things simply by exposing him to what is beautiful and everywhere. 

The famous writer John Ruskin was homeschooled by his mother, who taught him lessons in the morning. He spent his afternoons outside playing alone while his mother was nearby working in the garden or doing basic tasks. This is where his exquisite sensibility was nurtured,  in his own yard during this unstructured time. This was no paradise certainly, and later he complained that his parents were cold and un-affectionate, but this is where his enthusiasm and love of beauty were fed. It is hard to believe he would have become Ruskin if he had spent those afternoons doing worksheets in a flourescent-lit room. Not every child is a potential Ruskin, but I believe every child, without exception, needs this time to encounter nature and learn from its variety and complexity that there are unifying principles beneath infinite variety.

Your children will not learn in school about warriors, martyrs, kings, and saints. In the place of heroism, the school wll teach them competence.  They will not be exposed to the fairy tales and myths that have captivated children for ages. Of the heroes in the Bible, they will learn absolutely nothing at all. They will not acquire in this enjoyable way one of the most important lessons: that life is a battleground and every person is called upon to be a hero.

Can your wife read fairy tales aloud? Can she read stories of great battles to your son? I’m sure she can.

The real challenge of homeschooling is not the subject matter, because there are plenty of books and people to help with that. The real challenge is the task of establishing one’s authority as a parent. A mother needs to establish her authority anyway, whether her children go to school or not. So mastering this aspect of her relationship with her children is not wasted. Some children are naturally obedient and compliant, but most at some point challenge their parents’ direction. It’s good to think of this as a separate subject matter. If there is a problem with behavior, you have to focus on it. As your child’s teacher, you shouldn’t get in the habit of explaining why you are asking your child to do something. You should be prepared to stop everything and reestablish who is in charge.

So much time is wasted in school. There are days when teachers put students in front of movies or give them mindless worksheets. There is more than enough time to spare at home for interruptions, even many days in which no actual schooling occurs. Children should be taught from early on to do chores, something they often don’t have the chance to learn if they are in school. That is an important subject too.

And, a mother should have time off. If children aren’t used to computers or television, they automatically find educational activities on their own.

Homeschooling is work and sacrifice, it is not a perfect choice because there is no perfect choice, and it is often a response to an absence of better choices, not the belief that school by definition is  bad. The ideal system, in my opinion, would allow parents to send their children to good schools – schools that provided the essentials I mentioned and that did not try to usurp the home – for a much shorter day. Fortunately, as a result of the homeschooling movement, one of the greatest grass roots movements in the history of America, those types of schools are forming in many parts of the country. Homeschoolers have formed cooperative ventures in inexpensive forms.

If your wife remains hesitant, suggest she try it for a year or two and not commit to the long haul.

The child desires to learn. The parent desires to teach. It is an ancient bond, and I think every parent should simplify the mission. The goal is teach your children to love and defend what is worthy of loving and defending.  The ability to teach is there. Your wife will discover it in herself as her children grow. The skill arises naturally in the right conditions. It is one of the greatest gifts we possess and, as much as we love our children, the desire to teach them, at its best, springs from a love of something far greater and the yearning to replicate or realize its eternal splendor.

 

                                                                           — Comments — 

Elena writes:

I have some thoughts for the reader who wrote in about his and his wife’s consideration of homeschooling for their son. My credentials for offering advice: I was homeschooled, my brother and sister were homeschooled, several of my cousins were homeschooled, and I grew up hanging out with other homeschooled kids. My mom is now a private tutor for homeschoolers, and I’ve talked to lots of parents in depth. I have some experience with the whole process.

First and foremost: DO NOT comply with your state’s regulations regarding sending notification to the state about your child’s home education, and DO NOT enroll your kids in public school, ever, if you want them to be able to learn at home. No matter what the state laws “require,” there is no database of kids who are school age or about to be school age – except the database built from the paperwork filed during enrollment and notification. The state, and the public school system, will not be aware of your child’s existence unless you make them aware by filling out paperwork. I know this sounds terrible, saying “go ahead and ignore state law,” but as soon as you submit a form, your control of your child’s education is over. If your readers don’t want to take my word for it, Laura, I highly recommend that they talk to many other homeschooling parents, and try to find out how many of them have worked within the system, and how many have simply declined to engage with it. But from my experience, it’s simply disastrous to voluntarily walk into a government office and register your kid’s existence. After that, there’s no going back: the bureaucracy will take any measures possible to make your child’s education difficult, and to get that child enrolled in public school (and get the federal funds allocated per head flowing to the school) by any means necessary. That’s my two cents.

On to practical considerations of curriculum. I was lucky enough to be raised in a large family with, generally, a high level of education and teaching experience, and there was always someone to teach me what I wanted to know – it wasn’t just two parents making it happen, as in your reader’s case. I can see that the idea of taking on the teaching of a variety of subjects one may not know well would be daunting, and certainly there are always going to be gaps. But there are ways to fill these gaps, like:

1) Correspondence schools. I used Calvert School for a while, and my mom and I both liked them, but there are many others. This gives a framework to at-home education, which may be most beneficial for kids who are a little older, maybe 10 or so and up. As I think Laura already said, most parents can teach most kids anything they need to learn when they’re little.

2) Private tutors. Some professional tutors can be very expensive, and if finances are a consideration, I urge homeschooling parents to think outside the box. For example, do you have a family friend, or the child of a family friend, who’s in college? A smart college student who’s gotten an A in two or more courses in a discipline is capable of teaching kids the basics. I tutored chemistry while I was in college, and two semesters of general chemistry with labs and one semester of organic chemistry with a lab were more than sufficient to enable me to tutor high school students in their classes, tutor college students taking the classes I’d completed, and actually independently teach supplemental chemistry classes to younger kids. For $20 an hour once or twice a week, your kids can get a great grounding in the sciences, foreign languages, math, or music. Also, other homeschooling parents might want to trade expertise. If you’re an engineer, you can trade an hour a week of teaching their kids the basics of mechanics or physics for an hour a week of whatever they’re expert in. At least half of the other homeschooling parents will know how to play the piano, or draw, or do calculus, or something else desirable.

3) Get your kids interested in reading. I think Laura already made this point, but it’s crucial enough to restate. This is important not only because of the information to be learned from books, but for the knowledge of grammar, spelling, and syntax one absorbs from well-written books. I have a career as a writer and editor, not because I have a certification (although I do have an English degree, admittedly), but because I’ve read so much that I can write and edit rings around recent college graduates who don’t know how to use a semicolon. You learn this from reading great books.

4) If you are shaky on essay-writing, get a tutor for that, period. Whether your kids go to high school after homeschooling, go to college after homeschooling, or get a job after homeschooling, being able to construct a well-written and well-thought-out essay will give them an enormous edge. If they can read and write really well, they’ll have an advantage in learning every subject when they get to it, even if their actual knowledge of that subject is a little neglected when they’re kids.

I wish this reader, and any others who are interested in homeschooling, absolutely the best of luck. Speaking as a former homeschool kid, it was the best experience ever. I got to spend so much time with my grandparents that would otherwise have been wasted in a concrete box. I learned to think for myself. I had lots of time to read. And, of course, I got an education, too. Any parents thinking of doing this: I salute you!

Laura writes:

Thank you for the suggestions.

I did not encounter problems with complying with homeschool regulations. (One of my children went to school and the other was homeschooled from third grade on.) They actually worked as an incentive to put together a portfolio of my son’s work every year. But many homeschoolers recommend absolute minimal compliance.

On the issue of private tutors, there are many possibilities. Elena’s advice to hire college or even high school students is good. Children often like learning from a teenager they can look up to and admire.

There are growing options on the Internet, with whole schools available online, and individual courses. Online learning, however, has drawbacks and it is not a good idea to leave a student on his own in front of the computer for long stretches.

Thomas F. Bertonneau writes:

I wish to encourage Greg Jinkerson in his determination to home school his children. 

During the recent summer I had the pleasure to design and supervise a ten-day intensive reading-and-writing curriculum for two pupils of middle-school age, both of whom have been home schooled. 

I asked the two young people to read a dozen essays that I had selected from the three-dollar-and-fifty-cents Dover anthology of Great English Essays, edited by Bob Blaisdell. This is the same collection that I use when I teach freshman composition at my college in Upstate New York. College students find themselves challenged even by the later entries in Blaisdell’s table of contents, where the language (as in W. H. Hudson or Virginia Woolf) is modern and largely colloquial. With a little preparation and by consulting a dictionary, the summer pupils managed even Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, with their eighteenth-century rhetorical elegances. 

To sum up: The two early-adolescent scholars understood more clearly and wrote in response more cogently to the readings than do most college students who pass through my classroom; and the youngsters accomplished in ten days what many of my college students barely accomplish in fifteen weeks. What explains the stark differential of achievement? 

The home environment has been shielded from the corruptions of so-called popular culture. It has been dedicated solely to civilized enculturation, with plenty of books on hand and plenty of good music, and actual musical practice, to inform the daily routine. There is a strong religious component in the household. Of electronic distractions there are none. There is, of course, no non-academic instruction – that is to say, the studious hours are not eaten away by what amounts to political indoctrination, as they are in public schools. The supervising parent cooperated daily with the instructor, issuing the instruction “not to spare criticism” in responding to written work. These circumstances helped the young masters to do work that was, for all intents and purposes, at the actual college level and the two swiftly sharpened their written expression, adding rich new vocabulary, in just a few days. 

In my experience, home-schooled college students usually outperform publicly-schooled college students. 

Home schooling their children is one of the activities that individual households can resolve to undertake in order to counteract the continuing degradation of the social scene and protest the destruction of education in the so-called public schools.

Laura writes:

Many homeschoolers are doing what is now considered college-level work in high school.

However, not all homeschooled children are bright and capable of reading Addison. Even for these children there are many advantages to homeschooling. The child of lower mental ability who is not, and never will be, suited to challenging literature can cultivate his own abilities, especially by learning practical skills, and by not become a part of the tweeting-and-twitting herd. Once a child of lesser abilities is caught up in the herd, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to extract him.

Mr. Bertonneau raises another important issue. He speaks of homeschooling as a form of “protest.” Parents may do an imperfect job of it at home, but later in life their children will know that they stood by their convictions. And that is a very important lesson. So I think it’s important for someone like Mrs. Jinkerson to relax and realize she is accomplishing something by just keeping her children away from school. 

Jeanette V. writes:

On this subject, the best advice I can give is throw away your TV. When my daughter was born in 1976 my little black & white TV broke and we just never bothered to get another one. It was the best thing I did. Although I did not homeschool my daughter she did go to a private school.

She never did get into watching TV and learned to entertain herself. I vividly remember her going to a friend’s house and then calling me to come and bring her home as her friend was watching TV. That was BORING as far as she was concerned.

Laura writes:

Very good advice.

Let your children encounter boredom by not having a TV. It is the best thing for them.  They will find a way out of it on their own.

TV masks the loneliness of children today. They don’t have many, or any, siblings and their neighborhoods are dead. They are like old people in nursing homes with the television on to pass the day. Parents like it because it is the cheapest babysitter around.

Meredith writes:

In response to Mr. Jinkerson, I would love to give my two cents about homeschooling and how he might help his wife feel more confident about homeschooling their son and future children.

First of all, I am a full time mother and home educator to my five children. I teach a range of ages from thirteen to two, all with very different learning styles. I live in Texas, which is one of the best states in which to homeschool. Here, each home school is recognized as a tiny, very exclusive private school. There are many, many, resources available to me when I need encouragement, not just amongst my friends, but also on the Internet. We use Ambleside Online because I really believe in Charlotte Mason’s method, it allows us to tailor it according to our needs, and it is free to use. I have also heard good things about the Five-in-a-Row curriculum for very young children, but I never used it myself. Depending on the area, there may be a range of co-op situations, university model schools, or Classical Conversations.

One of my sons has special needs and has been in public school for the the last five years in order to receive therapy that our health insurance wouldn’t pay for. However, the strain of standing in two camps, so to speak, really became an issue last year, and because they had reduced his therapy to fifteen minutes per week, we decided to bring him home. I was worried that we would be harassed, but instead received praise and encouragement from the schools principal and my son’s other teachers. I realize that our experience is unusual in that regard, but the law in my state is very clear on those matters, so it was in their best interest to just be supportive of us. They’re still getting our tax money, and my son is doing much better at home, actually exceeding my expectations, so no one can really complain.

In my family’s case we received more opposition from my husband’s parents and mine than we did from the government. They thought we were insane. They didn’t think I could do it. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone told me I need to take more time for myself. Even my husband has been less than supportive at times, but is now totally on board. That had more to do with him being worried that I was overwhelmed or feeling a little neglected. Once our extended family saw how serious we were, they stepped back. My parents, who are retired government workers and die-hard liberals, have even helped us during financially rough spots with school supplies, and have paid for my two oldest sons to attend math classes at a “floating” Christian school, that meets once a week at different campuses through our county. They have seen the proof in the pudding. Their grandchildren are polite, obedient, respectful, and knowledgeable as compared to their peers in government schools.

By far the main reason to homeschool is to teach your children how to learn and think. As I stated before, I have five children. My eldest is a self learner who has an almost photographic memory. He devours books. His coin collection has lead to an interest in geography. My second son hates to read literature, but willingly listens to it. He loves to read for information, especially how-to books. So we have many books on origami, etc. Sometimes, if he folds origami while listening to me read (or Libri Vox) he retains much more. He has certain favorite origami artists and will look up information about them, so his interests lead him to learning. They are both very good in math, thanks to their wonderful teacher (not me!). My daughter is five and on the verge of reading. I am teaching her and my son who is delayed and only a slightly better reader at the same time. I call them my twins who are two and a half years apart. They both enjoy doing worksheets, so we do those things in the morning and read aloud after lunch. My daughter can memorize her Bible verses in one session, and her brother takes all week. My two year old is constantly bringing me books to read, unless he finds an errant crayon which he then applies to the wall, if paper is not available. Ah, such is life in my house. Messy, but always interesting!

I have known some who thought that by homeschooling their children they were ensuring that their children would grow up to be “good people” and then were shocked when a child rebelled. I remember a friend lamenting, “he was homeschooled!” when she described the boy her daughter ran away with after meeting him in a co-op. Educating a child at home won’t make him good, and other homeschooled children are not necessarily “good” either. Their parents might have forgotten to tell you that their child was expelled and they decided to teach their kids at home because they couldn’t afford private school! If you are considering joining a co-op, it might be good to politely discuss discipline and home dynamics at home before committing. Even better, form one yourself with others from your church!

Laura writes:

Meredith makes an important point when she says, “I have known some who thought that by homeschooling their children they were ensuring that their children would grow up to be ‘good people’ and then were shocked when a child rebelled.” Some people have utopian views of homeschooling and may even neglect aspects of a child’s development because homeschooling leads to complacency.

Homeschooling in and of itself will not ensure that your child is a motivated learner.

Homeschooling will not ensure that your child has an easy adolescence.

Homeschooling will not mean your family escapes serious tensions.

Parenthood is hard work. Family life is filled with difficulties (as well as incomparable joys and satisfactions). I think one of the best things about homeschooling is that it is much harder to evade the difficulties because they are right before you. Also, I have met a fair number of homeschooled children and I have to say that overall they retain their innocence much longer than schooled children. They remind me of the children I knew as a child. They are children, not small, cynical adults.

Hurricane Betsy writes:

You stated, “Meredith makes an important point when she says, “I have known some who thought that by homeschooling their children they were ensuring that their children would grow up to be ‘good people’ and then were shocked when a child rebelled.” Some people have utopian views of homeschooling and may even neglect aspects of a child’s development because homeschooling leads to complacency.”

Even if you don’t have “utopian views” of homeschooling, the above comments assume – and I see this everywhere in modern liberal society – that if your child (homeschooled or not) “turns out wrong”, or at best rebels, it has to be the parents’ fault, either through neglect, laziness or incorrect parenting ideas and techniques.

Oh, please! This is pure liberal humanist crap – that you can truly control another human being. Generations ago, parents (correctly) refused to blame themselves for a wayward child, whether that child was 5 years old or 50. It was just understood that God would give some parents “good” children and others got “problem children”. Now, though, every darn little thing “wrong” with your child is always someone’s fault, usually the parents’, of course. This forms an excuse for more and more government intervention.

And if parents today have quite successful, happy and rather wonderful adult children, so many of these parents like to puff their chests out and pat themselves on the back. I see this so much, I could write a little book on it. Personally, I take no credit for what’s good about my own, and none of the blame for their flaws. There’s something much bigger at work here than the well-meaning efforts of a couple of humans.

No, that doesn’t mean you should do anything you want, like throwing them into ice water at birth to “strengthen” them/beat them with a stick/etc., or leave the children completely to their own devices. It means that there’s countless unknowable factors that go into what your child ultimately becomes. Mostly genes, I’d say, and parents’ techniques are probably nowhere near the top of the list.

Laura writes:

I agree with Betsy’s point that the power of parents is wildly exaggerated (though I don’t think I was guilty of exaggerating it). There are no perfect choices in education because people are not perfectible. Nevertheless, parents should strive for perfection of what the child is in his imperfection. A child may be selfish, impulsive and aggressive. He may never be like the child who is innately kind and sensitive.  While the first child may never through the parents’ efforts become like the second, he may be forced to see his anti-social nature, he may be rejected for it, and others in a family may be taught how to properly deal with the person who is wicked and anti-social. In any event, no loving parent can be indifferent to the moral welfare of a child, regardless of what his ultimate power may be to correct or change the child. When the prodigal son returns home in the parable, the father does not blame himself for what the son has done. What the father does in response – he welcomes his son home –  determines  not the character of the prodigal son but the character of the family, as a source of reasonable forgiveness and compassion, a spiritual refuge and a reward for goodness.

The belief that what parents do determines all outcomes is cultivated by modern psychology. It causes many problems, including resentment by grown children, guilt that ruins marriages and the desire by some to have no children at all. Nevertheless, the idea that the family is simply a vehicle for genetically-determined outcomes is preposterous too and has its own impassioned followers.

A reader writes:

Laura wrote: “Let your children encounter boredom by not having a TV.” 

If they aren’t used to watching TV, they are not as likely to become bored because their brains haven’t disengaged from life due to spoon-fed entertainment. The first and only time I remember my son saying he was bored was the day after I allowed him to watch children’s videos he had brought home from a library. I was surprised at how quickly he had forgotten how to entertain himself. 

With homeschooling you don’t have to follow the schedule of public schools. You could possibly school for fewer hours per day but year-round if you like, as Joyce Swan did with her ten children, in which case your children will probably finish high school earlier than “normal” and could start college classes online, or at age 16 they could earn credits at a local community college if that’s the policy there.

The reader adds:

A friend who had used public and private schools, and homeschooled, told me, “There is no easy road.” Adam and Eve had the perfect Father in the most perfect environment the world has known but they still blew it.

Laura writes:

Yes, there is no easy road, except for the person who could care less. So fret not thyself, and do the best you can.

Mr. Jinkerson writes:

Thank you for the wonderful and thoughtful response to my question about homeschooling. As usual, I am impressed by the wisdom of what you have written. My wife also enjoyed it. Like all expressions of common sense, what you wrote about the instinctive desire within all parents to teach echoes something that I had felt to be true without quite knowing how to say it. You say that every home is a school. I often think that the motto of government schools is just the opposite, that homes are the source of ignorance and dysfunction. Since that is clearly what so many of the bureaucrats and educational experts in charge think about home life, I feel it is my duty to keep my children firmly out of that sphere. 

One reader mentioned the importance of avoiding utopian thinking while pursuing homeschooling. This is excellent advice of course, and I would only reply by saying that it is precisely my suspicion of Dewey-ite utopianism that has driven me away from state schools. Naturally I recognize that I am no more capable of providing my children with all of the knowledge and tools they need to succeed than any other individual. But as Mrs. Wood has pointed out so incisively, often the greatest teachers are books, and of those there will be no shortage in our house. 

Mrs. Wood has also frequently addressed one very troubling aspect of modern theories of education, and that is the notion that books cannot be penetrated or understood outside the tutelage of academic experts. I find this idea to be simply evil, indeed to be anti-intellectual; those who subscribe to such Gnosticism not only hold others back from knowledge, but they often refuse to enter into it themselves. And yes, I do realize that there are some good and gentle people who are trying valiantly to combat the spirit of this age as teachers from within the state schools, but those brave souls do not appear to be the run of the mill. Liberalism is the default intellectual atmosphere not only among administrators, but often among the teachers as well. 

I’m glad that Mrs. Wood approves of my wife’s hesitation to take homeschooling head on. If anything, I could probably benefit by absorbing some of my wife’s natural humility in this regard. I thought that the woman friend of yours who described homeschooling her kids as ‘easier’ than having them in school was an encouraging sign that confirms my own instinct. You also make a very good point about the benefits of homeschooling for parents themselves: “They learn from their children how to be teachers.” 

What makes the essay so helpful over all is the emphasis that you have placed on the way in which all forms of knowledge are intertwined. This wonderful web of truths is neither cherished nor acknowledged in modern education schemes. In schools, academic subjects are violently pulled out of the natural context of moral and domestic learning, and the results are disastrous. You have mentioned elsewhere in your article about “Boys and School” that the modern disappearance in schools of any reference to a student’s comportment or moral virtues is a sad reflection of this secularization, one that overemphasizes academics at the expense of character development. Since I believe that character and knowledge are organically indivisible, I have even more reason to avoid schools where the two are divided.

 About Jeannette V’s advice on TV, thank you. My wife and I have agreed to ban television.