Things I Like About Homeschooling

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Almost 20 years ago, John Taylor Gatto gave his acceptance speech for New York City teacher of the year. The themes he discusses are as relevant today as the day he uttered them. A link to his full speech is provided below, but I have pulled out some interesting insights and added my comments below. If you decide to read the whole article, you will notice that he has some rather extreme view points, but he also provides a lot to think about as we design our homeschool environment. I hope you are challenged by the comments. Feel free to discuss your ideas and comments on our Community Forum.

I've noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my twenty-five years of teaching - that schools and schooling are increasingly irrelevant to the great enterprises of the planet. No one believes anymore that scientists are trained in science classes or politicians in civics classes or poets in English classes.

This quote speaks to the heart of the constructivist philosophy of education. Learning comes through experience. Children learn best when they are experiencing their education through authentic and challenging projects that require students, parents, and even others in the community to work together. Learners must move beyond reading or memorizing information and begin analyzing and evaluating what is being learned.

The truth is that schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders…it [school] rings a bell and the young man in the middle of writing a poem must close his notebook and move to different cell.

Of course, the idea that kids learn nothing outside of following orders is hyperbolic, but his point is a well taken. Schools generally promote conformity over individuality. I love that homeschooling provides an environment where individual interests can be pursued, and children are not forced to work within the confines of a school bell or schedule. My 8 year-old son Jaden has a great imagination and is a tactile kinesthetic learner. He spends over an hour each day running between two walls in our house playing out a grand science-fiction saga in his head. He calls it his Game. Without homeschooling, there would be no time to nurture his creative spirit. This is not necessarily the fault of the schools. You can imagine what a class would look like if Jaden's quirkiness spread and you had 25 kids running around the room in a dream world.

Here is another curiosity to think about. The homeschooling movement has quietly grown to a size where one and a half million young people are being educated entirely by their own parents. Last month the education press reported the amazing news that children schooled at home seem to be five or even ten years ahead of their formally trained peers in their ability to think.

Keep up the good work :-).

• It is absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to sit in confinement with people of exactly the same age and social class. That system effectively cuts you off from the immense diversity of life and the synergy of variety. . .
• It is absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to listen to a stranger reading poetry when you want to learn to construct buildings, or to sit with a stranger discussing the construction of buildings when you want to read poetry.
• It is absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to move from cell to cell at the sound of a gong for every day of your natural youth in an institution that allows you no privacy and even follows you into the sanctuary of your home demanding that you do its "homework".”

Homeschooling children have the opportunity to live life with some amount freedom and flexibility. I see so many school children that have no down time. By the time they ride the bus home from school, participate in after school activities, eat dinner and complete their homework – it is time for bed. Where is the time to be a kid? Where is the time to interact with adults and people in the community? Where is the time for curiosity? Where is the time to pursue your passions?

Gatto describes seven pathologies that he believes must be taken into consideration in order for real school reform to occur. I will comment on how I believe homeschooling counteracts these issues.

I want to tell you what the effect is on children of taking all their time from them - time they need to grow up - and forcing them to spend it on abstractions. You need to hear this, because no reform that doesn't attack these specific pathologies will be anything more than a facade.

1. The children I teach are indifferent to the adult world. This defies the experience of thousands of years. A close study of what big people were up to was always the most exciting occupation of youth, but nobody wants to grow up these days and who can blame them? Toys are us.

A few months ago, my son told my husband that he enjoyed listening to adult conversations because he learns lots of interesting things. Note to self - watch what you talk about with the kids around! Homeschool children spend much of their day with adults and have the time to visit professionals, nursing homes, and watch adult interactions.

2. The children I teach have almost no curiosity and what they do have is transitory; they cannot concentrate for very long, even on things they choose to do. Can you see a connection between the bells ringing again and again to change classes and this phenomenon of evanescent attention?

Homeschooling children are some of the most curious kids I know. They have time to ask questions and find the answers. They are not afraid to ask questions about things they don't understand, and they have the time to learn more about the world so that they have more questions to ask.

3. The children I teach have a poor sense of the future, of how tomorrow is inextricably linked to today. As I said before, they have a continuous present, the exact moment they are at is the boundary of their consciousness.

I believe most homeschooling parents instill in their children a sense of purpose beyond just academic success and communicate the message that their children can make a difference in the world and that the world needs them in order to be a better place. The simple fact that a parent would spend hours each day teaching their children conveys this purpose and their children's importance.

4. The children I teach are ahistorical, they have no sense of how past has predestined their own present, limiting their choices, shaping their values and lives.

Here is a shout-out to all of my classical education friends. Too little history is generally not an issue with many homeschoolers.

5. The children I teach are cruel to each other, they lack compassion for misfortune, they laugh at weakness, and they have contempt for people whose need for help shows too plainly.

Most of the homeschoolers I know are compassionate and empathetic children. Parents of homeschoolers have the time to teach empathy and to provide opportunities for children to serve in the community. The homeschool group I am a part of sings at a nursing home once a month. Many of the homeschool families I know take their children to volunteer in the soup kitchen or rescue mission. Even at home, my two older children have time to help their youngest sibling as they observe her needs. Just this morning, Jolie Hope (5 yrs) was so sweet in attending to the needs of her 2 yr old sister when she was frustrated. They would miss this interaction if they were in school.

6. The children I teach are uneasy with intimacy or candor.

Homeschool children have the freedom to be themselves and to not feel judged by peers or pressure to conform to habits and personalities they observe in the classroom. When my children are quirky or wierd at home I usually think it's cute. Our children receive acceptance for who they are instead of embarrassment.

7. The children I teach are materialistic, following the lead of schoolteachers who materialistically "grade" everything. . .

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is that my children are not conditioned to learn and pursue knowledge for a “grade” but to learn for learning’s sake. A true love of learning and curiosity can develop without a sense of competition or the feeling that a perfect score is the ultimate goal of their education.

8. The children I teach are dependent, passive, and timid in the presence of new challenges. This is frequently masked by surface bravado, or by anger or aggressiveness but underneath is a vacuum without fortitude.

I believe a homeschooling environment can encourage children to be risk takers and of course they are less likely to feel the need to put on airs in order to be cool or to get attention since there is little peer pressure.

Having spent many years working in public schools, I have a heart for children who have no other option. I hope that school reform can occur, but I am very thankful that I am able to provide my children an education in an environment where they reach their potential and are not being asked to conform to a broken system.

Read the Entire Speech

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