What shall we say about homeschooling?
Tyrades! by Danny Tyree
I realize such headgear has fallen out of style in our self-esteem-obsessed culture, but maybe I should belatedly don a dunce cap.
You see, one of my first columns (nearly 25 years ago) was a snarky dismissal of the nascent homeschooling movement.
I know at least two nice families who are homeschooling this year, so I wish to offer my apologies.
Granted, I, my wife, our son, our parents and our siblings were all products of the traditional public school system. (I didn’t use the term “product” until my doctor discovered that the moles on my back were, in fact, a “Best if Used By” emblem branded onto me at graduation. Why do I suddenly have Pink Floyd stuck in my head?)
But I now recognize homeschooling as a legitimate choice for many mainstream families.
Skeptics will accuse homeschool parents of harboring some phobia or “ism,” but many moms and dads really do worry about gang violence, drugs, overcrowding, plummeting test scores and other issues (including endless “instead of doing math, raid your parents’ clothes closet and mock their generation’s looming irrelevance” days).
Some people make fun of homeschool parents with strong religious beliefs, but is a teacher who questions the age of the earth any worse than a teacher who is constantly inquiring, “What’s the age of CONSENT? Asking for a friend”?
Some old-timers have been riled up ever since school prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance were cast aside, but it’s not just religion and civic pride that have been devalued. Even “moment of silence” now denotes the awkward seconds after the teacher asks, “Can anyone name the first three letters of the ABCs?”
I don’t mind paying property tax to support public schools and I have known many fine public school teachers over the years; but I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say many educators have gone off the deep end lately. I mean, does elementary school geography class really have to dwell on the racist origins of continental drift???
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Copyright 2023 Danny Tyree, All Rights Reserved. Credit: Cagle.com
