Ticklish Ears

Apparently, I’m an amateur. And gullible. This is what I learned when I visited Natalie’s Ramblings, Rants & Remedies. She links to this NEA column by a Mr. Dave Arnold, perhaps one of the most inept attacks on homeschooling I’ve ever come across. I really should leave him alone, he’s so out of his league, but it’s important to realize that this is probably the way a lot of people think:

So, why would some parents assume they know enough about every academic subject to home-school their children? You would think that they might leave this — the shaping of their children’s minds, careers, and futures — to trained professionals. That is, to those who have worked steadily at their profession for 10, 20, 30 years! Teachers!

As Natalie says, “No analysis needed.”

Mr. Arnold also states:

The number of parents who could easily send their children to public school but opt for home-schooling instead is on the increase. Several organizations have popped up on the Web to serve these wannabe teachers. [me: Yep! That’s us. Wannabe teachers.] These organizations are even running ads on prime time television. [me: cue ominous organ music] After viewing one advertisement, I searched a home school Web site. [me: no doubt he considers this ample research on homeschooling]

He also selectively quotes from the website (Homeschool Central) he “searched” to make his point. Here’s one such well-trimmed statement that REALLY irritates him: “What about socialization? Forget about it!â€?

And Arnold’s response?

Forget about interacting with others? Are they nuts? Socialization is an important component of getting along in life. You cannot teach it. Children should have the opportunity to interact with others their own age. Without allowing their children to mingle, trade ideas and thoughts with others, these parents are creating social misfits.

A fuller (more honest) quote from Homeschool Central:

Forget about it! The whole point is to carefully choose your child’s social interaction. Socialization does indeed affect your children. Choose wisely those influences you want in their lives. The truth is, your children will get plenty of socialization from the neighborhood kids, church groups, and other outside activities.

Mr. Arnold is either misguided or dishonest. He certainly hasn’t put a lot of thought into his column, but he no doubt thinks it’s very clever.

He’s also humor-challenged. Read Natalie’s second post about one of her readers who sent Mr. Arnold a sarcastic response to his column and the reply that he received from Arnold. Well worth the price of admission.

[Hat tip: HE&OS]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 12th, 2005 at 9:05 pm and is filed under Homeschool, The Academic Echo Chamber. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.