I am glad to be of help! The concerns you raise are rather typical of someone first exposed to the idea of family education. Please do not hesitate to ask about anything that interests you.

1 – Rich kids in the US on the average do fine under any method of education. Homeschooling makes a big positive difference for poor kids, who on the average don’t do well in public schools. However, there are other factors in play here that show the discrepancies between social and economic statuses of families.

Actually, homeschooling families are overall poorer on the average than non-homeschooling families with comparable parental education levels. Basically, parents choose to put a chunk of their energy into educating kids rather than making money.

2 – I don’t see a reason to call family educators “radical.” It’s not a rare method of learning, with 4% of kids overall and 7% of kids in families with college-educated parents. It works well as proven by many studies. It does not involve any strife or conflict with other systems of education – in fact, in many places there are hybrid systems where kids take some classes in public or private schools. It seems… pretty normal to me 🙂

3 – As someone who witnessed Soviet Union falling apart first hand, I don’t see government control as means to achieve quality in complex systems. Sometimes it can, and other times it can’t.

You mention the complexity of family education, and you are absolutely right. It is a combination of many living networks and systems involving thousands of people, communities, organizations, families, clubs, companies. It is very diverse. I like to think of it as a large ecosystem.

From: Muvaffak Gozaydin
Date: 2011/3/14
Subject: RE: [P2P Foundation] New Comment On: Family Educator Commons
To: [email protected]

Dear Maria :
Yes this is my firast exposure to homeschooling.
1.- I can understand that some very rich people do not like the schools avaialable, public or private
then they educate (?) their children according to some rules of the government . ( Right ) This is not permitted in many
countries. Compolsory education in many countries.
2.- Some radical people who do not like schol system in USA and they decide to educate their chi,ldren by themselves.
To me it is fine as long as they have a mother of college graduate with honor ( yes with honor , not every college graduate is capable of teaching at home ) That is also ok.
3.- But the picture I have seen in your article was not understandable by me at all.
It is so complicated, so not controlled by government authorities ( !!!!)
4.- Thanks now you put some insight to homeschooling. I have to believe that homeschooling is not that bad as I think of.
I believe in you . I learned one more thing that ” one should not dig a subject, if he does not know anything about it ”

Thanks million Maria .
best regards

muvaffak gozaydin

From what you wrote, it is clear this is one of your first exposures to the idea of homeschooling. I suggest you take some steps to research family education methods, or you risk assuming many things that aren’t true.

Currently, about 7% of kids with college-educated parents homeschool in the USA. Overall, about 4% of all kids are homeschooled, the number that’s been growing by 10% a year for the last fifteen years or so (faster for college-educated parents). This population does quite well on standardized tests, college admissions, socialization metrics and any other comparable study of child education and development. US universities, including all Research One and Ivy League universities, are happy to admit homeschoolers, because they typically have good work ethics, study habits and maturity.

Moreover, parental socioeconomic status has little bearing on the success of homeschooling, but makes a big difference in public schools. Here is an interesting comparison.

USA data by free meal rate (that is, parent poverty):

Free and Reduced Meal Rate PISA Score
Schools with less than 10% 551
Schools with 10-24.9% 527
Schools with 25-49.9% 502
Schools with 49.9-74.9% 471
Schools with more than 75% 446
U.S. average 500
Reference: http://nasspblogs.org/principaldifference/2010/12/pisa_its_poverty_not_stupid_1.html

USA data for homeschoolers, by family income, comparing them to the national average on standardized tests:
$34,999 or less—85th percentile
$35,000–$49,999—86th percentile
$50,000–$69,999—86th percentile
$70,000 or more—89th percentile
Reference: http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200908100.asp

hi Maria, we moderate comments twice a day …

Anyone engaging in the essential activity of deschooling, deinstitutionalising our children’s lives can usefully read Ivan Illych http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Illich I first read him in the early 70s & would wish for a a faster uptake of the concept 🙂

Here is a link to a site that has lots of his work available on the net. It includes the iconoclastic Deschooling Society. http://www.preservenet.com/theory/Illich.html

I am tutoring several children one-to-one but unfortunately they are all still at schools (mostly k-6). Their parents have not yet, & may never, make the leap. So I just subvert the brainwashing of the schools & celebrate the reality & potential of the kids. (Another Illych book is Celebration of Awareness)

Thanks again Maria for this splendid airing of the issues, challenges & various engagements with alternatives.

🙂
minh

I’m very excited about this. It’s closer to homeschooling in its intimacy, and it allows the families involved to help shape the school. I’m still paying tuition (about what I paid for child care when my son was younger), but now it isn’t needed to pay a mortgage on a school property. It can be used to bring in lots of enthusiastic people to teach Spanish, music, science, math, and more.

Perhaps this model will allow more working parents to choose a freer education for their children.