The most common question for home educators, by far, is “What about socialization?” I’m always shocked. Socialization was always the least of my concerns.
Tag: children
Home Education: A “Public Benefit?”
Random comment from the ‘Net: “I think a tax break for home schooled families is a great idea. However, you forget that we live in a community, and no man is an island. Those families do benefit from living in a community where others are educated.” Whoa! This argument cuts both ways: the community arguably benefits more from brilliantly-educated home schoolers than home-schoolers benefit from badly-educated children at government schools; therefore, the home schoolers might deserve a break.
Pedants: Converting Good to Bad
Bureaucrats thrive on tidiness and regularity. The variations of real children are far too diverse and confusing for bureaucrats and pedants and certain economists. This zombie argument for the government provision of education should be nuked wherever it arises.
Question Authority
Ultimately, the questioning of authority is not only a good thing. It is a necessary thing. It is the backbone of freedom. Cherish the right to protest. Cherish the right to be different. Cherish the right to question authority.
We Don’t Need The State To Educate!
Do we really need the State to educate? Most people believe this to be the case, especially for the poorest among us. But E.G. West and James Tooley – and several others – have looked at the actual history of education, and found something startling: mass education existed before heavy state involvement.
Cultural Osmosis
The enemy of reason is authority. People either believe something because reason tells them it is a true belief, or they believe it because some authority figure, whether it be a teacher, a parent, a priest or a politician, tells them it is so and they choose not to actively engage their reason in questioning the truth of what they are taught.
Libertarianism is Self-Empowerment
One of the things I have been trying to do with this blog is look at why libertarianism isn’t widely accepted by the masses and how it can effectively be sold. In one entry I used Isaiah Berlin’s discussion of the Hedgehog and the Fox to argue that libertarians were hedgehogs in their thinking whereas Joe Public thinks like a fox.
UBI is Even Worse Than Welfare
The Universal Basic Income is much worse than the status quo. In fact, all the fundamental criticisms of the welfare state apply with even greater force.
What Children Reveal About Human Nature
When a child doesn’t follow through on a promise to “never do it again,” it’s because of Social Desirability Bias, not because they lack self-control. Kids say stuff that sounds good to avoid negative consequences. In other words, they’re acting just like adults, minus the subtlety.
Children Are Not Interchangeable Cogs
Variations of this picture of educational cogs have been widely distributed in schools. Education works best, we are told, when all the parts work together. The picture shows three gears, arranged in a circle. If you remember your studies of mechanics, this arrangement cannot possibly work.