The problem I see with schooling, especially as it has been WRITTEN IN LAW here in New York state, is that they treat kids as broken or in need of fixing and parents as a clueless at best yet, at worse, as potential abusers.

I mean, c'mon, there is actually a legal statute in New York state called "educational neglect" which is considered a form of child abuse. Of course, educational neglect is anything not following the conventions of schooling as defined by the board of education.

The issue I have as a former teacher is that many of my former colleagues think they know better than the parents or even the kids themselves. They don't. We don't. A good teacher listens and observes in order to direct a kid down the path of fulfillment of their abilities. Teachers should never, EVER, be in the business of trying to parent their students because, in all honesty, they can't.

Now, even with kids with special needs, whether cognitive or emotional, after all these years of homeschooling, I'd still debate whether schools are the answer. Why? Because compulsory full-time attendance coupled with compulsory academic education SUCKS.

Not everybody is meant to be an academic. Not because they are deficient but because academic work is not supposed to be creative in the first place. You can be in trade school, studying air conditioning systems repair and learn more about science, technology, math, history and social sciences than following the god awful track of bullshit that is supposed to get you to college.

There's different ways of learning. Academics are not the only right way to do it. In truth, it's the worst way because it doesn't teach you how to do anything.

I am glad you're here because I really want the blog to focus this year more on education policy. Now that I am in the system as well, I have A LOT to say about what I've experienced so far and my frustrations with not homeschooling but the lack of social infrastructure that would make things easier for people like me (and maybe you as well), to raise independent learners.

I hate homeschooling because schooling is in the word. But even unschooling bothers me because, schools --or in my preference, open learning centers-- do serve a purpose.

If I could pick and choose how a school could serve my kids --whether full time or part time-- I wouldn't have a problem with schools.