The other day my daughter mentioned to a university classmate that she was homeschooled, and the other student recoiled in shock and disgust.
My kid said "What? You are acting like I was raised by the Klu Klux Klan. I wasn't. Homeschooling is simply another form of education."
Ever since his fourteenth birthday my son has been exasperated with me, and frequently asks why I do, oh, anything and everything.
I quickly learned to answer "Because I am old, and stupid."
He accepted this, and proceeded with the activities most dear to an adolescent.
Except one day he asked why I was doing something so obviously routine and necessary I answered "Because I am old, and stupid, and boring!"
He paused, thought about it, and replied "You're not boring."
One of the most irritating aspects of my grownup life is the fact that I spend a great deal of time with people who care about academic rankings.
This is repugnant to me not because I disagree that it is important to strive for excellence - oh no. My problem with rankings is the fact that they are meaningful in a factory where input = output.
How does that translate to education, where standards can only be reliably applied to basic and largely irrelevant goals like achievement on standardised tests, or the performance of school sports teams?
Speaking of pioneer mythologies, America is largely responsible for giving the world the stereotype of the self-made man.
It would be so nice if it were true - but even those of us who were invented out of a scrap heap have someone in our history who deserves credit and gratitude.
