The Cult of Homeschooling
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- Опубликовано: 14 дек 2024
- Stereotypes say that homeschool kids are a little, well, ~quirky~ but is that because they grew up in a "cult" of sorts? The American homeschool landscape is currently undergoing an especially fraught paradigm shift with upwards of 2 million kids being taught at home as of 2023. This surge is fueled by a range of sociopolitical factors, from the relatable (school shootings are scary!!!!) to the undeniably sinister (ahem, IBLP… ahem, Lord of the Flies-style unschooling practices that overlap with the troubled teen industry???). Homeschooling-with its insular communities, lack of regulation, and sometimes radical approaches to child-rearing-can add up to something eeeeeeeerily reminiscent of a fringey, paranoid sect. To help parse it out what “cult category” homeschooling falls into, I interviewed my pal (and homeschool *survivor*) Justina Sharp. This is delicate subject matter, and everyone’s experiences are different, so if you’re interested in learning more, be sure to check out the resources in our shownotes!
as someone who was homeschooled my actual whole life and has religious trauma; i really hate the way other homeschooled ppl talk about how they weren't like those "weird religious homeschooled kids" bc me and those other kids didn't choose to grow up like that :// it makes me feel like it was my fault for being in that position when it was literally forced upon me. and the fact that i've been hearing it since i was a kid from other kids and still even into adulthood EVERY TIME someone talks about homeschooling is just so disheartening; its like i'll never be normal to people.
Omg I just found you because of an old Two Hot Takes episode. I used to be in the JMS korean cult and resonated so hard with everything you said there. So excited to find this podcast!
I'm french, and the public school system is the most common trajectory, because it's affordable and relatively good (not amazing lol, it has to improve in a loooot of points, but at least it's not underfunded). I had a good education in the public system, and homeschooling is a rare thing here, so I may be biased. I do question homeschooling, because school is one of the main spaces of secondary socialisation for people. It teaches us to go out of our comfort zone, build human connections outside of the family and, as you said, be confronted to divergent opinions. Secondary socialisation and interactions with other kids is very important for kids development, as they are going to be adults too and need to learn social cues to navigate in the world. Of course you can provide that while homeschooling, by putting your child in extracuricular activities but to what extent ? What if your child is very shy due to less exposure to the outside and has no friends ? I'm just talking about the social point of view here, obviously, I doubt that all parents are good instructors.
The public school system has its flaws too, with crappy teachers and bullying, biased programs, focusing on grades rather than creativity, overcrowded classrooms, being awful to neurodivergent people and the administration doing nothing against bullying cases..
Homeschooling can be good if well made, if you don't isolate them in a bubble. I think the most important thing is balance.. kids getting an education outside of home, with other children, with parental presence, so that they are confronted to different point of view...
I am very thankful to have been in a public school as my family life was crappy! My father tried to isolate me since he hates everyone on earth but hopefully he couldn't. Now he hates me for getting along with people he dislikes. But hey, if I had no other influence than my parents, it would be a disaster!
Critique: while the name “gifted and talented” could use some work, it’s absolutely necessary for gifted students, who WILL struggle later on without intervention that teaches them how to do the hard parts of learning.
I have long awaited this episode!!
Here is my perspective:
I was put through Canadian public school. (K-12, '04-'16)
My Husband, (M 29) teaches in a public elementary school, here in BC, Canada.
My youngest siblings have been homeschooled by my Parents since 2020 (both started in 3rd grade, and are currently in grade 7.)
I won't go into too many details as to what brought My parents to take an Unschooling approach with my siblings'education. Simply because it's too long of a story.
However, I'd like to share my perspective. I have many mixed feelings about homeschooling, I think there are some situations where children do benefit from a non traditional education. Overall, I don't think that most north americans can adequately homeschool children so they have the same skills as their peers.
My Parents were not equipped with the time, skills or patience, to Home school my siblings. At the time of choosing to pull my siblings out of public school. With my step-dad having a full time career (5 days a week, 13 hour days.) In addition to My Mother who has multiple jobs. My parents did not have adequate time to guide my siblings through their self design education.
At the age of 13, both of those kids are so far behind compared to the development of their non homeschooled peers.
They share one non family member friend. They will often go days (even up to a week) without leaving their home, going out in public to practice social skills and meet new people.
They have little to no reading comprehension skills and struggle with basic math skills like Multiplication and Fractions.
I don't agree with the idea of my siblings being better off with a homeschool education.
When I can see children younger than them, be educated publicly with access to educational assistance, provided with experiences to get them out in their local communities and follow a learning curriculum to put them on a similar basis of education to children their age.
I'm also Canadian (just one province over) and went to public school. I'm also a former public school teacher. We've chosen to homeschool our own kids, but I'm personally quite wary of unschooling. I think it can work if done right, but that requires a lot of parent involvement. I think a lot of people use unschooling as an excuse to just not actually homeschool their kids. They want to keep their kids out of public school, but they don't actually want to put in the effort themselves. Homeschooling should not be easy. It's a lot of work to do it well. Honestly, I find educating my own child takes a lot more out of me than being a public school teacher did. As a public school teacher, I was able to take breaks. But, as a homeschooling parent, it's all me all of the time.
I'd report your stepfather and mother for child neglect, if I were you. What are those poor kids doing all day? I can absolutely believe it's like that, because my sister managed to get to ninth grade without actually being able to read, thanks in no small part to the BC homeschooling system. Here in Québec, it's illegal to homeschool a child unless there's a legitimate medical excuse.
Yes! I wholeheartedly agree. Being a Homeschool parent doubles your work load as teacher and caregiver. Howeve, I personally believe you are a well equipped person to be able to pull of the dedication of home schooling.
I think that if done right, home schooling works for families who are able to dedicate themselves to doing it in an informative way. @@bdhesse
@@forest_greenI can appreciate you looking out for children. However, it's important to keep in mind that many personal details in my comment were left out to keep myself/ family matters somewhat private.
I can also assure you, these kids are not being neglected. They are provided with full time care, stable living situation and food security. They have regular check ins with self design "teachers." As a part of the Self Design Home Schooling which is available here in BC.
They are just uneducated and not socialized.
@bdhesse
Pardon my ignorance but what’s the difference between unschooling and homeschooling? thanks!
On the Waldorf thing- not all Waldorf schools follow anthroposophy, but the ones that do are very culty.
Can't wait until she talks about the cult of queering the American child!
Never even heard of home schooling as a kid . When I did I wondered how it could be legal. Except for teachers, no parents that I knew would've been qualified or capable of home schooling. A subject suggestion: the military. I was in the Navy. All military is very culty.
I understand that you need to make money as a content creator, but because of how many ad breaks you took and how long they were, it really felt frustrating because that’s not what people listen to podcasts for. One or two ad breaks per episode is fine, but your intro was half ads and ten minutes long as well as another five minutes of ads where I am in the video, not including any ads that you add after this point. Not tryna be rude but it’s just a bit much imo