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"For the African-American community there was a huge amount of pressure against it, because in America, the grandparents of today's home-schooled children fought for desegregation of schools.They thought, 'The public schools are going to save us.'" This really made me think about what the public school system has become, and how far removed it seems from the original public schools. The article also mentions teachers teaching to the test and constantly trying to medicate children, which is leading so far away from school being an environment where children want to be. I think that the article does a nice job of leaving the underlying message that home schooling is somewhat an alternative to public school because it puts desire and dedication back into education, which to me is extremely sad. Unfortunately, I think that until Public Schools begin to realize that education needs to leave room for growth, not just a syllabus designed for good test scores, the rate of homeschooling will keep rising.

In some cases, I believe home schooling takes away from a student's overall education experience. In a home school setting, students lose the sort of implicit curriculum that is learned in the classroom. Additionally, students lose the interaction with others on a daily basis in the classroom setting when they are home schooled. This family even recognizes that their student "misses the 'madness' of the classroom." Although, in the case of this family, home schooling still seems to be the perfect fit. Because of no other options for a better quality school than the one her son was at, and the fact that he was "losing his love for learning," home schooling was the obvious choice. The standing of today's public schools is unfortunate. NHERI director Dr Brian Ray claimed the following: "The failings of public schools have caused all of us, whether we are white or black, to come up with creative ideas about how we can educate children." It is sad to think that some school systems are so bad that parents believe they or online coursework from home is a better learning option for their developing student.

I agree with Amanda. There are definitely aspects of homeschooling that I believe are not beneficial. These negative aspects are in the implicit curriculum. Socialization is an important part of growing up and learning. Many job require you to be able to work well with others. The article mentions home-schooling co-operatives. These "[help] break the social isolation critics of home schooling often warn about." These co-operatives can minimize some of the lost social interaction, but not all. However, "about two million, or 4%, of American children are home-schooled." This is really a limited number so the socialization concern is not too great. Overall, I think it is wonderful that homeschooling is not just a "white" thing anymore. If the parents can make it work, I see no reason why the children should not at least be exposed to this option. I would rather see improvements in the school but since that it not going to happen overnight, I think this is a decent alternative in the mean time, especially it the option is not discriminatory by race.

This article is somewhat depressing. For instance, the statement, "Joyce Burges believes the day could soon be approaching when the local home-schooling co-operative, run by a group of committed parents, could be a real alternative to the public school, for children of all ages and ethnicities" is completely unethical. I do not agree with the homeschooling idea. I agree with Amanda that homeschooling takes away from students overall education. Students need to be with other students, learning in that setting. I think it is very upsetting to think that students could get a better education at home. For this particular family, it is sad there is no other option. I think that our society needs to work on school system, the overall education and the teachers in order to help our students in the long run.

To be honest, I am not a proponent of home schools. I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone who has been or appreciates the institution, I just see it as unnatural and stifling for a child. I believe that children should constantly be around other children and that schools provide this for them. I think that classical schooling can help to increase awareness of those around you, appreciate diversity of race, gender, appearance, and abilities, and it can increase improvement in the individual as they are in a setting with there peers and trying to perform better to keep up. My opinions aside, I found the article specifically interesting when it discussed the differences in reasoning that white families home school and that black families do. White families apparently try to avoid the topics of sex education and darwinism being presented to their children in a method which they do not agree with. Blacks, on the other hand, seem to be aiming to support the "love of learning" and maintain cultural pride and roots.

According to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), "about two million or 4% of American children are home-schooled." Home-schooling has been traditionally dominated by white Christian families in the rural south, but recently more black families have started home-schooling their children. "For the African-American community there was a huge amount of pressure against it, because in America, the grandparents of today's home-schooled children fought for desegregation of schools. They thought, 'The public schools are going to save us,'" says Dr. Brian Ray. According to a 2008 study by the Schott Foundation, "Over the last 25 years, the social, educational and economic outcomes for black males have been more systematically devastating than the outcomes for any other racial or ethnic group or gender." More African American families have started home-schooling in hopes of increasing their child's love for learning. Families also believe that classrooms are more favorable for girls. Another reason is to emphasis more focus on African American culture. Home-schooling does not work for all children and parents. "Many children who are home-schooled in their early years return to the class room when they reach secondary school age." I personally am not a fan of home-schooling, for I feel that children need to be able to develop relationships with other students and teachers. Also, through classroom education, students receive both the explicit and implicit curriculum.

Kelsey, one of my students last semester wrote a fascinating paper on this "unschooling" phenomenon - I am intrigued! Can't wait to hear your perspective on it.

""When you think about it, the way they do things in school is mostly for crowd control," said Karen Tucker, a mother of three boys who is an unschooler in Siloam Springs, Ark., and belongs to the Unschoolers of the Ozarks. "We don't duplicate the methods of school because we've rejected school."" I agree with Karen Tucker here. The American school system is a joke, I can say this because I have experienced it, and I am pretty sure the majority of the students that have gone through this system can say the same thing. I feel that I would have learned more if I was outside of the school system because I really didn't learn much in the school system to begin with. Teachers hardly taught, especially when they were mostly "crowd controlling" due to fights and misbehavior from students in the classroom. So, I can definitely see why they reject school, I know I would reject an education like the one I had for my children.