… AND IN IDAHO
Another start of the school year, pro-homeschooling article. The lede is a classic:
Scott Finman of Post Falls has already hit the books at Johns Hopkins University this summer, where he is an engineering frosh on an $80,000 merit-based scholarship.
Cataldo’s Sarah Coad is a 22-year-old registered nurse, the youngest in her North Idaho College 2003 graduating class.
Microsoft has recognized her brother, Noah, a 24-year-old Texas A&M University student, with its most prestigious MVP award, targeting him as one of the most valuable young computer programmers in the world.
These focused young minds have been fed by the fire of academics — a fire built on hearth and home. They are homeschooled.
Of course, the reporter, amidst the positive review, feels it necessary to provide “balance” with a quote from an educrat. And, then there’s this rip from one of our own.
“It can definately [sic] be abused, just like anything,” said Carolin. “There are some people who, because they have total freedom, use that freedom to do very little. There’s an “unschooling” approach where you let your kids do their own thing with minimal requirements and instruction. It’s not anything my friends support, but there is that subcategory with it’s own support group.”
Pretty snobby. In the end, though, a homeschool grad gets the best of the educrats and doubters:
“The social aspect of homeschooling is considerably beyond the normal social interaction most students get,” said Coad. “Sure, I may not have had too many friends doing weed. But I wasn’t limited to kids just my age. I learned to interact with adults at an earlier age, and every student I came across in homeschooling became a friend.”
Well said. (via Isabel Lyman)