Family matters

"Education begins in the home"--How many times have we heard that well-worn adage from teachers, parents, social workers, politicians? Yet how many have taken it seriously? While David Guterson teaches his neighbors' kids in his high school classroom, he teaches his own at home. With one foot in each world, he examines life at school and the inexhaustible, inspiring opportunities offered by learning outside it. The most important lesson he has to teach is that no matter. Where education takes place, family matters; homeschooling is just one way of embodying that neglected truth and reaffirming the bond between parents and their child. Addressing the questions that any parent would ask - "What about your sons' socialization?" "Aren't you abandoning the schools?" "Is it legal?" "How can you afford it?"--Guterson also provides a broader context: the astonishing academic success of homeschooled children (regardless of their parents' own. Educational background), the history of public schools, philosophies of education, what psychological research tells us about learning, and how other societies have handled the teaching of children. He makes concrete proposals for cooperation between families and schools, giving examples of successful programs already begun. Throughout, he evokes the priorities and values that should be at the heart of any discussion of education: family life, individual fulfillment. Democracy, community.