I found something else in my old files the other day. It's a copy of a letter to the editor that my daughter, Melissa and her homeschooling friend, Anna, wrote in 1997. It was a response to a school administrator's letter which in turn was responding to an article written by Wendell Berry titled "Homeschooling Offers Hope of Effective Education."
The girls read the school administrator's response and got so irritated they decided to write a letter to the editor together, which did get printed. This was back in 1997. Here's their letter:
Dear Editor,
On February 16th, Wendell Berry wrote an interesting article on homeschooling. We are writing this because we were very disappointed in the letter the school administrator wrote criticizing Mr. Berry's article.
Mr. Thornton declared teachers "experts" on what was best taught to kids. If the teachers are experts, our parents should have learned everything they needed to know and had the capability to remember it.
Our parents know how we learn and what we need or want to learn much better than any teacher could, because they are with us more. So why should our parents send us to school if they have the time to teach us themselves?
Mr. Thornton said that Mr. Berry didn't spend enough time in public school classrooms. When has Mr. Thornton been with a homeschooler in his or her "classroom"? He doesn't even know what most of us do! Most homeschoolers went to public school for a period of time, or at least their parents did, so they have a view from both sides.
The great thing about homeschooling is that it can be tailored to each family's needs.
Sincerely,
Melissa, Age 13
Anna, Age 11
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