I was bopping around the internet finding some new (to me) homeschooling blogs (Schoolless and HeartSchooling) when I stumbled onto this entry at Electronic Toy House. The author linked me to an NEA page. Now, truly, I pretty much ignore the NEA and its web site even though my grandmother was a teacher for umpteen years. I have a tendency to give teachers, the older and experienced ones at least, a modicum of respect. I loved some of my teachers and used some of their ideas in our homeschool through the years. However, the NEA is worth ignoring when it comes to its views on homeschooling.
But this article at the NEA web site is a shocker — and no, it’s not their yearly resolution rant.
It’s written by the head custodian of an elementary school who was also formerly employed by Wal-Mart, and it begins like this:
There’s nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Certain jobs are best left to the pros, such as, formal education.
There are few homeowners who can tackle every aspect of home repair. A few of us might know carpentry, plumbing and, let’s say, cementing. Others may know about electrical work, tiling and roofing. But hardly anyone can do it all.
Dave Arnold, the author of the article, doesn’t know my husband. My husband can do all of those things … well, except “cementing.” “Cementing” isn’t a trade, believe it or not. (Why didn’t the NEA catch that before they published the article?) Cementing has to do with oil wells, which very few homeowners ever have to deal with. However, “masonry” is a trade, and my husband can do that, including bricklaying, concrete work (driveways, sidewalks, etc.) and also build fireplaces out of stone or river rock, and also can do marble or granite countertops or floors. (link to history of concrete)
Dave Arnold goes on:
Same goes for cars. Not many people have the skills and knowledge to perform all repairs on the family car. Even if they do, they probably don’t own the proper tools.
Sorry, Dave Arnold, but for the most part my husband can perform all the repairs on the family car … so far. I think the only thing that he doesn’t do is the tires and alignment. Even I do some of the repairs … well, sort of. Like when the battery dies in Target parking lot, my daughter and I get out and clean off the battery terminals and the ends of the battery cable with diet coke* and brushes. We used the ratchets and stuff, too. It took us a while, but we did it and got the vehicle going again. It’s not rocket science. It’s vehicle repair/maintenance. However, if we needed to build a rocket, we’d get help from a rocket scientist … you know, like that astronaut farmer feller. We don’t avoid professionals when we need them.
My husband has pulled out the engine, sent it off for overhaul (or whatever it’s called), and then lowered it back in. He goes to parts stores or the boneyard and buys parts and replaces them. Recently he replaced the water pump, the starter, the windshield wiper motor, the radiator, and also welded a piece of the transmission. Sure, it takes the proper tools, but they can be bought at stores or online. Again, it’s not rocket science. Just look inside The Home Depot sometime. (And no, my husband doesn’t buy all his tools from The Home Depot; they don’t carry everything he needs.)
Dave Arnold’s next comment is:
So, why would some parents assume they know enough about every academic subject to home-school their children?
You tell me.
Maybe because my husband can do a lot already (the home and car repairs that Dave mentioned), my husband figures that facilitating learning is not an area reserved only for “the professionals.”
You’d be surprised how many “amateurs” are actually better than professionals. Think about it for a minute. There are quiet folk, who go about their business without fanfare. Just being a professional doesn’t make that person “the best.”
People need to know that they don’t need professionals to do everything for them. People can do many things on their own or with a little help from a pal. Yeah, even homeschooling. We shouldn’t be duped into believing we are helpless, misguided amateurs who need help tying our shoes. Dave mentions that even window washing should be left to the pros, but we even do our own janitorial here at home, including window washing with squeegees, blades, and wands from Ettore. It’s a much better method than Windex and paper towels.
There’s a bunch of other opinions from Dave in the middle of the article on gullible parents and wannabes and then this for the ending:
[Parents] would be wise to help their children and themselves by leaving the responsibility of teaching math, science, art, writing, history, geography and other subjects to those who are knowledgeable, trained and motivated to do the best job possible.
Anyway, you can read the article in its entirety yourself. Feel free to comment.
* I know some people say it’s a myth about coke working on cleaning batteries, but it made a huge difference on the piece of the battery cable that goes onto the battery’s terminal. It was really corroded and my daughter and I scraped and scratched at it with the brush and a pocketknife because my husband didn’t want his battery all stickied up with coke. So after much scraping, we used diet coke which isn’t sticky and we were able to quickly clean the ends of the battery cables. Result!
