Thread by @deb_fillman

This whole episode has reminded me to alert parents to the FACT that people homeschool for a wide variety of reasons. "Homeschooling" itself is not "a thing."
A thread. 1/

https://twitter.com/deb_fillman/status/1555196496324214785

Here is a *partial* list of reasons people in America homeschool, in no particular order:
1. Child has special needs the school can't serve
2. Family has lifestyle or goals that are incompatible with school
3. Child or children have activities that are incompatible with school 2/

4. Parents want to use curriculum with religious worldview
5. Children have passions, hobbies or a job that are incompatible with school
6. Child is being bullied, or has been bullied at school
7. Child is academically gifted or behind, and school is not serving his/her needs 3/

8. Child or family member has severe illness that makes school attendance impossible
9. Parents want to avoid subjects or worldview taught in school (not just wokeness, some parents think schools aren't woke ENOUGH)
10. Parents or student wants different STYLE of education 4/

There are more. This is a PARTIAL list, but you'll notice number 9 there...Yeah, there's such a thing as Woke Homeschool (seriously, they have a website and everything), and they're not the only ones. 5/

I keep trying to tell people "school choice" is NOT a panacea if you're trying to avoid wokeness in your child's education, and there are no shortcuts to an Unwoke homeschooling education EITHER. You still have to be vigilant. 6/

The ONLY way to ensure your child is getting the education you want them to have (or they want to have) is to customize it, a la carte, and use primary sources. Any time you sign up for a "class" with other people, or a co-op, you have to do your homework, and do it ongoing. 7/

Now having said that, you can improve your chances of keeping things as you want them to be by communicating with your own children about how to evaluate ideas to separate the good and rational, from the bad and irrational. You can teach them how to think properly. 8/

And YOU should be the one to do that. No one else can, b/c no one else knows your child better than you do, and not all kids respond well to these lessons AS lessons. You may have to adapt to their personality, or interests, but YOU have to teach them how to pursue truth.9/

They'll need that skill no matter how you educate them because they will live IN the world, not on it. You can't isolate them from people who are irrational. You can't protect them from bad ideas, nor can you ensure you won't miss something even in another teacher or friend. 10/

As with all things related to parenting, you can only do what you CAN do. You can no more direct their lives than schools can, especially when your goal is to raise an autonomous, personally-responsible, thoughtful, clear-thinking INDIVIDUAL adult.11/

But ditch the myth that being able to "choose" your school or program, or homeschooling in itself, is magically "Unwoke." Oh hell no. It's not even academically better, unless you make it so!

There are no shortcuts, no easy answers. It's all hard: choose YOUR hard./END