Crosspost. Homeschool: An American History -- Anyone read it?

[Luann in ID]

No luck on the General Board. I thought I'd try here.

Homeschool: An American History is reviewed in Books and Culture this month. Have you read it? What do you think? Interesting? Worthwhile? I'm trying to decide if I want to order it and read it. The review is interesting.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/.../homeroom.html (http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2009/novdec/homeroom.html)

[Julie in MN]

Luann,
Interesting article, interesting book reviews of his book, and one of the reviewers had a link to another homeschooling book I'd never heard of: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0965130304/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk

So much reading, so little time! I'd love to hear from someone who's read either of those books. Thanks for the interesting link.
Julie

[Nicole M]

Very interesting. Now I have new ammunition when folks who know nothing start flinging accusations about homeschool. I like that first line in the Christianity Today article: "Despite homeschooling's growing popularity, almost everything we think we know about it is anecdotal or based on a nonrepresentative sample."

The Amazon review of the book is intriguing. Especially the bolded part:

"This is a thoughtful, capacious account of what is surely among the most important educational movements of our time. Home education is not only or even primarily about the quality of children's academic instruction. It illuminates far larger problems in American society: the contradiction between home and work for contemporary mothers; disagreements about the proper place of religion in civic and political life; and the puzzle of cultural difference and its ethical accommodation in formal organizations of all kinds. Gaither understands all of this and makes it clear by locating home education within the broad coordinates of U.S. cultural history."--Mitchell L. Stevens, New York University; Author of Kingdom of Children

I work outside the home, and it is a constant struggle for me, balancing the need to generate income with my sense of identity and convictions about how I want to raise and educate my children and manage my home.

Thank you for posting this.

[EKS]

I read this book. It was interesting and very dense. I read it for a paper I was writing on homeschooling for graduate school.