Home School vs. Public School

With the lock down in effect, everyone with school aged children is getting a taste of what home schooling could be like and according to at least one survey I saw, a significant number of parents have an increased appreciation for homeschool and some have indicated that they intend to keep doing it after the lock down is over.

So as someone who went to public schools when I was growing up but has chosen home schooling for my kids, I thought I’d be ideally positioned to share what I think is the most important advantage or each.

So, like I said earlier, I was raised in a public school setting and I think my own experience is a revealing use case for what makes these two approaches distinct and where the advantages lie in each, so I’ll start by sharing a bit about my own story.
Believe it or not, I have been accused by a few people of being intelligent and since a surprising number of people are willing to listen to me mumble my way through these commentaries, that seems to further advance that premise.

But, according to my public school record, I was incredibly mediocre in my academic performance. None of my peers would have suspected me of being exceptionally clever and if they had any doubts, a quick report card comparison would have dissuaded them.

But I scraped by and went to college in the hopes of becoming a graphic and web designer, which I did. And then I landed my first job and it was the only job I was qualified to do and probably the only one I would ever be qualified to do, but something strange happened around that time too.

I became Catholic and this led to an emersion in reading philosophy and theology which exposed me, for the first time in my life, to studying what was known in the liberal arts as dialectic and rhetoric. Dialectic was the study of logic and rhetoric was the study of persuasive communication.
Now, I wasn’t formally studying these things as a student would have, but I was getting exposed to them and they were wearing off on me and they had a dramatic effect on me. I started to grow in my ability to think critically and logically as well in my ability to articulate my thoughts accurately and persuasively.

And it was this exposure that conditioning that caught the attention of the kinds of people that could provide access to new opportunities for me in my life. I often found myself getting invitations and access to important people and not really being sure why I was there.

The YouTube channel is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. I wouldn’t be doing this and I wouldn’t be approached by the kinds of opportunities that it has afforded me without that exposure.

And frankly, it unlocked new aspects of my intelligence and my personality and equipped me for a wide range of challenges in life that I would have had no idea how to confront but have since seemed to navigate with a confidence I wouldn’t otherwise have.

And this was all because of the fact that I had grown in my ability to think logically and communicate persuasively which are traits that I had very little exposure to because the emphasis in my public school formation was on STEM fields. There was no time for philosophy and whatever attention we paid towards language was just enough to get by for academic purposes.
Nobody ever would have guessed that reading classical literature would provide any value beyond priggish dinner party conversation.

But the classical liberal arts place a huge emphasis on these disciplines which included grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric and they were called “liberal” arts because they produced liberty in the student. They freed a person from the bonds of ignorance ineptitude by asking the most fundamental questions about life and then offering the best answers that we have produced as a thinking species.

And in my case, I have found myself achieving greater degrees of freedom, flexibility, and opportunity. My public school formation funneled me towards a one dimensional career and if I ever wanted to stray from that, it would have cost me significant time and money to redirect from the path I had chosen when I was 17.

But a person who is educated in a broad spectrum of disciplines that are meant to produce a person who is fully acquainted with their identity as a human being and aware of the deep questions of life rather than a gear in an economic machine.

[ElenaRoche]

I have to laugh at that Harvard professor. We homeschooled all our five children. The oldest is now a Ph.D student at Harvard. If we didn't homeschool she wouldn't be at Harvard and happy married to her first, one and only, love.

My daughter told me of another Ph.D. student who is working on AI. After he presented his new research to a panel of fellow students, my daughter asked him about the ethical and moral implications of his research and how he plans to reconcile it. The young man had never thought about it and was surprised by the question.

[ThisGuyfashoo]

Gotta homeschool your children no matter what now. Even the catholic schools aren’t up to standards anymore.

[meriprice]

My husband and I have homeschooled our five and love the friendships we have with our adult children. Yes, homeschool and enjoy life with your children.

[kimfleury]

I'm a teacher, and truly amazed that you hadn't learned formal logic and reasoning as a primary school student. The first thing that drew me to subscribe and follow was your ability to reason. It was such a breath of fresh air.

You posit an interesting thought about how specialization is better training for the gold. I hadn't considered it that way before. I've seen the hot field change so many times that I've wondered if we're not doing more to create future destitution when it changes again. I came of age when workers had to move across the country to follow the factory work, or else retrain for a different field. I saw students being trained for years for a future in computer programming, only to see the glut of programmers by the time they were graduated from college. Us older educators aren't cynical, we're skeptical. When I started teaching, I was taken aback by my elder fellow teachers who scoffed at my first district curriculum conference, where a new fad was being introduced. The presenter insisted it wasn't just another fad, and the elder teachers snickered. I eagerly worked to implement it, and just when I was confident with it - at the beginning of the 3rd year - we had another curriculum conference with another new fad, same speil. Education planners know it takes a minimum of 3 years to implement a curriculum successfully. The first year is the struggle, the second year is refinement, and the third year is proficiency. I don't know what would happen in the fourth year because I've never seen one. What kills me is that the rationale for change is always "poor test scores." Well duh.

I'm now a proponent of homeschooling. I've always supported it as parental choice, but now think it should be the first choice wherever possible.

[evelynmom]

It’s funny you say that you’ve encountered many families willing to homeschool. I’ve actually encountered the opposite. So many of my relatives and friends are so tired of their kids and are eager to send them back to school. It’s so sad. It comes across as the parents not enjoying the company of their kids, almost like they don’t like their kids, it’s truly heartbreaking for me to hear parents say they can’t wait for their kids to go back to school.

[dianawilde]

Interesting. Home schooling is illegal in Sweden, Germany, Netherlands and Spain and many other countries. It concerns me that it will become illegal in many more countries as well. This ensures the state has full control over how their citizens think.

[timbalfe]

My son of 13 hardly acknowledged me in the mornings on weekends. I am always up early - I tested it (maybe it was my imagination) by not greeting him to find he would walk straight past me get his breakfast and walk straight back up to his room without a word or even a nod - Now after weeks of lock down he walks in and holds out his hand to me I go to shake it and he just holds my hand. He lingers stares out the window but regularly looks back at me and engages me in conversation and in silence but sometimes just stands there holding my hand. This is now our routine every morning. We had homeschooled him from when he was 6 till he was 9. I would be in awe of him as he grew - his physicality his musicianship his enthusiasm his kindness his passion for learning. He’s in a good Catholic school now (they are free in England) but Ive struggled to know him - he’s taken on a generic voice that is not his own - he’s been glued to his phone - there’s been a dullness a growing sense of falling behind, of not being good enough. This morning I held the hand of an extraordinary person. I’m in awe of what God can do with a boy. Lord help us help him.

[JohnFromAccounting]

Home school is great if the mother is on the ball. The mother must be dedicated to teaching her children as a full time job, among her other duties. It's a big ask, but that's what is necessary to get a high level education which develops the children's strengths.

[deovolente]

Was homeschooled all my life...so worth it.

[mallen]

Great thoughts, and timely. I hope we can make homeschooling work when my toddler gets a bit older.

[wxtr]

I have to agree with what you said, as an italian student, where the school system hasn't significantly changed since the last decades, the education I have been given, although many may say that we study a lot of useless subjects, such as latin or philosophy, really made me a critical thinker: by studying liberal arts, literature, history, etc., you learn to see the world with eyes of other people, question everything and don't take anything for granted. Technical and STEM subjects are undoubtebly useful in the modern world we live in, and, even if this may be controversial, I also think that, to a certain extent, even manual skills are important. I'm saying all of this because, the experiences I had in life made me realize that if you follow just one path you will never develop your true potential in life, and remain closed in your bubble of knowledge and skills, never knowing all the beauty of life outside of it. Also, this type of specialized and technical teaching really dehumanizes people, because they get labeled as a professionist and not a human, they become what they do, nothing more, that's why in countries like China, where people are taught from a very early age that if you don't have a job you are a failure of society, and because of the highly competitive market, in order to be employed in a good position you have to be the best, well, there you won't find anyone who questions the system they are living in, because in China, education serves as a tool to produce as many expert workers as possible, in order to take the most 'gold medals', not critical thinkers, because critical thinkers won't follow your orders, they won't win the gold medals and they will always have a reason behind their actions, they won't give in on what has been told to them is the best solution, answer. Thank you for the video.

[gerddonni]

Thank you for yet another great video. And I feel even more happy and lucky to live in a part of Switzerland, where philosophy, 2 foreign languages (as bare minimum), history, but also chemistry, biology etc are compulsory subjects till the age of 20 for every student striving for higher education. And yes, most of our schools were founded by Jesuit fathers, but are now run by the state. The tradition however has remained. The school I teach (Latin, by the way) is still called "Spiritus Sanctus", as in 1662, when it was founded. Continue your great work, dear Brian! God bless!

[thespanishinquisition]

As a life long student in catholic schools, this video has expressed much of what I have always known in my heart. Though if I could, and just one thing it would be that schools are factories of misery, and mental illness, everyday many kids turn to pornography, drugs, and vapid social media seeking relief from their unfulfilling routines.

[andrewsheedy]

I homeschooled up until grade 4, when I started public school. I had homeschooled for about 3 or 4 hours a day (or less) for most of that time, but it took four years for the math and science curriculum to catch up to what I had learned (and I was more than prepared for the other subjects as well). I went back to homeschooling for grades 8 and 9, and again learned far more than I had in my years in public or Catholic school.


I am nonetheless extremely glad I was able to go to both public and Catholic schools, because my very introverted self would otherwise never have been able to learn to make friends, speak in public, understand our modern culture well enough to truly engage with it, or learn various valuable social skills--all of which have made it possible for me to go to seminary and not be completely out of my depth.


I'm not saying that you can't learn those as a homeschooler, but it would be very difficult for anyone like me. I have met my share of awkward homeschoolers...there's a reason for the stereotype.


I think some sort of combination is the best way to go. Every child is different and will benefit from different things. The important thing is that the parents remain the primary educators regardless of whether their children are homeschooling or not!

[austinhannemann]

Preach!! Great thoughts. I would argue that it’s the parents’ role to provide that education no matter what schooling the children are in

[MNkno]

Thank you for this! It has given me many insights into our school systems, particularly when comparing American and overseas systems. Australia seems to have the 'clear thinking' humanities/liberal arts segment in its curriculum (at least for those people I've met), which resulted in one Australian woman furious at an American mutual friend, saying "I thought he was an educated person!!" when he gave a typical and glib narrow-focus STEM answer to a moral question... and a common American complaint about our local overseas TV programming, "It presents facts and reports, but it doesn't tell me what I should think".. which leaves other nationalities totally astounded.


The interesting thing is the binary thinking - all one or all the other. Laying down "clear thinking" in primary school, and moving into STEM in secondary or tertiary education, is one solution. .. Public school seems to be best for people who want to develop conformity to a herd mentality and power hierarchy led by a class of elites... and if anything good can be raked from the coals of what will be left after this pandemic, it will be a change either for more homeschooling or a big change in the educational system so that we get better leadership and governance.

[jen]

I am currently learning philosophy and theology now while my sons are still toddlers so I can homeschool them in a Catholic liberal arts education. So reassuring that I could have confidence and greater knowledge one day.

[roisinpatriciagaffney]

Brian, may i say that you appear to understand the abstract, and in this way you are clearly intellectual. How could any of your teachers fail to notice? God bless, and continue with the excellent output. ☘☘☘ Pax Christi.

[inesladasic]

I did great academically reached a PhD. Never had a problem with logic and critical thinking since small but have always been bullied primary and high school by peers and teachers even some professors because they want you to fill boxes with exact words no thinking outside the box. One way to go is adapt make them happy with what they want and think for yourself what you want, because there isn’t discussion with those people as they will make your life miserable as they can, mark you lower and get your grades down and the ones higher of them will shield them. there’s a problem people in positions don’t like thinkers and don’t want to employ them as they feel scared of them but rather having yes sayers around them. I don’t see how you can change that with homeschooling it’s always gonna be the same situation later on. You can educate your little thinker next to existing public school.

[TickleMeElmo]

I went to parochial schools on the South Side of Chicago. The education was superior than most public schools K-12 in the surrounding area.

But remember this: my truest formal education came after ... At a public university at the library and office hours.