Feel that gentle rise? It’s called “Wednesday” and it comes right in the middle of another work week under the CoronaCareᵀᴹ crackdown.

Just a few weeks ago, Harvard Magazine published an article called, “The Risks of Homeschooling.” The piece featured the strong negative opinions of Elizabeth Bartholet, “Wasserstein public interest professor of law and faculty director of the Law School’s Child Advocacy Program,” towards homeschooling. It got a lot of attention on both sides of the issue.

In the article, Bartholet recommends “a presumptive ban on the practice” of homeschooling because, in her view, it “violates children’s rights to a ‘meaningful education.'” One guess as to who defines “meaningful.”

I recommend that you read the article if you haven’t already because it provides an interesting contrast to a recent RealClear Opinion Research survey that found nearly 40 percent of families are more likely to homeschool or use virtual school education after the WuFlu pandemic restrictions are lifted. I’m sure Bartholet is thrilled.

Surprisingly, more Democrats (45.7%) than Republicans (42.3%) said they were more likely to enroll their son or daughter “in a homeschool, neighborhood homeschool co-op, or virtual school once the lockdowns are over.” The survey doesn’t explore why these parents intend to take an alternative path with educating their children, but I can guess why.

Generally speaking, public schools have become progressive indoctrination camps, with politically-correct ideology infused into every subject. This is not to say that every public school teacher is a social Marxist, but the system itself inexorably opposes every effort made to counterbalance it.

My wife and I chose to homeschool our children for a variety of reasons. First and foremost was our God-given responsibility to develop within them a Christ-centered worldview. We wanted to be the dominant daily influence on their impressionable lives, and not turn them over to a system that has become overtly hostile to people of faith.

In fact, I’m exactly the kind of parent that Bartholet frets over. With my emphasis, the article goes on to say,

[Bartholet] notes that parents choose homeschooling for an array of reasons. Some find local schools lacking or want to protect their child from bullying. Others do it to give their children the flexibility to pursue sports or other major activities at a high level. But surveys of homeschoolers show that a majority of such families (by some estimates, up to 90 percent) are driven by conservative Christian beliefs, and seek to remove their children from mainstream culture. Bartholet notes that some of these parents are “extreme religious ideologues” who question science and promote female subservience and white supremacy.

Although not exclusive, three of those reasons were in the mix for us: schools that were lacking, the flexibility to pursue a sport, and our conservative Christian beliefs.

Of the many benefits of homeschooling, the personal attention and ability to customize learning for each child is near the top. U.S. scores in math, science and reading used to be the best in the world, but not now. “When isolating the 64 countries that administered the test in both 2015 and 2018, U.S. students ranked 30th in math, up from 35th in 2015, and eighth in reading, up from 15th in 2015. In science, U.S. students ranked 11th, up from 17th in 2015.”

That was from a report late in 2019. This one from the World Population Review is called Education Rankings By Country 2020 and says,

“Ironically, despite the United States having the second-best education system in the world, it consistently scores lower than many other countries in benchmarks such as math and science. According to the Business Insider report in 2018, its education ranking was 38th in math scores and 24th in science. The United States’ education rankings have been falling by international standards over the past three decades, as the government has decreased education funding by 3%, but other countries have increased their education funding.”

I think a silver lining in the Chinese Lung Pox pandemic is that a lot of parents have gotten a good look at the “education” their children are getting from government-run schools and they’re not impressed. With homeschooling, you’re like a private tutor where you can zero in on where your children excel, where they need more attention, and adapt accordingly.

Homeschooling also gave our kids the opportunity to be around adults and different age groups of children. We often got compliments on how “mature” they were and how well they were able to hold conversations with both adults and children their own age or younger.

Another important benefit is that you can see what your children naturally gravitate towards in their free time—and then nurture that interest by making time for it during the day.

Homeschooling isn’t for everyone. Some can’t afford it because you have to fund your school while paying your local taxes to fund the public schools. Others don’t think they can teach, but you really don’t need formal training; you need the patience to help guide your children in their learning. Others think they need to basically transfer a public education into the home, complete with school desks and chairs. Not true. There are different approaches to homeschooling and you can choose a style that works for you and your children.

An education is compulsory in our country, and rightly so, but you don’t have to settle for what the government gives you. Homeschooling is a way to give your kids a better education and pass along the values you determine are important.