The May edition of the Heart of the Matter is posted! And you can take some time to read my article for this month on Common Misuses of Analogy in Homeschool Criticism:
When reading essays and opinions criticizing homeschooling, it does not take very long to be confronted by a number of analogies. Judicious use of analogy can be an effective means of communication. It makes difficult concepts easier to understand, makes writing more interesting and tends to be more persuasive than a simple statement of facts. In the case of the myriad homeschooling analogies, however, they generally serve to better demonstrate the author’s misconceptions about education than any specific ideas about the failings of homeschooling. Read the rest…
Principled Discovery is a place to stop and discuss news and information related to faith, family and particularly education. Pour yourself a cup of tea and join the conversation! 
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Great piece! And love that last quote
That is a really good analysis, Dana.
What makes those analogies even more invalid is that all of us perform regular home maintenance and repair, make medical decisions and give first aid, and other functions that also have a ‘professional’ counterpart. I doubt Jack calls a licensed plumber to plunge a toilet or the doc to get permission to give his kid Tylenol.
A more complicated and difficult task might require someone with a higher level of those skills. That is where mentoring/apprenticeships and college come into play. I’d say most home educating parents get their kids to the point where they begin to ’specialize’, and then the child can receive knowledge and training from ‘a specialist’. The decision as to when a child is ready for this step is best made by the parents.
This part really spoke to me:
“Education is to medicine as philosophy is to science.”
This is such a short and sweet way to show how the power of story in analogies (which I love) can be both used and abused. Kudos Dana, for your clear thinking and clear writing. Look for a link to this at Snook.