Comments on: Homeschool: an American History

By: Saturday Review of Books: June 28, 2008 at Semicolon

Saturday Review of Books: June 28, 2008 at Semicolon — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:37:24 +0000

[...] gautami tripathy (Perfect On Paper)10. Sage (Deep Change)11. gautami tripathy (The Unconsoled)12. Dana (Homeschool:An American History)13. Bonnie (Robinson Crusoe)14. Semicolon (Tennyson)15. Bonnie (Volsunga Saga)16. Semicolon (Chasing [...]

By: Principled Discovery » Book discussion on Homeschool: And American History

Principled Discovery » Book discussion on Homeschool: And American History — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:31:43 +0000

[...] an earlier post, I had mentioned hosting a book discussion on Dr. Milton Gaither’s book, Homeschool: An American History and we shall finally get [...]

By: Principled Discovery » Home School Talk interviews Dr. Gaither

Principled Discovery » Home School Talk interviews Dr. Gaither — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:42:29 +0000

[...] to talk about homeschool regulations and of course to hear Dr. Milton Gaither talk about his book, Homeschool: An American Hisory. If you have questions or comments for Dr. Gaither, you can of course call into the show, [...]

By: Dana

Dana — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:17:27 +0000

Vested interest, not vested information.

By: Dana

Dana — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:16:54 +0000

And I for one think you have succeeded in that goal. It seems written from the neutral outsider’s position rather than someone who has a vested information in proving some point or other, whether it be favorable to homeschooling or not as much of the histories I have read seem to be.

By: Milton Gaither

Milton Gaither — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:02:07 +0000

There are no other books that do what I’m doing, though several books and articles have tried to tell the history of the homeschooling movement. Most of these are written by people who were involved in the movement and tend to reflect the political orientations of their authors. For example, Chris Klicka’s book HOME SCHOOL HEROES (available at Googlebooks) interprets homeschooling as a movement of God on behalf of the nation and tends to focus pretty exclusively on HSLDA’s role in it all. In contrast, Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff’s A HOMESCHOOLER’S HISTORY, which you can find online, offers a very different perspective and reflects her disenchantment with Klicka’s world. I by no means wish to criticize these or any other accounts by insiders–they contain much useful information and compellingly articulate their authors’ convictions. My book aims as much as is possible for a dispassionate account that tries to understand homeschooling in the broader context of American history. I’m aiming for the sort of deep understanding that leaves one feeling satisfied and enlightened rather than the immediate thrill one gets from partisan polemic. But let me add that I did try to write it in an accessible way so that, though meaty, it will still taste good going down.

By: Dana

Dana — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:49:10 +0000

Oh, and regarding this:

This is the internet, Milton–there is never TMI.

Just look at the tangent this thread took.

There are a lot of things which sort of beg for more in depth analysis, but it is a little hard to squeeze all of homeschooling’s history into less than 300 pages. A lot more questions are raised than answers, but I generally like books like that. They make me think more, and research more.

By: Dana

Dana — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:39:35 +0000

I believe his is the first of its kind. It is largely an attempt to sythesize other research, so going through the bibliography would be an interesting counterpoint.

By: CircleReader

CircleReader — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:32:23 +0000

“And this was definitely not TMI for me, btw. I think we need to understand how the writer is defining things like “literacy” as we comment.”

This is the internet, Milton–there is never TMI. And yes, as independent learners, we need, and want, a LOT of supporting information to set things in proper context.

So, I’m about to order the book from our local indie bookstore; is there another book that might provide good context or counterpoint to yours?

By: Dana

Dana — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:26:39 +0000

Hey! What a pleasure to have you drop by. I may have to do that at least occasionally.