By Kerry McDonald When schools reopen in the US amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they will be even more restrictive than they already were. Schools have long controlled students’ movements and imposed constraints on where they can go, when, and with whom. With virus concerns, those controls will increase in quantity and intensity. NPR recently proclaimed that … [Read more...] about The CDC’s Guidelines for Back-to-School Under COVID Sound Traumatizing
Kerry McDonald
Harvard’s Latest Attack on Homeschooling Abuses Reason and Justice
By Kerry McDonald Harvard University publications continue to present a skewed perspective of homeschooling, spotlighting Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Bartholet’s call for a “presumptive ban” on homeschooling while failing to provide an accurate picture of American homeschooling. In addition to the recent Harvard Magazine article on “The Risks of Homeschooling,” … [Read more...] about Harvard’s Latest Attack on Homeschooling Abuses Reason and Justice
Harvard Magazine Calls for a “Presumptive Ban” on Homeschooling: Here Are 5 Things It Got Wrong
By Kerry McDonald Author's Note: This is a copy of my submitted Letter to the Editor of Harvard Magazine regarding its recent article,“The Risks of Homeschooling.” Dear Editor: As a Harvard alum, longtime donor, education researcher, and homeschooling mother of four children in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I was shocked to read the article, “The Risks of Homeschooling,” … [Read more...] about Harvard Magazine Calls for a “Presumptive Ban” on Homeschooling: Here Are 5 Things It Got Wrong
City Schoolhouse: The Innovative School That’s Helping Low-Income Families Educate Their Children
By Kerry McDonald When her daughter began kindergarten in the public elementary school to which she had been assigned in Louisville, Kentucky, Emily Duke quickly realized it was not a good fit. The environment was very stressful for the five year old, whose parents had recently divorced. The rigidity and top-down instructional methods, combined with her emotional turmoil … [Read more...] about City Schoolhouse: The Innovative School That’s Helping Low-Income Families Educate Their Children
Coronavirus Reminds Us What Education Without Schooling Can Look Like
By Kerry McDonald As the global coronavirus outbreak closes more schools for weeks, and sometimes months—some 300 million children are currently missing class—parents, educators, and policymakers are panicking. Mass compulsory schooling has become such a cornerstone of contemporary culture that we forget it’s a relatively recent social construct. Responding to the … [Read more...] about Coronavirus Reminds Us What Education Without Schooling Can Look Like