650: Kerry McDonald - The Silver Linings of Mass (forced) "Home Schooling"

Kerry McDonald is back again to discuss what numerous mainstream media outlets have apparently decided to call "home schooling." What they're all talking about is the forced distance learning brought about by the country's current health crisis. But even the term "distance learning" is perhaps too kind; we're talking about "distance schooling," where many of the impositions of school have been driven even further into the home and the family.Is a media campaign underway to connect the current inconveniences, fears and frustrations to the idea and practice of home education? If the answer is yes, it has been a resounding success so far; according to Google Trends the term "home schooling" reached peak popularity in March 2020. Its previous peak was in 2009, with the rollout of Common Core.Is this a tragedy? Kerry McDonald says no, and today we'll discuss how the current crisis is rich with opportunity for children, families, and the entire future of self-directed education.Back in early March, Kerry explained that "We have collectively become so programmed to believe that education and schooling are synonymous that we can’t imagine learning without schooling and become frazzled and fearful when schools are shuttered. If nothing else, perhaps this worldwide health scare will remind us that schooling isn’t inevitable and education does not need to be confined to a conventional classroom." (Read that entire FEE article HERE )Kerry McDonald is a Senior Education Fellow at FEE and author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom. She is also an adjunct scholar at The Cato Institute and a regular Forbes contributor. Kerry has a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College and an M.Ed. in education policy from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children. You can sign up for her weekly newsletter on parenting and education here.Kerry's Previous Appearance On the Podcast:[PODCAST] #504: Unenclosed Children and Self-Directed Learning – With Kerry McDonaldThe downloadable version of The Ideas Into Action Summit is now available.Email me at brett@schoolsucksproject.com to get it for 30% offVisit THIS LINK to learn more about the presenters, topics, bonus materials and encore presentation. Please Support School SucksWe do cool things! Thanks to your support.School Sucks is one of the longest running liberty-minded podcasts on the web, and the only one completely devoted to the issue of education (versus public school and college). Your support keeps the show going and growing, which keeps us at the top of the options for education podcasts and leads to new people discovering our work. Please help us continue to spread this important message further!Before you do anything, please bookmark and use this link for your Amazon shopping: Shop With UsOne-Time Donation Options:Paypal/Venmo;Donate DASHDonate ETHEREUMDonate LITECOINDonate BITCOINDonate BITCOIN CASHDonate ZCASHRecurring Options:NEW! SubscribeStarAccess our personal development bonus show, The Discomfort Zone, and lots of other irreverent and acerbic commentary you've never heard before.Support Us On PATREONHelp incentivize our production! Pledge $1 per content item and access dozens of Patron only audios and videos.Join the A/V ClubIf you're looking for more School Sucks content, the A/V Club option grants you access to a bonus content section with 400+ hours of exclusive audio and video. If you are a regular consumer of our media, please consider making a monthly commitment by selecting the best option for you...A/V Club - Basic Access - $8.00/MonthA/V Club - "Advanced" Access - $12.00/MonthSigma Sigma Pi - "Privileged" Access - $16.00/Month Crypto Addresses:DASH; XcZfPP6GZGVo9VKViNBVJZja5JVxZDB229ETHEREUM; 0x3c5504CE3401C028832173506fa30BD4db4b7D35LITECOIN; LKNp24f5wwvZ2QzeDbvxXgBxyVwi1yXnu2BITCOIN; 1KhwY836cfSGCK5aaGFv8Q7PHMgghFJn1UBITCOIN CASH 1AmqLVxjw3Lp9KT5ckfvsqfN2Hn3B1hCWSZCASH; t1by1ZGJ63LoLSjXy27ooJtipf4wMr7qbu4