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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionseBook editionsWrite These Laws on Your Children: Inside the World of Conservative Christian Homeschoolingby Robert Kunzman
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Homeschooling is a large and growing phenomenon in American society—between 1999 and 2007 it grew at twelve times the rate of public school enrollments, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Current estimates suggest that about two million kids are homeschooled, but information about this booming population is terribly incomplete. Nearly a fourth of states dont even require parents to notify authorities if they homeschool their children, much less offer any sort of verification that they are doing so. Of all the diverse groups of homeschooling families in the United States, conservative Christians are the largest subset, and it is this group that most influences public perception of and rhetoric about this movement. In Write These Laws on Your Children, Robert Kunzman uses his unprecedented access to six conservative Christian homeschooling families to explore this elusive world, from the day-to-day lives of its adherents to its broader aspirations to transform American culture and politics. Drawing from hundreds of hours of interviews and observations of parents and children, their churches, movement leaders, and related activities, Kunzman offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into one of the fastest-growing education movements of the last twenty years. With Kunzman we visit homeschoolers in urban Los Angeles, central Vermont, rural Tennessee, northwest Indiana, and central Oregon. The families we meet range in size from one child to ten, and include parents who are professional teachers with advanced degrees as well as those who never finished high school. Their reasons for homeschooling are as varied as their families, and Kunzman takes on the invaluable task of showing us what their homeschooling experiences look like firsthand, what their political and religious beliefs are, and what their kids learn. This extraordinary access allows us to see conservative Christian homeschooling families not only as part of a larger political phenomenon—which is how theyre usually discussed—but also as unique entities with fascinating stories to tell. The growing popularity of homeschooling raises important questions about the value of ethical diversity, what it means to think for oneself, how we prepare our young people to be democratic citizens, and what role (if any) the state should have in the education of children. Beyond competing visions about the proper aims of education, Kunzman shows, lies a complicated relationship between faith, freedom, and citizenship. Review:"Kunzman, a professor at the Indiana University School of Education, goes behind the scenes with six conservative Christian families who have decided to homeschool. The book has a remarkably balanced tone, with Kunzman heralding homeschooling's inherent flexibility — in a ranching family, children have anatomy lessons by butchering livestock, and in another, one of seven children has followed her own drummer by enrolling in public high school with her parents' blessing. Conversely, the lack of governmental oversight can be detrimental, as when Kunzman meets a 12-year-old who doesn't know what three times three is or documents a mother ignorantly berating a child who obviously has a learning disability. Between family portraits, Kunzman offers short expositions about various aspects of the growing homeschooling movement, drawing upon his attendance at conventions and political action meetings, but also — in an intriguing section that could have used more development — analyzing race among homeschooling families. This engrossing ethnography puts a human face on Christian homeschooling." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Synopsis:Homeschooling is a large and growing phenomenon in U.S. society—the National Center for Education Statistics recently reported that in the last decade it grew at twelve times the rate of public school enrollments. Yet information about this population is terribly incomplete. In this groundbreaking book, Robert Kunzman uses his unprecedented access to six conservative Christian homeschooling families to explore the subset of this elusive world that most influences public perception and rhetoric about the homeschooling movement, from its day-to-day life to its broader aspirations to transform American culture and politics. From the Trade Paperback edition. About the AuthorRobert Kunzman studies the intersection of education, religion, and citizenship in the United States, and spent ten years as a high school teacher, coach, and administrator. He is currently an associate professor in the Indiana University School of Education and the author of Grappling with the Good: Talking about Religion and Morality in Public Schools. Table of Contents1 Shaping a Godly World
2 The Palmer Family: In the World, Not of the World California Homeschool Convention
3 The Rivera Family “I Can See That I’m Doing the Right Thing” Bridgeway Academy
4 The Branson Family “A Godless Conspiracy” Academic Achievement and Socialization
5 Generation Joshua and HSLDA “A Few Good Soldiers” Civic Engagement Done Differently
6 The Carroll Family “Public School Is the Enemy” Race, Homeschooling, and the Common School Vision
7 The Wallis Family “God Gave Her to Me” Indiana Homeschool Convention
8 The Shaw Family “Nobody Can Teach My Kids Better Than I Can”
9 Becoming a Public
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