Homeschooler Christopher Paolini is back in the news again with his fantasy novel Eragon, this time, as HEM blogger Daryl Cobranchi notes, Christopher’s sequel is the subject of a good article in this week’s Time magazine.
In an article titled The Real-Life Boy Wizard, writer Lev Grossman notes, “At 15, Christopher Paolini created the best-selling fantasy novel Eragon. At 21, he’s back with a sequel.” It’s a terrific article, well worth a read.
Another terrific article – also worth a read – appeared in the March/April, 2002 issue of Home Education Magazine. “Unleashing the Dragon,” by Talita Paolini, describes how her son Christopher’s homeschooling led to his becoming an author: “Christopher didn’t realize it at the time, but many factors influenced his writing adventure. First, he had the confidence borne of homeschooling. Never had he experienced the devastation of being told he couldn’t do something or was a failure. Second, he had the research skills and resources to find information to create his imaginary world.”
The article is free to read on this website at the link above, along with Chapter Six from the novel Eragon.
Selections from Escape from Childhood
Young people should have the right to control and direct their own learning, that is, to decide what they want to learn, and when, where, how, how much, how fast, and with what help they want to learn it. To be still more specific, I want them to have the right to decide if, when, how much, and by whom they want to be taught and the right to decide whether they want to learn in a school and if so which one and for how much of the time.
No human right, except the right to life itself, is more fundamental than this. A person’s freedom of learning is part of his freedom of thought, even more basic than his freedom of speech. If we take from someone his right to decide what he will be curious about, we destroy his freedom of thought. We say, in effect, you must think not about what interests and concerns you, but about what interests and concerns us.
We might call this the right of curiosity, the right to ask whatever questions are most important to us. As adults, we assume that we have the right to decide what does or does not interest us, what we will look into and what we will leave alone. We take this right largely for granted, cannot imagine that it might be taken away from us. Indeed, as far as I know, it has never been written into any body of law. Even the writers of our Constitution did not mention it. They thought it was enough to guarantee citizens the freedom of speech and the freedom to spread their ideas as widely as they wished and could. It did not occur to them that even the most tyrannical government would try to control people’s minds, what they thought and knew. That idea would come later, under the benevolent guise of compulsory universal education.
~from Escape from Childhood, Dutton, 1974, Holt Associates 1981
HEM July-August 2005 – Interview with Deborah Stevenson
Judy Aron interviewed Deborah Stevenson, Executive Director of National Home Education Legal Defense (NHELD), for the July/August issue of HEM:
Judy: What is the biggest threat to parents nationwide?
Deborah: NHELD believes the biggest threat to parents nationwide is the lack of accurate information. If citizens are not informed about the law and the facts affecting their rights under the law, they cannot effectively retain their freedom. NHELD urges everyone, no matter how tedious the task is, to obtain, read, and retain copies of the U.S. Constitution, their state Constitution, and all federal and state statutes, administrative regulations, state Department of Education and local Board of Education policies affecting the right of parents to instruct their own children. If parents are not informed as to what these laws and policies say exactly, then those in a position of power may easily and intentionally distort the language and intent of the law and coerce, intimidate, or otherwise fool parents into compliance with their own whims.
Click on the link above to read the entire interview.
O’DonnellWeb: Homeschooling / Baseball / Technology Geek in Fredericksburg VA
“The oil under the state of Texas is national resource. My children are my children. The nation has no claim on them.” ~Chris O’Donnell, commenting on yet another article about homeschoolers with the oft-quoted line “Most Americans agree with the concept that our children are this nation’s most prized resource.”
“…Let it be very clear, I do NOT object to parents using a publicly funded e-school. I do however find it cruel to quietly let them think they are enjoying the rights and responsibilities that home education has to offer when they are actually enrolled in a public school, an entity with very different rights, responsibilities and purpose.” ~Mary Nix, in an essay titled “Public e-Schools, homeschooling and the new home educator”
