(2015-09-30) Caplan Why I'm Homeschooling Middle School

Bryan Caplan: Why I'm Homeschooling. I’m homeschooling my elder sons for middle school. On the surface, this makes sense: Homeschooling has been in the libertarian penumbra for decades. If you know my books, however, you should be puzzled

1′. While the power of nurture to change kids’ adult outcomes is indeed vastly overrated, it is well within my power to give my sons a better childhood. My kids prefer a challenging academic curriculum. I can give them that. My kids hate music, dance, art, and group projects. I can spare them these indignities

More speculative: I suspect – though I’m far from sure – that the Caplan Family School is such an exceptional experience that ordinary twin and adoption evidence isn’t relevant. For example, my sons are plausibly the only 12-year-olds in the nation taking a college class in labor economics.

2′. While education is mostly signaling, there are cracks in the system. As far as I can tell, the Real World pays zero attention to what students do in middle school

I’m a strategic non-conformist. When I can bend stupid rules with impunity, I bend them. (game-rule)