8/13/2019 Homeschooled Kids Scare Me...in A Good Way

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Homeschooled Kids Scare Me . . . in a Good Way

By Kevin Mark Smith, Esq.

Im experimenting on a group of homeschooled high school kids, aged 1518 years.Specifically, Im dissecting their brains to determine ho siftly their neurons

transmit data and ho this physiological process translates into their ability to think

logically. I am not a doctor. I am not a scientist. I am an attorney.

!y scalpel is a metaphorical one. It is the Socratic method of instruction hereinone "uestion leads to an anser, hich leads to more "uestions and yet more

ansers, ith the ultimate destination being the truth. #fter $ust four eeks ofteaching these kids %onstitutional &a, my experiments initial result has affirmed

the ise choice my on family made many years ago to homeschool our on kids.

'omeschooled kids are brilliant(

It may be helpful to kno ho I am conducting the class so that you canunderstand hy I am so surprised by ho sharp these kids are. )e ha*e a syllabus

ith assigned readings for each class, but the class discussion is *ery fluid. +ust likeduring my la school days, there is no lecturing- in my class as todays

go*ernment/schooled high school and undergraduate college students aresub$ected to0, although my students ill be held accountable for the readings *ia

one final exam there ill also be a mid/term paper and a legal brief on a legal"uestion to be determined later0. Instead, I re*ie the assignment and prepare a

list of "uestions to spur discussion.

oing into the first class four eeks ago, I as a little fearful that these young menand omen barely past the age of puberty ould be engaged and prepared ell

enough to sustain a full hour of class time. !y fears ere unfounded2 the first fe"uestions stirred their minds so effecti*ely that many debates ensued, and at the

conclusion they asked me if they could extend the class time by half an hour. Since

that first class, e*e gone for at least 34 minutes per class, and most of thestudents linger afterards much longer than that, peppering me ith many more

"uestions related to topics beyond the scope of the classs reading assignments.

ig deal, you say. #nyone can blo*iate his or her ay into an extended discussion.

In la school they call such students gunners,- alays talking but ne*er listening,and most of them end up in the bottom "uarter of their classes6if they manage to

graduate at all. 'oe*er, that is not hat is happening ith these brillianthomeschooled kids. %onsider their unanimous response to a "uestion that as

posed to them in eek fours session. )hile discussing the e*er/encroachingfederal go*ernment and hat led to such centrali7ed poer, I brought up the

hirteenth and 9ourteenth #mendments. I then asked them hat led to the %i*il

)ar.

'eres hat go*ernment/schooled kids most often say led to the %i*il )ar: sla*ery.

heir textbooks and teachers focus on the &incoln/;ouglas debates and thedifferent *ies of sla*ery held by #braham &incoln and Stephen ;ouglas. )hen the

abolitionist &incoln as elected, the Souths fear of losing its sla*es led it to anarmed insurrection. Indeed, most people reading this article might ha*e said the

same thing.

Copyright 2011 Kevin Mark Smith 1

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