Celebrity Homeschoolers
The December 2006 issue of Reader's Digest features an interesting interview with Will Smith, star of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. As an aside, Will mentions homeschooling and gives a picture of their family's homeschooling style.
"RD: Have you ever thought about going back to college?
Smith: The things that have been most valuable to me I did not learn in school. Traditional education is based on facts and figures and passing tests -- not on a comprehension of the material and its application to your life. Jada and I homeschool our children, because the date of the Boston Tea Party does not matter.
RD: When you say you homeschool, do you mean you actually teach them?
Smith: No, we have hired teachers who teach what we feel is important. For example, Plato's Republic -- kids need to know that. Why is that not taught in first grade?
RD: You think kids in elementary school should read Plato's Republic?
Smith: Yeah. You cannot be an American without reading it and Aristotle's Politics. That is what the forefathers of this country read, and they used them to create what I believe is the finest system of government that has ever existed.
RD: So, you don't see any reason to go back to a formal education yourself?
Smith: I know how to learn anything I want to learn. I absolutely know that I could learn how to fly the space shuttle because someone else knows how to fly it, and they put it in a book. Give me the book, and I do not need somebody to stand up in front of the class.
RD: They put physics in a book, but I know I could never be a physicist.
Smith: The first step is you have to say that you can."
You can read the brief article or listen to the complete interview at RD.com The audio is long, about one hour and twenty minutes, but well worth it. Turn it on while you read your email or fastforward ahead 29 minutes to get to the 10 minute discussion on homeschooling.
The December 2006 issue of Reader's Digest features an interesting interview with Will Smith, star of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. As an aside, Will mentions homeschooling and gives a picture of their family's homeschooling style.
"RD: Have you ever thought about going back to college?
Smith: The things that have been most valuable to me I did not learn in school. Traditional education is based on facts and figures and passing tests -- not on a comprehension of the material and its application to your life. Jada and I homeschool our children, because the date of the Boston Tea Party does not matter.
RD: When you say you homeschool, do you mean you actually teach them?
Smith: No, we have hired teachers who teach what we feel is important. For example, Plato's Republic -- kids need to know that. Why is that not taught in first grade?
RD: You think kids in elementary school should read Plato's Republic?
Smith: Yeah. You cannot be an American without reading it and Aristotle's Politics. That is what the forefathers of this country read, and they used them to create what I believe is the finest system of government that has ever existed.
RD: So, you don't see any reason to go back to a formal education yourself?
Smith: I know how to learn anything I want to learn. I absolutely know that I could learn how to fly the space shuttle because someone else knows how to fly it, and they put it in a book. Give me the book, and I do not need somebody to stand up in front of the class.
RD: They put physics in a book, but I know I could never be a physicist.
Smith: The first step is you have to say that you can."
You can read the brief article or listen to the complete interview at RD.com The audio is long, about one hour and twenty minutes, but well worth it. Turn it on while you read your email or fastforward ahead 29 minutes to get to the 10 minute discussion on homeschooling.
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