John Taylor Gatto extensively researched the history of modern education, and he spent his last years writing and lecturing about the inherent harm in the public school system.

He concluded that we need to find better alternatives to the public education model and that children need to grow up spending more time with their families and elders in the real world if they are going to thrive.

Fast forward to the Covid-19 pandemic when the majority of America's children were unable to attend public school.

I’m sorry John wasn’t here to witness it.

The Lion’s Den

At first, though, it seemed like we thrust the children into the corporate world's lion's den with the sudden move to online learning, which is itself harmful.

Except that something unexpected began to happen.

Many parents, concerned that their children were sitting in front of computers all day, began to reject online learning as a viable education option during the Covid-19 crisis.

When you come to understand that the profit-making corporate world is behind the virtual schools—not educators—you will realize what a total coup d'etat on public education these brilliant businessmen have orchestrated through the online alternatives to the brick and mortar schools.

The efficacy of online "learning" is grossly misrepresented by fantastic marketing strategies paid for by the conglomerates like K-12 virtual schools, and these campaigns rein in a lot of children.

According to an investigative study conducted by the San Jose Mercury News, "fewer than half of the students who start the online high schools earn diplomas, and almost none of them are qualified to attend the state's public universities."

Almost none of them!

If you compare a child's learning experience online versus his experience in the presence of a real teacher and real books, does this news surprise you?

My two university children are stuck with online learning now, and they, plus so many others like them, have complained about the inefficiency of online learning.

And so have the teachers.

The students are not learning as much as they had in the classroom and what little they do learn, they are learning much of by themselves. Teacher instruction is inadequate, and the teachers have no real office hours.

Are Elementary Children Different?

If this is the college students' experience, can we safely assume that elementary children are experiencing the same?

It's highly unlikely they aren’t, nor do the statistics prove it is any different.

This is why it isn't easy to understand how so many parents, who were homeschooling prior to the pandemic, can believe that online learning is a sound option.

That they do, Gatto would not be happy about.

What online learning does is to give the parents a State hand to hold onto. Since many parents are fearful of homeschooling without having their hand held by the state, it makes perfect sense that so many homeschooling parents would opt-in to these virtual academies.

Parents or the Children

But whose needs do the academies serve: the parents or the children?

Please understand that it's virtually impossible to give your child a stellar education if your children follow the public school system curriculum, especially if it's online.

The hard truth is that homeschooling requires courage and confidence. It demands a leap of faith in your ability to succeed at teaching your own, and you can succeed.

To succeed in giving your children an outstanding education, you must be brave enough to buck the system. This is the point of homeschooling: to remove your child from the below-average education system and give your child a first-rate education at home.

Low Standards of Modern Education

When we accept the low standards for our children that online learning and public school deliver, we miss the point of homeschooling.

"A growing number of studies show a negative impact on student achievement when K-12 students move to online formats compared to their usual in-school experience," said June Ahn, an associate professor of learning sciences and research-practice partnerships at the University of California, Irvine's School of Education.

Ironically, while many home-bound Covid 19 parents see the problem with online learning and are opting out of it, many alleged homeschoolers have not.

Isn't it time to muster up the courage and say "No," to the misguided direction of modern schooling that John Taylor Gatto warned us about during the last precious years of his life?

Isn't it time we took our children's education into our own hands?

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Elizabeth Y. Hanson is an educator, veteran homeschooler and a Love and Leadership certified parenting coach with 17 years experience working in children’s education.

Using her unusual skill set, she has developed a comprehensive and unique understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to help parents get it right.

Disclaimer: This is not a politically-correct blog.