Class Dismissed

Filmmaker Jeremy Stuart's soup-to-nuts guide to the many faces of alternative education outside traditional school systems is ingeniously anchored in the engaging story of one family who sought their own homeschooling options. An unusually involving film about a hot-button subject, Class Dismissed begins with an airing of the typical complaints about one-size-fits-all standardized, classroom-based rote teaching. In the wake of No Child Left Behind and with the controversial Common Core still in vogue—both approaches heavily reliant on testing and unpopular with parents, teachers, and students—homeschooling is on the rise. What that means, exactly, for individual families depends on many personal factors. The parents at the center of this film make the bold decision to withdraw their two bored, frustrated daughters from a mainstream school, only to be hampered by a lack of confidence in forming their own lesson plans. To their credit, they soon stop trying to recreate the school model at home and instead investigate other possible choices, such as student-driven “deschooling” and “unschooling,” as well as an exotic system called “Classical Conversations.” Anyone who has homeschooled knows how overwhelming that world can be, with thousands of curricula for sale and as many perspectives on the best approach. But the bottom line here is the suggestion to follow the child in his or her interests and draw learning opportunities toward those endeavors. Curiosity, says one formerly homeschooled young man currently in college, is what he got from his education. Sure to spark discussion, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)