Extreme Social and Political Ideals Reinforced at the ‘Great Homeschool Convention’

From young-earth creationism to Tucker Carlson, the gathering of homeschool families offered a view of the world — and homeschooling — that is filled with anxiety over the left

Sarah Stankorb
9 min readApr 26, 2022

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Great Homeschool Convention, Cincinnati

I first learned about the Great Homeschool Convention’s turn through my area in Ohio from a homeschooling family member. She was livid that rather than any of the millions of parents with homeschooling experience or actual expertise in pedagogy, the three-day event’s keynote speaker was going to be Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson.

She sent me a post shared widely in progressive and moderate homeschool circles, written by Susan Wise Bauer, who helped popularize classical Christian education. After Bauer noticed that the event’s keynote speaker would be Tucker Carlson, Bauer, a frequent speaker at these sorts of conferences years ago, lamented, “This is not a home school convention, not any more. If you go, you’re supporting a political agenda.”

For years I’ve interviewed those raised in evangelical Christian homeschooling families. They taught me how theology and evangelical culture spread between homeschool conferences and trickled down to kids through…

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Sarah Stankorb
Sarah Stankorb

Written by Sarah Stankorb

Sarah Stankorb, author of Disobedient Women, has published with The Washington Post, Marie Claire, and many others. @sarahstankorb www.sarahstankorb.com

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