# Homeschooling Goes Viral **URL:** **By** Kerry McDonald, Paul Matzko **Published:** May 14, 2020 --- Americans are currently engaged in a grand, national experiment in homeschooling. Because of the COVID-19 shutdown, tens of millions of American households have suddenly been forced to do school at home. Education policy expert and homeschooling aficionado Kerry McDonald joins the show to discuss why she believes this experience will lead many more families to consider educational alternatives even after the shutdowns ease. Additionally, Kerry and Paul discuss the incendiary _Harvard Magazine_ broadside against homeschooling, Tara Westover's best-selling novel _Educated_, and why the history of public schooling should make us leery of critics who accuse homeschoolers of failing to be good citizens. ## Further Reading [Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom](https://www.amazon.com/Unschooled-Well-Educated-Children-Conventional-Classroom/dp/1641600632), written by Kerry McDonald [Are Kids Learning More at Home During COVID-19?](https://fee.org/articles/are-kids-learning-more-at-home-during-covid-19/), written by Kerry McDonald [COVID-19 and the Future of Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/covid-19-future-educational-freedom), written by Kerry McDonald [Harvard Law Professor’s Attack on Homeschooling Is a Flawed Failure. And Terribly Timed, Too.](https://www.educationnext.org/harvard-law-professors-attack-on-homeschooling-flawed-failure-terribly-timed/), written by Patrick J. Wolf, Matthew H. Lee, and Angela R. Watson. ## Related Content [Is Homeschooling Dangerous? (with Kevin Currie-Knight)](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/is-homeschooling-dangerous), Free Thoughts Podcast [Why Schools Haven’t Changed in Hundreds of Years](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/why-schools-havent-changed-in-hundreds-of-years), Free Thoughts Podcast [Compulsory Education as Social Control](https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/compulsory-education-social-control), written by David S. D'Amato