I remember being in 1st grade and having an epiphany about school that has stayed with me ever since. We were taught that there are 7 continents, N. America, S. America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. I stared at a globe. There was one glaringly inconsistent continental divide that wasn't reflected geologically.

Europe and Asia are both on one continent. When I inquired about this then, my inquiry was deflected. Upon subsequent reflection over the years I spent in public school, I arrived at the most satisfactory answer the data suggested, which I can still not refute.

The simple subject of geography was manipulated for the sake of propaganda with the intent of creating psychological divisions between us and them - Europe and Asia. From then on I actively and deliberately supposed that every 'fact' I was served in school was a lie, and only such as I could confirm via independent sources might be true.

While I believe this practice has made of me too much of a Devil's advocate to be socially acceptable, and certainly contributed to a gloriously misspent youth, it has also made me a scientist by default.

When my sons were born, I never even entertained the thought of enrolling them in any school. Even after I became a single father, I continued to bring my children to work with me and let them learn math from pulling tape measures while they were paid wages (even though it remains technically illegal to employ children under 14 in the USA).

I designed no curriculum, as my own experience proved to me that children are quite competent to intend to know what is of importance, and diligently seek to know it. When they inquired about stars, astronomy was the subject. When they asked about war, politics, and etc..

Eventually (we lived in a quite isolated homestead deep in the forest) puberty changed the equation, and I did enroll them in public school because I could neither forsake their socialization with their peers, nor teach it myself.

At first they were at the very top of their class in almost every subject. As I explained to them (to their great and justified disbelief), they would find that school suppressed their desire to learn, and actually become an impediment to their education.

This is true, for many of the reasons you state. Curricula impose dry facts unrelated to their particular interests, institutional and bureaucratic incompetence suppress individual exceptionality and skill, and the hum and buzz of social intercourse devolves all too often to bullying, singling out of the 'weaker' specimens to offer up to predators threatening the herd, and status seeking pecking orders.

The longer they remained in school, the worse their grades got, and the less eager they were to attend.

I consider that exposure to the harmful effects of institutional education amongst the most useful and edifying aspects of their preparation for the rest of their lives.

Thanks for this thoughtful post.