The reality is that you can have the biggest, most powerful search engine in the world and it doesn't mean a thing if you are searching for information about Brittany Spears. Being able to search is founded on a knowledge base that tells you that you need to search, that a search of a particular sort may be useful, and the whether the result are meaningful.I agree with your post with a qualification: I'm not sure if you and I would agree on the definition of a "classical education".So instead of dumping all that silly "knowledge" stuff, the internet makes it MUCH more important. Ironically, the best education right now is a classical education. Very broad and designed to instill context. The internet is meaningless without that info being put in context.
I'm certain that we would both agree that it includes a very strong emphasis on learning how to read and understand books, as opposed to websites, but I wonder if you would agree with me that a truly well-rounded "classical" education will spend as much time on science and math as on philosophy, history and literature.
I would even go so far as to teach the little tykes organic chemistry, when they're still young enough to find it fun and puzzling.
Of course, nothing interesting is going to be learned in a public school. Some private schools are probably ok. A homeschooling environment is probably the best.
Public schools exist for the purpose of disseminating public propaganda, keeping public trough-feeders well-paid, and promoting the only social goal left in America: Diversity Uber Alles.
Homeschooling is the best and most natural way to raise up a child. Thoughtful, intelligent, and caring parents see the evidence of the indisputable superiority of homeschooling and are choosing it for their children. This is why homeschooling continues its rapid growth.
Please read my tag line. Homeschooling is a good idea and is in the process of winning!
Well, yes. That is a classical education. There's a balance between knowing enough stuff and knowing how to learn more (libraries, internet, books). You may not be a statistician, but without the background knowledge of what statistics does, you don't know to frame something as a statistics problem and look it up.