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The Homeschooling Revolution



May 16, 2006

Of Orthography and Starbucks*

If you appreciated Stand and Deliver, then I can easily recommend Akeelah and the Bee. The protagonist is an 11-year-old girl who attends a decrepit public school in South Los Angeles, so there are a few disagreeable scenes lauding and exposing the obnoxious g-school culture. (Here's a parental review.)

But once you get beyond the foolishness, there's this gem: Akeelah's preparation to become a spelling bee champ occurs entirely outside the institutionalized education setting. In fact, a powerful deschooling message fuels this movie. How about that? Akeelah, a flawed but adventuresome character who knows hardship, is also very likeable. During her quest to learn the Latin and French origins of long words, she manages to find practical ways to honor her late father's memory and perform virtuous deeds. The latter is a powerful reminder that one does not have to be prosperous, mature, scholarly, well-connected, or nattily-dressed to cheerfully bless others.

Fun Fact: Dr. Jacques A. Bailly, who is the pronouncer at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, plays the pronouncer in the movie.

For further information, the movie's web site is here.

*The coffee giant is one of the film's distributors.