I’m going to guess that you don’t really mean critical. If I’m not critical of the school my kid is attending, regardless of the kind of school it is, then I’m not paying attention. I will guess you mean something like, if you’ve given up on the school system, or if you feel despair over sending your kid, something like that.
Both myself and my ex-wife are satisfactorily literate and numerate and capable of critical thinking, despite both being victims of the public school system. We long ago concluded that as long as you’re in a reasonably safe environment with a modicum of educational resources, the quality of the teaching is not all that important compared to your own motivation to learn. We both grew up in houses full of books, and we learned to read by sitting in the laps of our parents or older siblings while they read to us.
Although I haven’t done any double-blind studies, I sense that for most kids, parental attitude toward education is very important. Among my daughter’s peers, the motivated kids were the ones with motivated parents; the kids who enjoyed learning were the ones whose parents enjoyed learning. The kids who hated school were the ones whose parents were indifferent toward learning.
And I think it matters most during the kid’s earliest years. I learned to read in the laps of my mother and sisters, before my mother married a far right-wing type who equated education with empty-headed self-importance and snobbery, and delivered long speeches at the dinner table about how teachers are all idiots. But he had no effect on my love of reading and learning.
Although my wife and I could have afforded private school for our kid, we sent her to public school so she could learn the vital lesson of getting along with many different kinds of people, and in particular, to learn the culture of her own generation—she’ll be spending a lot of time with them.
She did well in school, substandard though it was, and now she’s doing well at university. I’m sure genetics play a factor, but I’m convinced the main thing is the example and attitude of the parents. Of course, I would be convinced, because then I can claim some credit. Although I’m sure home-schooling has its advantages, I think your kid can get a good education even in public school, given an education-positive environment at home. Especially books. Especially making good associations with reading by doing it with them in your lap and at bedtime. Peace