Many people do not realize that they have the inherent freedom and ability to educate their children. They have been told that other people must teach their kids.
In some places, there is a belief that the government is the only one who can educate (feed the mind), but that is like saying the government is the only one who can feed the body. Anyone can cook food and create a delicious meal. With the right tools and ingredients, any person with a desire can do the job.
Because humans derive their rights and freedoms from the Creator, not from the state, we have a basis for self-government.
One of the ways we are endowed by our Creator with permanent freedom is regarding education, learning, or finding our path in life. Permanent, inherent freedom is the meaning of the phrase “Inalienable rights” in our constitution. It is something we are born with, and it cannot be taken away from us because it is a part of who we are. It is in our DNA to be free, to have life, and to pursue our path in life.
Education is not some “thing” that is separate from us. It is not in a building that we drive to in the car. It is not a place. It is a connection between two people or a connection between one person and an experience — which could be Nature itself, a book, a story, an experience that teaches. It is one person interacting with a new experience or information.
Let’s look at a few of the common myths surrounding the idea of home education.
Myth #1
Parents are not qualified to teach.
This statement includes an assumption that is important to highlight. It makes the assertion that a parent must be qualified by someone, which implies that there exists an authority outside the realm of parents who stand to judge them. This is what Marxists believe. But who is the ultimate authority over the child? There are two opposing worldviews which collide like war in answer to this question, and it is at the heart of what is happening in our nation today. Who decides what is best for the child?
I find it interesting, that the government agrees with a parent’s right to be the authority when it comes to abortion. For that purpose, the government will say it’s a woman’s right to choose. But when it comes to the living child and their education, the government (those in it who seek control not liberty) says that parents do not have that very same power to choose.
It is also worth noting, that there is one other major flaw in the argument “parents are not qualified to teach”. A founding principle in our free republic is that all men are created equal. This means we do not hold superiority over one another. There are no Kings, nobility, royal bloodlines to rule the peasant as it was in England centuries ago. ALL are equal in God’s sight. Anyone can ascend to rule the land if they merit the work. No one can claim the noble right to power when there are no superiors.
History is replete with examples of how powerful positions are easily and quickly corrupted — which is why positions of power should be regularly refilled by new individuals. George Washington, our first president, did not want to take a leadership position in this country, because he saw firsthand the corruption and evil of the English King in all his power. He wanted nothing to do with the corruption of power.
“My children are mine. They are not property of the state. The government does not have jurisdiction over our children.” — Voddie Baucham
“What is my responsibility as a parent, according to directives of ancient scripture in a Christian worldview? To raise, train, sharpen, and direct (or aim) the arrows that God has given to me.” Baucham
Who is the judge of a parent’s educational qualification? If you say the state, they are not the correct authority to evaluate or judge. Our American law is founded upon the idea of self-government.
Parents are the most qualified people to teach their child. This does not mean that they want to or must, but it means that they innately know their child better than anyone and can therefore tailor the day to meet the needs of the child. Parents teach a child everything in life from birth to 5 years old. Why then would they suddenly stop being able to walk through life with their child just because they are now 5? A parent has more of a right than any stranger, to choose the direction of education for the child.
Let me repeat clearly: a parent is a facilitator. They do not have to stand and give verbal lessons all day. They can if they choose to, but there are so many tools at your disposal to use that you would never have to verbally give lessons, if you would rather let the resources do it for you. There is literally nothing to fear. The main task for you to accomplish is instilling an ability to listen and yield to instructions, into your child. Without it, they will not learn what is needed for life.
If a parent can read and write, they can go through a lesson book with their child to show them how to replicate how to read and write. The parent is the facilitator and uses tools, of which there are many. Technology has caused the world of educational resources to explode.
It can be compared to the way that one hundred years ago, doctors had giant volumes of medical textbooks as libraries in their offices and would go to those resources for answers for the patient. They were the only ones who could access that information and it was not available to the common man.
But in our modern day, doctors no longer need to tote around large volumes of medical texts, because of online technology. It is all there at their fingertips. And so, it is in the world of educating students! The resources are no longer tucked away in large libraries, they are at your fingertips — every book, every video, every course, every answer — ready to be found and so easy to use. It has never been easier to educate than it is now.
But to the issue of being qualified, I say, in a free nation like our United States, parental rights are recognized. The state can choose to recognize parental rights, but they do not confer or give rights to us, the Creator does. The state is the public servant of the people. In fact, the State is made up of our own neighbors, who are sworn to protect and defend us. If the “State” is made up of our neighbors, and we are all equals by law, then the State cannot impose what the people do not approve of.
And if the parent chooses to, they can bring in a tutor, or a professional to support their child’s education. Options for supplementing education are unlimited. You are the only one with the authority to decide if you want to teach your child.
Myth #2
Homeschool Children Do Not Socialize.
The common question is “What about socialization?”. Interestingly, socialization has always been the natural interaction of the family, and the organic occurrence of the home. It is still true today that what a child observes at home from their main influencing adults, is their main source of socialization. Most of what they will come to think about communication and relating, will come from the home. The patterns of behavior and speaking learned early in life are effortlessly absorbed in the first 6 years of life.
Socialization is the process through which a person learns to adjust to a group and behave in a manner approved by that group. What do you suppose a “group” of 3rd graders will teach your child? Or 5th graders? Etc. Compare that to what you as a mature adult will teach them by your primary influence. And do you think that a group of 8-year-olds will teach your child better behavior than you as their parent and the family unit?
Have you ever stopped to ask, “Where did the term “socialization” originate?”. The term was not common before 1940 and this concept originated when sociology did, and it was used as another word for socialism. If you don’t know, socialism is a cousin of communism, and it is an economic doctrine that calls for the public State control (keywords) of all property and natural resources. They oppose the freedom to hold private property and to be an individual. This is essential to understand when we are talking about the educational freedom of our children. We are not a socialist country. We are individuals in a free-market system and socialist ideology does not belong in our vocabulary.
The opposite of socialism is capitalism, or conservatism. In capitalism, the individual owns the resources, and industry. It emphasizes competition for resources to increase wealth and personal success. Individualism and competition are basics of this economic system, and people are motivated to use personal ability and interests to enter a business/career or start a business. In a truly free market of capitalism, the taxes are low to allow the workers to keep the profits. This stimulates economic growth. A capitalist belief is that the free-market businesses can supply what the population needs. The government/State is not the supplier. This ideology directly feeds into the educational system.
Kids have many questions. My children ask me dozens of questions a day, each. Who should be the person to answer them? Who should have the authority to fill in the blanks and write their story?
Who do you most want to influence your child on how to behave in early years of life? The 20 other kids in the class? Or you? Their peers or their parents? Whose behavior will they be imitating? Do we forget how impressionable a child is? When they are in the range of birth to 6 years old, they form the basis in their mind and emotions, the foundation which solidifies into all main beliefs and behaviors.
Back to the question of socialization. If you look at the typical classroom you would say socialization means only interacting with children who are the same age as each other. But family-based socialization or home-based learning, means interacting with both older and younger siblings, parents, neighbors, friends. The greater the age variety of interaction, the greater the capacity for social skills.
And do not forget that homeschool families utilize co-ops, which are large groups of families that come together for common educational goals. The idea here is that *We as parents are choosing the content, influences, and the goals for the child, not a stranger, not the state.
We have been a part of various co-ops over the years, and the one we were in last year had 500 students. Just to give you a gage for that, the private school I attended as a child had about 300 students and dwindled to less than 100 over time. Our homeschool co-op had 500 kids. There is way more than enough opportunity to be around as many other children as you like.
A study in 2000 by the Discovery Institute found that homeschool children were scored as “Well adjusted” by trained counselors and had fewer behavioral problems than their peers. This is not hard to believe. What we are surrounded by is what we learn as children.
Myth #3
Homeschool kids can’t function in the “real world”.
People used to toss this phrase around when my kids were small. It’s ironic, now that my oldest kids are adults, they are much more adept at navigating the real world than the friends they had back then, are today.
The reason for this is because my kids have spent every day in the “real world”, of home life, nature exploration, libraries, field trips, visiting family, etc. It is a big misconception that homeschool kids don’t leave the house. My children grocery shop with me, they cook with me, they go to the park, visit grandma, go to church, and to a co-op for volleyball, and play with neighborhood children. Compare that to the regular school day where a child is in a classroom for most of 8 hours. They are not out in the real world; they are not interacting with the community.
Because homeschool students have a flexible schedule they have more time for volunteer work, helping in charities, nursing homes, or even community activities. If they want to do team sports, they do not miss schoolwork if they travel, because the schoolwork goes with them.
People seem to accept this fact for celebrities and child stars who are not in school. They think it’s normal for those kids to be taught outside of the school system. And if that is the case, it is certainly normal for any child to be taught outside of the school system.
Homeschool children function well in the adult world once they are grown. They have had time to solidify a firm foundation in a well-intentioned environment, which causes healthy growth. Parents are the best advocate for their child.
Myth #4
Homeschooled kids will miss out on sports and activities like prom.
Not only do homeschool kids have *more opportunity for activities and sports, but they also have more time to do those things.
You do not have to belong to a school to play a sport. You can play for city leagues, co-ops of other homeschool families, or a local private school. In the area where we live, our local private schools allow homeschooled students to join the sports programs. We also have several big homeschool cooperatives we can choose from to play sports. And we have city leagues that we can use as well. For the past 2 years my high school students have played volleyball with both a private school and a homeschool co-op which plays against public schools and private schools.
Our co-ops also have winter formal banquets and prom events for the students.
They do not miss out on any activities when they home educate.
Myth #5
Homeschoolers Can’t Go to College.
This is a bogus claim.
Any student with a diploma or GED can go to college or trade school.
66.7% of homeschooled children go to college as compared to 57.5% of public-school students. Colleges like Yale, Dartmouth, and Berkeley seek out home educated students and accept them at a high rate.
The qualities of self-discipline and self-governed learning are attractive to institutions. Students who are taught at home most often have good time management skills, from learning to manage studies with other responsibilities, and this is another factor making it easy to transition to college work.
All your student needs to go to college, or trade school, is a completed high school transcript, a diploma, and money. You can easily find templates for the transcripts online, and most educational sites and colleges have them as well.
Myth #6
Homeschool kids don’t learn very well.
In a home education environment, there is much less distraction than in a typical classroom. There are significantly fewer behavioral issues to deal with, and the kidsdo not observe lots of other kids their age acting negatively. This gives them a faster learning time because the teacher is not having to continually deal with dozens of behavior issues. This is not to say that a parent doesn’t have to correct siblings, but it is not to the degree of having 20 kids in a classroom and the regular distractions that would come along with that number. Also, children at home have the advantage of privacy because they can choose to be alone in a bedroom if they need more space to focus. Some children prefer to learn outside in nature, others at the kitchen table, some at their desk.
Ultimately, each child is different, and they learn and absorb differently as well. When a student is taught at home, they have a learning plan that is made specifically for them, and what is best for them, not what is best for all other students in the class. So, it does help with increasing their ability to understand and learn.
I have six students in my home-school, and they all learn differently. All I do is observe what works best for them, ask them a few questions to see what they like best, and give them the tools that suit their learning style. And, as an added plus, there is an advantage to having one teacher with only a few students. It gives you much more time for each child, and you can give them lots of attention if that is needed. It’s just not possible in a regular school room setting for a teacher to have much time for each student.
When a person only has a small amount of information, it would seem reasonable to them to think that the system that is in place for schools, is the only way to educate. But when a person has an abundance of information, they begin to see that there are unlimited systems by which to educate a child. And for that awareness of intellectual variety and choice, I write this book to you. The only limitation we have is in what we think. Our choices are truly limitless.
Summary:
· You have inherent freedom and the ability to home educate your child.
· Human rights are derived from the Creator, not the state. This is the basis of self-government.
· A founding principle in our free republic is that all men are created equal.
· If the “State” is made up of our neighbors, and we are all equals by law, then the State cannot impose what the people do not approve of.
· The state can choose to recognize parental rights, but they do not confer or give rights to us, the Creator does.
· Socialization has always been the natural interaction of the family, and the organic occurrence of the home.
· The idea here is that *We as parents are choosing the content, influences, and the goals for the child, not a stranger, not the state.
· Parents are the best advocate for their child.
· You do not have to belong to a school to play a sport.
· Any student with a diploma or GED can go to college or trade school.
· The only limitation we have is in what we think.
Your choices are truly limitless.
For coaching/educational consultation/Parenting strategy by phone, email me at crystalstafford35@gmail.com. Subject Line: COACHING.
For my course on Education, go here:
Course “You Can Homeschool” — Crystal Stafford
https://crystal-s-courses.thinkific.com/courses/You-Can-Homeschool
For my book on Educating at home, follow this link:
Liberated Learning: Rethink Education, Change The World
Amazon.com: Liberated Learning: Rethink Education, Change The World: 9798793442053: Stafford, Crystal: Books
a.co
For my podcast for parents, “The Crystal Clear Podcast”:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/49ISxifEokdQdHECIku8Px?si=etr4XZeaSGO7rHboEy4AgQ
Everything is possible when you believe it is.
Crystal S.
Crystal is a mother who has taught her six children at home for 20 years. She is an educational coach, parenting guide, and consultant for anyone interested in home education or parenting. She has two books, one podcast, and a course for parents on Thinkific. She lives with her husband, Jimmy, and her six children in Texas, where they continue to live and learn together.