Michelle Conaway

Watch this video and I’m sure you will be inspired to reflect again on the reasons why you are homeschooling your kids.

 

Although I do homeschool my kids, I feel compelled to get involved with this movement. Why? Because the kids that are in school and being pushed and pulled in a million different directions will be adult members of our society very soon.

Even though I am pretty sure my kids will not go back to the public school system, I know that they will also be adult members of society in the near future. We will all be working together to solve problems in our world.

For this reason, I see that the problems facing public education are also my concerns and not just concerns for public school parents and administrators. Just because I have chosen the path of homeschooling does not mean that I can hide my head in the sand and think that public education does not affect me, my family and the world. Kids in public school systems will be the adults of tomorrow and I would like to hope that they have something to bring to the table. I would hope that they are being given the tools to make our world a better place.

This country is raising a lot of kids that don’t know how to think critically. They have learned to shove a lot of information into their heads, in a short amount of time, and then mind dump that information onto meaningless tests. Where is the true learning in this scenario?

They are not learning to problem solve or apply what they have “learned” in real world situations. They are not being allowed to be “whole” human beings. They are not being given a moment in the day to discover what they are interested in. They are not given time to absorb what they’ve learned, explore the material and apply it in everyday life.

This epidemic seems to be taking hold at dangerously young ages. I see parents scurrying around trying to get their three year olds in prestigious, very structured preschool programs. I actually heard a mom say, “They MUST get into a good preschool or they won’t be prepared for the rigors of kindergarten.” WHAT????

My twenty-four year old daughter works in one of these preschools. She comes home very frustrated that her two year olds are REQUIRED to learn sign language and sit for thirty and forty minutes at a time to HEAR NOT EXLORE concepts about colors, shapes and numbers. They are told “NO” a lot. They are given very little time to explore their world and discover concepts on their own or with guidance and participation from their relaxed teachers. They are given report cards for God’s sake! As a preschool teacher, my daughter is experiencing frustrated and stressed out two year olds.

Kids are being motivated by fear. They are terrified that if they don’t push their way through AP courses and lots and lots of extra-curriculars they will be failures in life.

I know an eleven year old girl that is taking five AP classes and never gets to come out and play anymore because her “future” is at stake. She didn’t want all the AP courses, but her parents insisted and she of course complied.  What choice does she have?

The other day she looked longingly at my boys outside playing at 4 p.m.  With a gazillion books in her hand, she marched dutifully in to study instead of enjoying the beautiful fall afternoon with her friends.  She had already completed her seven hour government imposed curricula at school but she wasn’t finished yet.  No time for play.  She has college to worry about. An eleven year old child.

Children do not come up with this ideology on their own. Children don’t come out of the womb being fearful about their futures.

Administrators and parents are caught up in an epidemic of scaring the living daylights out of our kids. Have we gotten so fearful about our own futures that we project that onto our kids? Are we raising kids that will be so afraid they don’t “know” the answer and therefore give up finding solutions? Are we raising kids to be so stressed out and frustrated and depressed that they crack at the age of thirty or heaven forbid, younger?

Kids need time to think and explore and discover what brings them joy. They need time to focus and develop their strengths, find coping skills and learn to maneuver through their weaknesses. A five year old certainly has no business worrying about his college options. And if he IS worrying about that, he is picking up on a paradigm his parents have latched onto and his school has embraced. A five year old is not naturally worried about his future at all. Not unless he has been given a reason to worry by the adults around him.

I feel compelled to explore solutions to this fear based epidemic plaguing our school systems. I’m not sure what action I will take but I do know that change must take place. All parents want to think that the future holds something wonderful for their children. That is why I homeschool. I imagine it’s why there has been so much growth in the homeschool community in the last few years. The education system is broken and it not only effects the kids that attend these systems, it affects us all.

We as homeschool parents have discovered what works for our kids and our families.  We have a unique voice because we have had the courage and made the time to explore what excites our children. We have discovered how our children learn. We have stepped away from a system that for whatever reason was not working for our kids and discovered what does work. How can we help with this movement towards a better education system thus a better world for us all?

We can offer our unique voice.  We can become involved.  I have tended in the past to have a somewhat “us (homeschoolers) against them (the public school system)” mentality.  But upon closer examination of my own paradigms, I have realized that if I want a better world for my kids and future generations, I must come to the table with my ideas and promote a system in which ALL kids, not just homeschooled kids have the advantage of living meaningful lives.  I must drop this “us against them” mentality and join the forces wanting and demanding change.

The homeschool community has much to offer in this arena. How better to give than to give of our voice?  To share our experiences as educators. To share the successes our children are having. We as homeschooling parents have a say in the types of learners that are being spit out by a broken educational system.  That education system is producing the problem solvers of tomorrow.

If you would like to find out how you can become involved with the Race To Nowhere movement, please click the link.

Even small actions can make big differences. What kind of world do we want to create? As Ghandi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  We as homschoolers are “being” that change. United we can make a big difference not only in our children’s lives but in the world we are sending them into.

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