I was reading an article today about the educational wave that is homeschooling.
One of the interviewees told a familiar tale:
She was forced into virtual schooling by the events of 2020. She dove into homeschooling when her eyes were opened to the disaster for her family virtual learning had become.
In the interim, she?d hoped regular school would return to some semblance of normalcy. Realizing that was not likely, she closed the door on traditional education and embraced teaching her own.
She was prepared to send her kids back to school. Now she says, ?There?d have to be a revolution in schooling.?
Turns out, there was a revolution in schooling some decades ago when the pioneers of home education saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel as a way to escape what they perceived as a danger to their children?s wellbeing, namely public school.
Physically, in the form of bullying and peer pressure, and mentally, in the form of indoctrination stress, and anxiety, their children were struggling in a system that is unpleasant at best and archaic at worst.
I saw a meme that drove this point home. The post read, ?We?re teaching our 21st century children in 20th century classrooms with 19th century curriculum using an 18th century calendar.?
My Personal Experience With Public School
Personally, public school was a nightmare for me. As an introvert with undiagnosed spectrum disorders, a classroom setting, while considered ?normal?, was anything but enjoyable.
I was a bright, inquisitive child who wanted nothing more than to read every book in the library and learn about my world on my own terms.
I?m grateful for the handful of teachers who recognized my needs and attempted to meet them. I?m saddened for the enormous waste of my life wherein I had to conform.
But, as the saying goes, ?That?s just the way we did it back then.?
What a cringe-worthy phrase.
My Introduction To Homeschool
When I had children of my own, I did the ?expected? things, mainly because I wasn?t privy to options. I?d been indoctrinated to believe I had to follow a certain path.
We attempted preschool. For two days per week, my son attended a tiny little school. This lasted a total of 5 days.
I was horrified when I went to pick him up one afternoon and saw an enormous white streak across his brand new dark green polo shirt.
?What happened?!? I inquired.
?He leaned over the table after we cleaned it. There was still some bleach cleaner on the edge.?
Nope. I took him home, threw out the shirt, and immediately went online to find another preschool. (the very definition of insanity?I was expecting to do the same thing and achieve different results.)
In the miraculous way the universe has of upending our lives, my research turned up something new to me: Homeschooling.
Wait?I can do that?!
I took the plunge and never looked back. The road was paved with ups and downs and mighty struggles against certain members of my familial circle who, in their indoctrinated minds, were overly concerned I?d ruin the kids for life.
We had a blast. Nearly 20 years after that fateful day at the preschool, my kids graduated homeschool and went to college.
After staring wide-eyed at her classmates and their indoctrinated mentality, my daughter shook her head and thanked me for homeschooling her.
Homeschool Pioneers
Even before I had my epiphany at the preschool, homeschool pioneers had paved the way for newbies like me.
Names like John Holt, Karen Andreola, Michael Farris, Mary Hood, Jessie Wise, and Laurie Bluedorn shined like beacons throughout my research into home education.
These people homeschooled way before it was cool. In some cases, way before it was even legal.
I?m grateful for these trailblazers. To me, they began the original education revolution.
The article I read went on to recite statistics about the explosion in homeschooling numbers.
I say it?s been a long time coming.
How Can You Homeschool If You're Not A Teacher?
One of the questions I encountered when teaching my own was, ?How can you homeschool if you?re not a teacher??
Out of curiosity, I researched the requirements for getting a teaching degree. I was willing to do that if it meant my kids would get a better education at home.
The courses to complete this degree included classroom management, disciplinary literacy, educational psychology, and institutional teaching methods.
I realized none of these applied to the one-on-one tutoring my children were receiving at home. I also realized I knew my children better than anyone holding a piece of paper from a teaching college ever could.
When I learned of the 6 hours children spend at school only 1.5 hours of it is actual instructional learning, I was sold.
That?s when my eyes were opened even wider to the superior education my children would receive by having access to a personal tutor for their entire childhoods.
My resolve was strengthened, which allowed me to withstand all questions, suggestions, and ill-informed opinions from those around me. Eventually, my support system grew to include my husband, and our children flourished.
School As It Was, School As It Needs To Be
In my small circle of friends, I was the only one teaching my own. Eventually, I found a group that fit our family and added to my circle, but the original group offered an eye-opening view into public school in my area.
And with every tale and exasperated declaration from my mom-friends, I whispered thanks to the circumstances that led me down the road to homeschooling.
My public-school experience, the experiences of my friends? children, the constant barrage of negative news reports about institutional schools?all of these have been steadily pointing to the need for a drastic change.
And yet, the system clings steadfastly to the industrial blueprint laid out by Horace Mann.
An Eye-Opening Year For Homeschool
2020 was rough. But great change comes when ?the norm? goes through great upheaval.
With children at home for months, with parents seeing firsthand what traditional school has become, it?s no wonder parents are fleeing the system and choosing to educate their own.
A revolution, indeed.
A quote from the article had me nodding in agreement:
?All of this is undermining the old Democratic-educational complex?that has long maintained an iron-clad grip on tens of thousands of schools and the fate of tens of millions of American students. And it is forcing a long overdue reimagining of the way we educate children: the subjects they study, the values instilled in them, and the economy for which they are being prepared.?
After nodding a bit, I reread the paragraph, horrified by the words iron-glad grip and the fate of tens of millions of students.
Homeschooling has gone from the radical fringe bespeckled by ?hippies and evangelicals? who saw the establishment for the danger it posed, to the mainstream solution embraced by a diverse range of families?for the same reason.
During my years of homeschooling, I often said, ?If I could eliminate traditional schooling, I would. At least I?m making small ripples in the pond where I can.?
Homeschooling Goes Mainstream...Finally
And here we are. The revolution that began quietly in the 1970s and 1980s is spreading and creating an opportunity for parents to take charge of their children?s education and their futures in monumental waves in 2021.
Something else that struck me from the article is how many of the interviewees declined to share their names for fear of judgement and ridicule.
It?s time to stop this.
No more being afraid to be a homeschooler. No more hiding behind the ?temporary? situation thinking one day school will just return to normal and the kids will go back to ?the way it?s always been.?
The curtains have been pulled back. We see the educational wizard for what it is, nothing more than smoke and mirrors with a few teachers trying to make the best of the situation.
The Education Revolution That Is Homeschool
Now, seeing the tsunami of children being washed from institutional classrooms back into the safe haven of their homes, my heart beats a little faster and my adoration of those homeschool pioneers grows.
I believe it?s time, that it?s even overdue. We?ve been mired in Horace Mann?s vision of creating a supply of factory workers long enough. That?s not our present, and it?s certainly not our future.
Our future belongs to the children raised to be critical thinkers, to embrace change, and to take charge of their own destinies. This isn?t just fluffy prose.
This is the long-awaited education revolution.