Undesirable Solutions to Undeniable Issues
And why I decided to pull my kids out of a system that I am fighting.
On a national level, we are facing issues in public education. We are performing well below the top countries in literacy and numeracy. Our kids’ academic success is falling behind EDI and SEL. It’s so bad more high school graduates fail the ASVAB than pass. “The general said that typically two thirds of all prospective recruits pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test which is required to enlist, and currently only one third have passed.” Most school districts are blaming COVID for academic losses despite these trending downward since before 2020. I would argue COVID has highlighted the incompetencies of the schools and the systems themselves. Our kids are becoming less academically capable and far less resilient. Our schools are crippling our kids both academically, mentally and emotionally. There was, however a solution thrusted upon us that wasn’t wholly considered until the schools made the kids do school virtually- at home.
While I didn’t want to believe that it was the solution, homeschooling absolutely is the solution. It’s a rollercoaster of things and extremely overwhelming at first. I had two school-aged kids and the other two weren’t getting any younger. This means that I would have to manage 3 kids educations and be solely responsible for the outcomes. It seemed daunting. Then I realized that this was the practice before public education was a thing. We as a society allowed our children's education to become institutionalized by the government. Parents got convenience at the cost of losing influence over their own kids minds, academic performance, and behavior. Still, I wanted other alternatives so that all parents could have a way to vote with their wallet and still have the convenience of childcare and education.
I felt like I knew that I was wholly incompetent to homeschool my kids, but when COVID happened and the class room was brought into my kitchen, I saw firsthand that what they deemed an education was lackluster and subpar. I can do better than what was currently presented. In hopes it was a fluke, we sent my kid to a summer catch-up attempt, but he still wasn’t learning anything. I decided, after all of that, to homeschool, because I can do better. Here are the benefits and why I think this is a winning strategy;
1. I can better prioritize my kids’ academic path. One thing that benefits us all today is that we are in the age of the internet. There are resources everywhere for the parent and the child. There are internet programs for classes, and more accessibility to materials from websites to online groups. Homeschool doesn’t have to cost much and it allows flexibility for every individual child.
2. I can mold the education to my child’s personal need. Public education is less flexible when it comes to the academic needs of each child. Say, my child needs help in language arts but is not offered that help to his need. I can provide that at home. Now, say that same child is really interested in science. I can also encourage and follow that interest.
3. I can choose their influences. In the last couple of decades, we have lost God in schools. I have a pretty secular view in education, but we’ve seen a decline in academics and a sharp incline in social emotional dogmas, race-based teachings and practices, an emphasis on gender and personal expression. Personally, I preferred God. I want my kids to grow up with Judeo-Christian values and a firm understanding that there is a basic guideline of what is acceptable and what is not, also, that it applies to everyone. The lack of flexibility in rules creates resilience. Being told a firm “no” builds character.
4. I choose when they are taught about sex. All kids are different. Some kids experience things at different ages because they are all exposed to different things at different times. I get to fine tune this conversation with my kids. I get to open up those lines of communication with my kids FIRST and on our timeline. I get to engage that conversation in ways that fall in line with my views of what is best for them. Currently, public schools are teaching comprehensive sexual education younger and younger. In a lot cases, it is downright pornographic.
5. It hurts public school systems right in the wallet. I don’t like any of it. I tried fighting it with my kids in it, but I saw that they had leverage over me- my kids. They received money for my kid everytime he attended their institution. Now they don’t. They received opportunity to indoctrinate my child into their Social Justice™ cult. Now they don’t.
6. It hurts the union and therefor defunds their PACs. The biggest push behind most of the downfall of public education is the teachers unions, moreso the NEA. They are mostly funded through union dues. Unfortunately, teachers are strongarmed into paying these dues and believe it gives them bargaining leverage. That’s not always true. One thing these union dues actually pay for is leftist political campaigns and bills. They are actively lobbying against parents who have little-to-no real lobbying power. In order to save public education we really need to take down the NEA.
7. It allows us an option that is both protecting our kids and fighting the system. The reason homeschooling is THE answer is because it hits at the need for public education. The people are to be feared by the government, not fearful. It is our tax dollars, our children and our interests that should be the motivators of local school boards. That is the representation that we vote for. We are a bottom up governing system and it’s time we take that back.
I encourage every parent having issues with the district to really, deeply consider homeschooling. We know our kids. We understand our kids’ strengths, their weaknesses, and how to encourage them. Currently, public education is producing adults who can hardly read, write, or perform basic math. They are coming out of public education as unresilient and fragile. We, as parents, can do a better job.