Casting "Public Education Theology" from the Home

here is something i read about the issue i hope you enjoy


Remember when you first heard of home education? You may have thought it was a bit strange, but when the Lord started nudging your heart you may have given in to this new conviction with trepidation and a little bit of fear.
"Can I do this? Am I going to ruin my children for life? Is this the right thing to do?" you may have asked yourself a dozen times. Then the Lord graciously started building you up with His strength and you finally learned that you can do ANYTHING through Christ who strengthens you, including home educating your children!
So, it's time to begin. How do we begin? We look around at how other families are home educating their children and grasp onto any straws that we can find in this alien adventure. We attend support groups, look at curriculum at the annual home school conventions in our area, listen to speakers on the subject and buy every book and tape we can find on the subject.
The average beginning home educator usually purchases a full curriculum from one of the major private school suppliers. She decorates an actual classroom and has desks and even a chalkboard. Now there is nothing wrong with any of this, but where did the idea come from? Possibly from her own personal experience that she had in school. 99.9% of all home educators start off the same way, setting up an educational system in their own home that mimics the one that they are trying to get away from, simply because it's all we know and because we don't know what else to do.
There has to be an answer. God wouldn't call and convict so many parents to train their children themselves and to educate them in a Christian manner. We require our own children in high school to read John Taylor Gatto's book, "The Underground History of American Education" as one of their history lessons. This book was such an educational eye opener that my wife and I have never been able to look at school the same way again, and to teach our own children with different goals than we have ever had before. For an example, let me quote part of a short essay that Mr. Gatto wrote for the Wall Street Journal titled "Quit, I Think". He was New York State Teacher of the Year at the time.
"Government schooling is the most radical adventure in history. It kills the family by monopolizing the best times of childhood and by teaching disrespect for home and parents. The whole blueprint of school procedure is Egyptian, not Greek or roman. It grows from the theological idea that human value is a scarce thing, represented symbolically by the narrow peak of a pyramid.
That idea passed into American history through the Puritans. It found its "scientific" presentation in the bell curve, along which talent supposedly apportions itself by some Iron Law of Biology. It's a religious notion, School is its church. I offer rituals to keep heresy at bay. I provided documentation to justify the heavenly pyramid.
Socrates foresaw if teaching became a formal profession, something like this would happen. Professional interest is served by making what is easy to do seem hard; by subordinating the laity to the priesthood. School is to vital a jobs-project, contract giver and protector of the social order to allow itself to be reformed. It has political allies to guard its marches, that's why reforms come and go without changing much. Even reformers can't imagine school much different. (Homeschoolers are reformers also, and they have a difficult time coming up with anything different than the public school format.)
David learns to read at age four; Rachel, at age nine: In normal development, when both are 13, you can't tell which one learned first - the five year spread means nothing at all. But in school I label Rachel "Learning disabled" and slow David down a bit, too. For a paycheck, I adjust David to depend on me to tell him when to stop. He won't outgrow that dependency. I identify Rachel as discount merchandise, "special education" fodder. She'll be locked in her place forever.
In 30 years of teaching kids rich and poor I almost never met a learning disabled child; hardly ever met a gifted and talented one either. Like all school categories, these are sacred myths, created by human imagination. They derive from questionable values we never examine because they preserve the temple of schooling.
That's the secret behind short answer tests, bells, uniform time blocks, age grading, standardization, and all the rest of the school religion punishing our nation. There isn't a right way to become educated; there are as many ways to fingerprints. We don't need state-certified teachers to make education happen - that probably guarantees it won't.
How much more evidence is necessary? Good schools don't need more money or a longer year; they need real free market choices, variety that speaks to every need and runs risks. We don't need a national curriculum or national testing either. Both initiatives arise from ignorance of how people learn or deliberate indifference to it. I can't teach this way any longer. If you hear of a job where I don't have to hurt kids to make a living, let me know. Come fall I'll be looking for work."
Mr. Gatto boldly goes on to say that institutionalized education hurts children, dumbs them down, and is purposely aiming at educating students to "serve" rather than to ever have an entrepreneur spirit.
How do we "educational reformers" successfully learn to educate our children? The Bible tells us to teach our children God's principles as we walk along throughout our day, as we lay down to sleep, and just live our lives together. Deut. 6:6-9. The Bible doesn't ever give us an example of "boxed education".
What did our homeschooling ancestors, such as Abe Lincoln, George Washington and many other presidents do for education?
First, they were not in institutionalized learning centers. They were taught with the belief in mind that each young person was expected to make something of themselves, to be a business owner or have some type of skill that would be necessary to others. Today, this "making something of oneself" is a theology that is basically extinct except among the most radical of reformers.
Traditionally, many young American men were taught in small rooms with a few other children and after they reached the age of 11 or 12, they were sent out into the community to apprentice with the tradesmen. Some would go on to work and then take over a business, others were off to start something brand new. This was the norm of American society in the past.
So, what should the educational reformer of today consider and change? There are some today who are of the persuasion that their children should be educated with basic Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. After they are proficient at these, they are guided towards starting their own businesses. Some young men have grown successful gardening, mowing and landscaping businesses and gross over $60,000 a year. Did I forget to tell you that they were only 14 when they acquired this income? Or a 16 year old who started his own graphic art business and makes over $40,000 working part time from his bedroom computer?
Why do we send our kids to school? To get a job and to be socialized. If a teenager starts his own business and works with the public not only will he have achieved the basic goal of education, but he will also have to learn how to deal with many different types of personalities and how to get along with all of them.
If you are one of many homeschooling parents who are asking themselves regarding education, "Isn't there something MORE for my children than THIS?" Then maybe you should start researching the aspect of entrepreneurship for children. Not only is it fascinating for both adults and children, it also keeps our teens busy and out of trouble.
There are wonderful books on the market today. When our children turn 13, we teach them to read books on managing money, management skills, how to start your own business, and so on. If you go to the internet and do a Google search, you can pull up many months worth of reading material.
Getting out of the "boxed" mentality of institutionalized education isn't easy. Our thoughts are so meshed in this philosophy that it takes a bit to grab hold of something different.
Pray and ask our Heavenly Father to lead and guide you and to give you a vision for what He wants for your children. It will not be the same for everyone. Just as each of us are made very uniquely and special, so will our interests vary. Be patient and always keep your eyes open and soon the Lord will show you what He desires for your life.