Posted on 03/28/2004 6:56:13 PM PST by doug from upland
In defense of home-schooling
by Kathy Prudhomme-O'Brien
(iNews Derry) -- It's not too often a story in the paper has me open jawed with shock and dismay.
I read such a story from The Washington Post about proposed public full day pre-kindergarten classes for four year olds where no napping will be allowed. "We need to get rid of all the baby school stuff they used to do." said Prince George's County, Maryland schools chief, Andri J. Hornsby.
These changes are set to begin next fall if funding is secured. Full day pre-kindergarten, sans napping, is current practice in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Sleep experts quoted in the article, who disagreed with this practice, said that many kids are kept up late by their parents who want to spend time with them.
So, let me see if I have this straight. Nearly every waking moment of a four year old's life will be spent away from Mom and Dad and without a nap during the day, he will lose precious time with his parents later that day.
Where is funding for this coming from? Funding for public schools comes from taxes. Taxes come from the working parents of those four year olds in Maryland.
Am I the only one who sees a pattern here? The government takes your kids away and makes you pay for it too. It almost seems like a sick plan doesn't it?
What I hate the most is the fact that far too many parents don't even see another way. Why is it that if you want to teach reading in a public schools you have to have a teaching degree but if you want to be a volunteer reading teacher for a literacy program they tell you "If you can read, you can teach someone to read"?
I may not have a choice about paying for public schools but I keep my kids out of them. I want to be the one to raise them. I used to sit at my workbench at my old job, making flutes -- some of the best flutes in the world -- wondering why society needed me to make flutes more than be with my little baby. I decided to let someone else make that silver or gold tubing come alive.
I knew I was the one who cared the most about my daughter's soul staying alive. I've been teaching her at home for five years now. I readily admit that I don't know everything, just like every other person on this planet -- including teachers with degrees. I learn what I need to so my daughter will too. She is learning self-teaching by watching me. She won't grow up trained to wait for someone to show her the way, she'll make her own way. When you're motivated by love, it's not a job.
I'm not a being a teacher, I'm being a Mom. I want every parent to see the possibility they can do this too. If not now, in the information age, when? If Abe Lincoln learned as much about the law, reading books by firelight, anyone now can learn at home as well. I love Abe Lincoln. I love all justice fanatics: Lincoln , Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Susan B. Anthony, Raphael Lemkin. Many of these folks were homeschooled. I think there is some kind of connection here. The basic one being that you don't grow accustomed to cruelty as an ongoing, normal occurrence at home, a place filled with people who love you. So when these people are unleashed on the world, as confident adults, they recoil at the horror and injustice of slavery, false religious leaders, bigotry, prejudice and genocide and act to change it. Please, God send us more people like these! Or help those who help themselves to create the situations where they shall flourish. I like the smallest amount of government control over education as possible, in fact I think a separation of school and state is the key to our remaining a free country.
Think about the kindergarten situation here in Derry. We don't have public kindergarten. We have a few private kindergartens. Parents have a choice now. If you don't like one school, you and the tuition fee they want to charge, you can go to another, or stay home and teach your child kindergarten skills yourself. This is freedom of choice is power. Power about something of the highest importance imaginable.
You now have some control over what goes into your kids head, the ideas and beliefs they acquire. The sheer volume of time I spend with my daughters ensures I will be around for the big questions they ask. Parenting is a both a right and a responsibility, you can't give up one of those without sacrificing the other. Responsibilities of such importance shouldn't be given away for anything. Live free or die, right?
Holy cow, why didn't I think of that line? It's brilliant.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.