~ EVERYONE HATES HOMESCHOOL (Part II)!
by Steven David Horwich
Please read Part I of this article if you have not, first. We’ll pick up where we left off.
So who really hates homeschool? Let’s skip over those who know nothing about homeschool, and who have “bought in” to the “bad press” created by teachers and their lackeys. Let’s focus on the real haters, those who should and may know better, and who are still going after homeschoolers.
Who truly wants homeschool to die, and why?
There are only a few groups.
- First would be those whose self-interest demands the existence and perpetuation of schools. These would include anyone determined to manipulate and control children. School is a wonderful place to kill a child’s interests and incentive. And schools do exactly this, every day, everywhere. Where better than a school where a child is alone and defenseless to browbeat him down, with grades and report cards and tests and parent/teacher meetings, into submission? School seems made for this sort of degradation of the child – and so it is. Control is what schooling is all about, and anyone telling you otherwise is ignorant, or they are lying to you, usually out of self-interest.
Also included in this same group of “homeschool haters” are most teachers and school administrators, most private school owners, almost all school psychologists, and all other employees of your friendly, local, gravy-sucking school district. Included in this group would be school boards and “experts” in education, who have claimed for many decades that they are merely serving the public good when, in fact, the horrible results all declare clearly that they are not serving us, not in any way we might wish to be served. Also include in this group Washington lobbyists and teachers unions, who will tell almost any lie and pay almost any amount to maintain control over education in America, and to keep money flowing into their pocketbooks. Politicians bought off by such people are also opposed to homeschooling, and those are the people who write our laws.
- The second group who do not want to see homeschooling succeed are very self-involved or lazy parents. If we all had to homeschool, even in homeschool groups, then each parent would have to get directly involved in their children and their education. What a disaster this would be for those parents who want their nights free to watch TV. Such parents love it when their children are given long homework assignments, the kind that keeps the student out of mom and dad’s hair until bedtime. “After all”, says such a parent, “I work all day, why should I have to work nights, too?!”
To which I offer two answers. First – your child is being asked to work both night and day when given homework. Should you really have more “free time” than your child? Second – You made a choice to have a child. No one begged you to have children. Once you have a child, you are responsible for his or her well-being, and in every regard. If you don’t understand the words “responsible”, “well-being”, “every”, or “regard”, please look them up immediately. You’re a parent. Start behaving like one.
- Another group that does not root for homeschooling to work is very self-involved and lazy students. There are some, most certainly, and they are just looking for the easy road, the easy avoidance of work. Homeschool does not allow a child to hide in the back of the room, pay others to take tests and do work for them (a cottage industry according to recent stories), and the like.
Homeschooling is generally one-on-one, teacher (parent) and student. Sometimes there are a few students, but the numbers in a given homeschool situation are not so high that they allow the lazy student somewhere to hide. Lazy students, forced to work for perhaps the first time in their pampered lives, sometimes beg to be returned to school. Such students often grow up to be a drag to civilization, as they are self-involved and disconnected from the world and its needs.
Here’s the key idea. Any person who wants civilization to survive will root for homeschool to succeed. Anyone opposed, regardless of whatever lame argument they provide, actually is rooting for the fall of civilization. They are okay if the whole game crashes and burns.
Homeschool is, simply put, THE MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF EDUCATION AVAILABLE TODAY. Anyone wanting children to receive an actual education would thn support homeschooling. And those who do not support it? Start asking what they REALLY want.
Homeschool is safer for the student than ANY school, by light years, no debate. Given the dangers of sending a child to school today, I find it remarkable that parents willingly do so! To not support homeschooling is to say that your fine with children being placed into a dangerous environment, every day. What sort of people want to see children endangered?
Homeschool is flexible to the student’s needs and interests as NO school can be. This also is beyond debate. Homeschooling that is flexible and takes into account a student’s interests can help build students who love education. What sort of person does not long to see each child discover his calling in life, the subjects and skills that thrill him and which will fulfill his life?
Homeschooling generates better test scores than ANY SORT OF SCHOOLING, public or private, statistically and undeniably. And who exactly longs for lower test scores, and worst results, even as measured by the system’s own measuring stick? Who indeed.
You now have a good and accurate description of the enemy of homeschooling, and you know what they really want. Such people are no friend to children. Homeschool is opposed by “bad guys”. I’ve never seen any intelligent argument against homeschooling.
And the legality? Homeschooling is a Constitutional right in the United States. The American founding fathers favored it. Almost all of them were homeschooled, and so were their children. You know, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams? They all came out okay.
The founders of the United Nations also felt that homeschooling was a right to be protected. It is guaranteed as a right internationally by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
So taking these truths into account, ANY politician anywhere who comes out in favor of limiting homeschooling in any member nation of the United Nations is in violation of your rights, and should be treated as such. If a politician in your state does not absolutely, actively, enthusiastically support your right to homeschool, then he or she is operating outside of the Constitution and the law – and is no friend to this country or to your family and your children.
In the end you should not care about opposition to doing what’s right. This is especially true where your children are concerned. For the reasons cited above and for many more reasons personal and social, homeschooling is the right approach for almost any child.
If you encounter ignorance at the core of someone’s objection, then educate them. Send them to this blog, or introduce them to happy homeschoolers. There are millions. Show them the numbers of crimes committed on school campuses. They are horrifying. Show the ignorant the local drop-out rate from public schools. Just because you’re right (and you are right) does not absolve you from the responsibility of straightening out those who don’t get it.
Politics should have absolutely no place in education. Government has proven beyond any doubt that all it knows about education is how to do it wrong. Don’t let government and school districts use your children and their future for political leverage. Those people know NOTHING about your special child and his or her needs!
Treat government and politicians and teachers and school boards as exactly what they are – total strangers who claim to have your best interest at heart, and who are telling you how to raise and educate your children. Treat them as you would any stranger who had the nerve to tell you how to care for your child. Dismiss them, kick them out. If a politician opposes homeschooling, the odds are high that he’s paid off by teachers unions and lobbyists. Get a LARGE group of LOUD people together, get in the politician and the press’s face until they back down. Your children are counting on you!
Friends of civilization are friends of homeschooling. Enemies of civilization are enemies of homeschooling. That may sound simplistic, but I’m afraid it pretty much is that simple.
Who were the very first people as a group to oppose homeschooling? Answer - the Nazis in Germany, under Hitler. They wanted to make certain that German children were educated in the Nazi way. Their approach killed all homeschooling in Germany and resulted in Hitler Youth who turned their own parents in to “the authorities”. Was there ever a group more dedicated than the Nazis to the destruction of civilization or of homeschooling? Not likely.
Where is homeschool illegal today? It is illegal in Germany. Take your cue from this fact and when faced with opposition, act accordingly to protect your rights and your child’s future. Build homeschool groups. Unite with other homeschoolers to protect your rights. No support in the neighborhood? Start educating the neighborhood, one by one if necessary.
CREATE the support you long for. It is deserved. It is a RIGHT to homeschool. It is not a “privilege”. The only “support” you need can be found in your own home. Pick a space where homeschooling will be done. Set aside the time and the small resources needed. Begin. Build a successful homeschool program for your own child.
If you build it – if you demonstrate the wonder of homeschooling with your own children, the rest of the world will follow in time. They must. The alternative is just too grim.
Steven Horwich is an Emmy and Dramalogue award-winning writer/director, who has split his life between the arts and education. A teacher with over 35 years and over 20,000 hours of experience from elementary school through university-level teaching, he started homeschooling his own children in 2002. This led him to author over 300 courses since 2002, a complete curricula (excluding math) for ages 5-adult, called Connect The Thoughts. Over 20,000 people have used CTT since making it available via the Internet in 2007. His curricula is presented at www.connectthethoughts.com. There is over 5 hours of film explaining his courses and approach. He has authored a book about education today, Poor Cheated Little Johnny, and a teacher training program to go with it. He currently presents a free webinar about education and homeschooling every third Tuesday.
by Steven David Horwich
Please read Part I of this article if you have not, first. We’ll pick up where we left off.
So who really hates homeschool? Let’s skip over those who know nothing about homeschool, and who have “bought in” to the “bad press” created by teachers and their lackeys. Let’s focus on the real haters, those who should and may know better, and who are still going after homeschoolers.
Who truly wants homeschool to die, and why?
There are only a few groups.
- First would be those whose self-interest demands the existence and perpetuation of schools. These would include anyone determined to manipulate and control children. School is a wonderful place to kill a child’s interests and incentive. And schools do exactly this, every day, everywhere. Where better than a school where a child is alone and defenseless to browbeat him down, with grades and report cards and tests and parent/teacher meetings, into submission? School seems made for this sort of degradation of the child – and so it is. Control is what schooling is all about, and anyone telling you otherwise is ignorant, or they are lying to you, usually out of self-interest.
Also included in this same group of “homeschool haters” are most teachers and school administrators, most private school owners, almost all school psychologists, and all other employees of your friendly, local, gravy-sucking school district. Included in this group would be school boards and “experts” in education, who have claimed for many decades that they are merely serving the public good when, in fact, the horrible results all declare clearly that they are not serving us, not in any way we might wish to be served. Also include in this group Washington lobbyists and teachers unions, who will tell almost any lie and pay almost any amount to maintain control over education in America, and to keep money flowing into their pocketbooks. Politicians bought off by such people are also opposed to homeschooling, and those are the people who write our laws.
- The second group who do not want to see homeschooling succeed are very self-involved or lazy parents. If we all had to homeschool, even in homeschool groups, then each parent would have to get directly involved in their children and their education. What a disaster this would be for those parents who want their nights free to watch TV. Such parents love it when their children are given long homework assignments, the kind that keeps the student out of mom and dad’s hair until bedtime. “After all”, says such a parent, “I work all day, why should I have to work nights, too?!”
To which I offer two answers. First – your child is being asked to work both night and day when given homework. Should you really have more “free time” than your child? Second – You made a choice to have a child. No one begged you to have children. Once you have a child, you are responsible for his or her well-being, and in every regard. If you don’t understand the words “responsible”, “well-being”, “every”, or “regard”, please look them up immediately. You’re a parent. Start behaving like one.
- Another group that does not root for homeschooling to work is very self-involved and lazy students. There are some, most certainly, and they are just looking for the easy road, the easy avoidance of work. Homeschool does not allow a child to hide in the back of the room, pay others to take tests and do work for them (a cottage industry according to recent stories), and the like.
Homeschooling is generally one-on-one, teacher (parent) and student. Sometimes there are a few students, but the numbers in a given homeschool situation are not so high that they allow the lazy student somewhere to hide. Lazy students, forced to work for perhaps the first time in their pampered lives, sometimes beg to be returned to school. Such students often grow up to be a drag to civilization, as they are self-involved and disconnected from the world and its needs.
Here’s the key idea. Any person who wants civilization to survive will root for homeschool to succeed. Anyone opposed, regardless of whatever lame argument they provide, actually is rooting for the fall of civilization. They are okay if the whole game crashes and burns.
Homeschool is, simply put, THE MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF EDUCATION AVAILABLE TODAY. Anyone wanting children to receive an actual education would thn support homeschooling. And those who do not support it? Start asking what they REALLY want.
Homeschool is safer for the student than ANY school, by light years, no debate. Given the dangers of sending a child to school today, I find it remarkable that parents willingly do so! To not support homeschooling is to say that your fine with children being placed into a dangerous environment, every day. What sort of people want to see children endangered?
Homeschool is flexible to the student’s needs and interests as NO school can be. This also is beyond debate. Homeschooling that is flexible and takes into account a student’s interests can help build students who love education. What sort of person does not long to see each child discover his calling in life, the subjects and skills that thrill him and which will fulfill his life?
Homeschooling generates better test scores than ANY SORT OF SCHOOLING, public or private, statistically and undeniably. And who exactly longs for lower test scores, and worst results, even as measured by the system’s own measuring stick? Who indeed.
You now have a good and accurate description of the enemy of homeschooling, and you know what they really want. Such people are no friend to children. Homeschool is opposed by “bad guys”. I’ve never seen any intelligent argument against homeschooling.
And the legality? Homeschooling is a Constitutional right in the United States. The American founding fathers favored it. Almost all of them were homeschooled, and so were their children. You know, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams? They all came out okay.
The founders of the United Nations also felt that homeschooling was a right to be protected. It is guaranteed as a right internationally by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
So taking these truths into account, ANY politician anywhere who comes out in favor of limiting homeschooling in any member nation of the United Nations is in violation of your rights, and should be treated as such. If a politician in your state does not absolutely, actively, enthusiastically support your right to homeschool, then he or she is operating outside of the Constitution and the law – and is no friend to this country or to your family and your children.
In the end you should not care about opposition to doing what’s right. This is especially true where your children are concerned. For the reasons cited above and for many more reasons personal and social, homeschooling is the right approach for almost any child.
If you encounter ignorance at the core of someone’s objection, then educate them. Send them to this blog, or introduce them to happy homeschoolers. There are millions. Show them the numbers of crimes committed on school campuses. They are horrifying. Show the ignorant the local drop-out rate from public schools. Just because you’re right (and you are right) does not absolve you from the responsibility of straightening out those who don’t get it.
Politics should have absolutely no place in education. Government has proven beyond any doubt that all it knows about education is how to do it wrong. Don’t let government and school districts use your children and their future for political leverage. Those people know NOTHING about your special child and his or her needs!
Treat government and politicians and teachers and school boards as exactly what they are – total strangers who claim to have your best interest at heart, and who are telling you how to raise and educate your children. Treat them as you would any stranger who had the nerve to tell you how to care for your child. Dismiss them, kick them out. If a politician opposes homeschooling, the odds are high that he’s paid off by teachers unions and lobbyists. Get a LARGE group of LOUD people together, get in the politician and the press’s face until they back down. Your children are counting on you!
Friends of civilization are friends of homeschooling. Enemies of civilization are enemies of homeschooling. That may sound simplistic, but I’m afraid it pretty much is that simple.
Who were the very first people as a group to oppose homeschooling? Answer - the Nazis in Germany, under Hitler. They wanted to make certain that German children were educated in the Nazi way. Their approach killed all homeschooling in Germany and resulted in Hitler Youth who turned their own parents in to “the authorities”. Was there ever a group more dedicated than the Nazis to the destruction of civilization or of homeschooling? Not likely.
Where is homeschool illegal today? It is illegal in Germany. Take your cue from this fact and when faced with opposition, act accordingly to protect your rights and your child’s future. Build homeschool groups. Unite with other homeschoolers to protect your rights. No support in the neighborhood? Start educating the neighborhood, one by one if necessary.
CREATE the support you long for. It is deserved. It is a RIGHT to homeschool. It is not a “privilege”. The only “support” you need can be found in your own home. Pick a space where homeschooling will be done. Set aside the time and the small resources needed. Begin. Build a successful homeschool program for your own child.
If you build it – if you demonstrate the wonder of homeschooling with your own children, the rest of the world will follow in time. They must. The alternative is just too grim.
Steven Horwich is an Emmy and Dramalogue award-winning writer/director, who has split his life between the arts and education. A teacher with over 35 years and over 20,000 hours of experience from elementary school through university-level teaching, he started homeschooling his own children in 2002. This led him to author over 300 courses since 2002, a complete curricula (excluding math) for ages 5-adult, called Connect The Thoughts. Over 20,000 people have used CTT since making it available via the Internet in 2007. His curricula is presented at www.connectthethoughts.com. There is over 5 hours of film explaining his courses and approach. He has authored a book about education today, Poor Cheated Little Johnny, and a teacher training program to go with it. He currently presents a free webinar about education and homeschooling every third Tuesday.
