How Will Your Kids be Prepared for the Real World (Unless They Go to School There?)

It’s the number one opposition homeschoolers face from doubting questioners, and unfortunately, one of the biggest obstacles preventing parents from deciding to homeschool: parents want their children to be prepared for the real world so they think they must send them to school.

Stop: who got us to think upside down? Essentially, what this means is, we feel like the best way to prepare our children for the real world is to take them out of the real world, put them in an unrealistic world all day for twelve years, try to simulate the real world, and then tell everyone this is the only way to prepare them for the real world. It’s hilarious just writing that out!

“Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.” Resource for Kids

All I want to do here is to help people who want to homeschool but are gripped with this irrational fear to “let it go!”  This is not an attempt to put down anyone, but to offer a discerning look at an often misunderstood topic. If you’re happy with the simulated circumstance (and many are), this isn’t about convincing you to homeschool.

However, we should all want to talk and think like rational humans so for the sake of everyone who must make this important life decision about educating his child, we at least need to make it based on the facts and truth of reality. It’s a bit like my choice to bottle feed my first baby. I knew I would have to go to work and I was still in school and so I decided to bottle feed because I didn’t see a way to breast feed. I did not, however, pretend bottle feeding was better or even the same as nursing in order to justify my decision. I knew it was second best, but it was the decision I felt I had to make. Regardless of our decisions, we need to at least be honest about them.

How schools must recreate the real world

In the first several years of school, especially, a classroom must try to recreate real life which is hardly possible, making the classroom second best for real learning. That’s not an insult, it’s simply a truth, like saying real hair is preferable to a wig. Exploration, creativity, freedom, hands-on learning, it is all greatly limited if not extinguished, in the classroom.

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

I was thinking about this as my 5 year old asked me what time it is. I’ve never given my children clock worksheets–we have a clock on the wall. And when they begin to be aware of time and the clock, I show them, until they understand, how time works. That’s it. They all learn to tell time. (Same way they learned the English language.)

We don’t even have phonics books. We use phonics as we sit down with books together, sounding out letters, blends and memorizing sight words, and eventually, they begin reading.

We don’t read books about “opposites” or colors, or numbers; all those things exist in our daily conversations and children are remarkable learners. It comes naturally in real life. We learn about vegetation outside, we classify real birds and real trees when we go for walks. We talk about current events at the dinner table, asking probing questions that require thought and analytic skills.

We discuss lifestyles and how to handle different situations after we leave events, family gatherings, or vacations.

Life teaches.

Hygiene from a health book? No. Weather? It’s there.

Is it reading about the solar system (a perfectly wonderful thing to do) or would the words come alive if they were just given a telescope and notepad to chart their observations?

Another unrealistic thing (necessary only for keeping order and tracking of large groups) is the idea of “school in” or “school out”, deadlines, and grade levels. I could write a book, but suffice it to say, it’s optimal to embrace learning (i.e. “school”) as something always happening, without the confines of time and space. We will never learn all there is to learn; why not develop a mindset of always-learning what is in front of us and what we need to know to enhance our gifts?

As they get older, what then? Is real life being confined to rooms lined with desks and people the same age with little time for conversation and interpersonal exchange? Or is it being allowed to mingle, in the real world, observing and attempting adultish things? Exploring all their interests? Following their passions? Figuring things out on their own?

Do we “sit down and do school”, ever? Yes, but not because it’s necessary. We mostly read a lot, I give writing assignments and go over those for proper grammar and usage, the older ones have a formal math curriculum (I’m tweaking this a lot) and they do copy work. Most everything though, can be and is being learned in the context of real life. There are far more pressing things than whether our children can recall the area of a trapezoid (Google it if you need it!)

Keep in mind, the evidence consistently shows that qualities employers desire (if the goal is to work for someone else) hardly ever include test scores or the ability to memorize facts, etc. It’s almost always about character, communication skills and the ability to solve problems–all most easily learned in the real world, where children are free to satisfy their curiosities and find solutions, an amazing trait the Creator gave us all when we were born. In fact, even most highly specialized jobs provide on-the-job training, requiring the capacity for learning, not a specific set of facts already learned (which most students forget anyway).

(Yes, I know there are those needed jobs where students must still jump through the hoops of the system (achieving certain test scores, etc., homeschooled or otherwise). Thankfully though, even this is being widely reconsidered as the job industry is discovering how a college degree or other “certification” may not always be a comprehensive representation of a person’s expertise. More and more are seeing the benefits of apprenticeship/hands-on training.

If you worry about your children learning to cope in the real world, I don’t blame you; consider homeschooling them.

Your Kids Don’t Belong to You: Public Education Gets Honest

For years, those of us who have spoken against the government school system, warning parents that the state has an agenda that is more about controlling your kids than “teaching” them, have been largely ignored or regarded as misinformed extremists.

Finally though, the public school proponents are being honest, making no attempt to disguise the way they view your children.

Most of you have probably seen the clip by Melissa-Harris Perry on MSNBC, representing the progressive liberal agenda, about “why we haven’t invested in public education as we should”.

“We have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families.” -Perry

The scariest part of it is that many Americans will be OK with what she said. And I finally understand why that is:

“The truth is that parents are one of society’s most incorrigible sources of inequality. If you have two of them who stay married and are invested in your upbringing, you’ve hit life’s lottery. You’ll reap untold benefits denied to children who aren’t so lucky. That the family is so essential to the well-being of children has to be a constant source of frustration to the egalitarian statist, a reminder of the limits of his power.” MSNBC: Kids Don’t Belong to Their Parents

To the parents who don’t want to take the time to invest into their children, and so are at their “wits end” or for whatever reason simply don’t want to do the hard work of parenting, it’s good news to them to let someone else do the work, easing their responsibility.

But, if you are a Christian parent with even a slight understanding that our children are given to us as a gift and it is our sole responsibility to steward that gift, this open agenda should cause you to yank your children out of the government’s clutches without a further thought about what else is terribly wrong with the school system.

What is the alternative, you ask? Anything. Take your pick. We have got to let go of this notion that school is a god and our children are going to fail without it. Our children are going to fail with it. Droves of them are already. What are we so afraid of? We should be willing to do anything to save them from the tyranny of the state.

Private school, homeschooling–even if it’s at night, around a work schedule–there are options. Great options. Our country’s only chance of preserving freedom and survival is dependent, I believe, on our commitment to taking back our children for the glory and purpose of God.

Protect Your Rights By Signing the Romeike Petition

If you haven’t already seen it, and especially if you haven’t signed the petition, I URGE you to take a few minutes and help this family from Germany who is being threatened by imprisonment and having their children taken away because they choose to homeschool. America has the power to grant them a continued asylum for protection.

Even larger than the tragedy surrounding this family is that this ruling could have major implications for homeschooling laws in America. Your vote isn’t just for a homeschooling family; it is for YOUR RIGHT to educate your children as you wish.

Even if you were opposed to homeschooling, I would hope you are not opposed to parents having rights about making decisions for their children–rights that are being eroded right in front of us. These are the issues at stake.

“Tackett applauded the petition and urged people to sign it. “This will be the first time that I have advocated signing a petition, but I believe this is a critical issue, one that is being played out behind big media coverage and one that could put a deep chill in the rights of parents in this country to determine the educational direction of their children,” he said.”

Read more and sign the petition HERE.

Anyone age 13 or older in a household can sign.

***Signature goal met–thank you!! Prayers now.***

Another Reason School Isn’t Working (Seth Godin)

I find it fascinating that there are so many angles, arguments and reasons why our current system of public education is not what children need. Here’s another take, from Seth Godin, famous blogger, entrepreneur, marketing leader and author.

“Do you see the disconnect here? Every year, we churn out millions of workers who are trained to do 1925 labor….

As we get ready for the 93rd year of universal public education, here’s the question every parent and taxpayer needs to wrestle with: Are we going to applaud, push or even permit our schools (including most of the private ones) to continue the safe but ultimately doomed strategy of churning out predictable, testable and mediocre factory-workers?

As long as we embrace (or even accept) standardized testing, fear of science, little attempt at teaching leadership and most of all, the bureaucratic imperative to turn education into a factory itself, we’re in big trouble.

The post-industrial revolution is here. Do you care enough to teach your kids to take advantage of it?”

Read all of Back to (the wrong) School

How to Convince a Parent to Try Homeschooling

Though Penelope and I hold a different worldview on many levels, I admire her for her brains and her boldness, particularly as a homeschooling advocate.

Having seen THREE children just over last weekend, all who have been drugged by “professionals” because they are “resistant to authority”, my heart breaks for what school does to so many children. And that’s just one negative aspect, as Penelope candidly explains:

“It’s pretty easy to see why school is terrible. And even though parents can’t imagine they’d ever do a good job homeschooling, it’s pretty easy to see that bad homeschooling is better than going to school. The kid has eight extra hours a day to figure out what to do with himself instead of being told what to do. How can this not be an improvement? Adult life is not about being told what to do. Why prepare a kid for that?”

Read the rest of How to Convince a Parent to Try Homeschooling

Homeschooling Help: Education and The Skills That Matter

More money, more time and more effort toward federal education has had one result: less real, meaningful education and even failing standards by the system’s own measure. If you are thinking about homeschooling, I challenge you to dive into some research and see that it isn’t as difficult as you might think and that “school” doesn’t always equal “education”. Really, what have you got to lose?

And if you’re already homeschooling, congratulations! And relax. Education doesn’t always look exactly like we think it does. Remember, the classroom model isn’t very impressive. Even in research where test scores are high, experts are beginning to realize test scores have much less to do with what employers are looking for and what makes a “successful” person in the real world.

Here are some important think-outside-the-classroom things you should consider:

1. Refuse the notion that “earlier is better” when it comes to formal academics. There is so much research not only refuting the idea that a jump-start in formal academics benefits children, but we now know that it can actually have negative effects on their ability to learn and process information.

Children have a unique ability to process information and they need a load of tangible experiences in which to do it. Old fashion play is not just play; it’s an important, tactile form of education, preparing them for more abstract learning in the future and hindering them, if they don’t get enough of it.   Why Kids Can’t Think

2. Conversation, conversation, conversation. I’ve written over and over on this one, and it seems quite obvious, but conversation becomes more scarce as we immerse ourselves into the technological world. It takes deliberate effort to cultivate an atmosphere of extensive conversation in the home, but so much learning takes place through this one medium! Talk, listen and ask questions. Talk in the car, in the kitchen, around the table and throughout the day. Challenge thoughts and opinions by asking probing questions and even play “devil’s advocate” to help your children formulate solid reasoning and communication skills. To be able to give an answer, in and of itself, of what we believe and think and feel, is a rare but valuable asset.

3. Be convinced of the skills that matter most and hone those. Guess what the seven most desired universal job skills, according to Forbes are:

• The art of communicating clearly and concisely
• Creativity
• Curiosity
• Good writing ability
• Getting along with others
• Able to learn (re-engineering skills)
• Computer skills

There’s no algebra, physics or chemistry in that list, though those skills might be helpful in specific, specialized areas, and yet most of us are far more concerned with developing those measurable facts over diving into these. We need to at least be spending as much time on what is recognized as the most important skills for success, don’t you think?

4. Give them experience. The Chinese Proverbs well states: “Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me, and I’ll remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.”

This is why the “play” I mentioned earlier is so important in the early years. Experience (tactile learning) creates the foundation for knowledge. But experience continues to be THE GREATEST teacher throughout life. Look for ways to let your child do things. And it can be simple. Cooking, planting a garden, making their own purchases, making phone calls, writing letters, dabbling with the computer, building a fire, changing a tire, using tools, yard maintenance, taking pictures…the list is endless.

We have found that teaching is a form of hands-on experience that is very beneficial. Even after six years of college, grammar never became so clear to me until I started teaching it. I’ve tried to remember this in our home education and have an older child teach a younger child some concept. The older child thinks it’s for the benefit of the younger, but it’s not so much.

5.  Nurture creativity and business skills. Once upon a time, we were such an entrepreneurially-minded people. But with the advent of forced, compulsory schooling, there was a mass, deliberate effort to change all that–to make a mostly docile, following society instead of risk-taking leaders. That effort literally changed the entire face of our culture. We need to resurrect some of that ingenuity again in our children instead of drugging it out of them. We need to teach our children the value of starting their own businesses, developing strategies for earning multiple streams of income, and breaking the notion that the only option in life is becoming an employee. I love Cameron Herold’s message on raising entrepreneurs.

Most kids get excited about making a dollar or two, so let them! Help them create a simple business plan (learning basic economics in the process in invaluable, something else we don’t teach enough). Let them feel, by experience, the relationship between an idea, developing the idea and turning it into a profit. They may hate it. It may solidify for them the fact that they DO want to be an employee and not deal with the challenges of owning a business. But give them the chance to know that.

Educate them–live life with them, let them explore, experience and expand their ideas. These things will transpose to invaluable assets no matter what they end up doing in life.