The Worst Homeschool Day

It had been one of those days..... It was only  Tuesday , but already the week seemed long.  It seemed like everything was going wrong.  My daughter was having one of her bad days.  That meant she couldn't pay attention for two seconds  - let alone concentrate on an assignment.  The new concept in math had been far beyond her comprehension.  A brief writing assignment in English had reduced my son to tears. I had done nothing but nag and coax all morning. It was nearly noon and I hadn't done any housework. Here it was time for lunch and the dishes from yesterday's lunch were still in the sink. When would I ever find time to start my To Do list? I continued to struggle with my attitude. I wondered  why we homeschool. Why did we have to try so hard and struggle through life?  I was tempted to fantasize about dropping the kids off at school.  Let someone else struggle with them while I went off to a job that actually paid real money. That evening God answered my questions.  My daughter came to me in tears. She climbed up in my lap and poured out her heart to me.  She wanted godly counsel and she asked me for it.  Me! The one who had nagged her and hassled her all day.  The one who hadn't done the dishes or cleaned the house. She is eight now and I know these tender teaching moments must become more rare as she matures.  But this night I held her tight and thanked God for opening my eyes.  You see, homeschool isn't always about history facts and grammar rules. It is about being present for my children and giving them godly instruction. While I am teaching math facts and grammar rules my kids are learning so much more. 

Book Review #1

The World Is Flat

by Thomas L. Friedman

In The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman postulates that the development of technology has reduced the distance between people. He points to ten forces which have created this change. These include the fall of the Berlin Wall (time at which capitalism triumphed over communism) and the invention of Windows, the date on which Netscape went public (the introduction of the internet based systems platform), the ability of computer systems to talk to each other, Y2K, and others. As a result people around the world are able to communicate, exchange information, and collaborate in ways never before possible. A global, Web-based playing field was created that reduced the advantage of corporate giants and empowered both the individual and the small business.

Along the way Friedman discusses the technological and business innovations which made these developments possible. He details the businesses which have made the most of a flat world by becoming multi-national companies. In America, that has often meant out-sourcing which Friedman admits is difficult but he argues that it is advantageous in the long run. He addresses concerns over the future of America including the substandard education and gives strategies for surviving the flattening of your company.

I found this book fascinating partly due to my business background but also because Friedman named and explained a phenomenon which I had observed in my individual life. Let me explain how my world is flat. First of all, I have eccentric tastes. I enjoy music and books which are not part of the mainstream. A flat world allows me to download the songs I want to my i-Pod. It doesn’t matter if the music was performed in China or South America. I can find it. I can also order (via Amazon) or download (via my Kindle) books which no one else has read in years. For instance I recently enjoyed reading a book by the Venerable Bede which was written circa 731 A.D. Not only is this book hard to find, it is also prohibitively large in its paper format. Both problems were solved by downloading it.

A second example is the lessons which I teach the children. This is a great and blessed time to be homeschooling. I can order any type of text I want (even the non-technological Mennonites have someone who sells their books on-line). For history I frequently tap into lapbooking lessons created by moms around the world – including China and the Philippines. Our German pronunciation is helped by a web-site which has audio pronunciation of any word or phrase we need. We are currently studying space in Science class. With a little on-line research I was able to download a workbook about the Chandra observatory (which has fascinated the kids) and to order educational materials – both free. The list of resources is endless.

A third way in which my world is flat can be classified as “communication.” Applications such as Facebook and Skype allow us to stay in contact with distant friends and family members. This enhances our sense of family and community and allows us to show concern for one another even from Idaho. When I have a question – or when I am answering one of the thousands which stream from the kids – I can quickly find someone who knows the answer. For example, my nephew recently needed several teeth pulled. I was able to answer his mom’s questions by contacting my husband’s cousin who is a dental assistant. And this didn’t takes days or weeks. It was the work of mere moments. Now that is a flat world.

The Crisis

Education in America has reached a crisis point. Budget woes have finally stopped the incessant flow of cash into the public schools. As a result, cracks have started to show. In Wisconsin, the teachers’ union has staged protests in opposition to the govonor’s plan to end collective bargaining[i]. Locally, the state superintendint of schools has come under fire for suggesting an end to tenure and an increase in online classes. Not content with opposing the plan politically, his opponents have descended into destruction of personal property and stalking of his family[ii]. A teacher protest was followed by a week-long student walk out at area high schools[iii].

When compared with the demonstrations for freedom taking place in Africa and the Middle East, these protests are absurd. For the most part, the proposed legislation calls for more personal responsibility by both the teachers and the students. Nearly every other industry in the nation has faced catastrophic financial downturn. Faced with millions in budget shortfalls, the educators have chosen to stop teaching, to walk out of class, and to subvert the course of government rather than to adapt. In no other industry would this behavior by employees be tolerated.

Despite the chaos of the national education system, there is learning going on in America. Quietly, 1 ½ million children around the country are being educated by their parents. They are being taught according to their parents’ philisophical and moral standards. These students consistently score higher than their public school counterparts and are being educated at an average cost of less than $600 per child per year. They do not suffer from the “learning gaps” which afflict public school students based on gender, race, or socio-economic status.[iv] In addition, homeschool students are being given a moral and personal foundation which is largely missing in this nation. Whether they are authoring books while in their teens [v] or making national news for their personal stands[vi], the examples of personal ethics and achivement abound.

The effectiveness of homeschool education is no longer in question. The real question is how much longer the expensive, ineffective, method of public education will be tolerated by the country as a whole.

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[i] http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/02/28/police-let-protesters-stay-night-wis-capitol/?test=latestnews

[ii] http://www.ktvb.com/news/Supt-Luna-becomes-target-of-vandalism-and-threats-116233989.html

[iii] http://www.ktvb.com/news/Students-walk-out-of-class-in-protest-of-education-reform-plan-117064878.html

[iv] Statistics taken from Homeschool Progress Report 2009: Academic Achievement and Demographics http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/ray2009/default.asp

[v] Alex & Brett Harris http://www.therebelution.com/books/authors.htm

[vi] Joel Northrup http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/23/earlyshow/main20035302.shtml