Freedom to Learn

We think of learning as a basic freedom.  We are free to learn, learning is free, and learning gives us freedom. 

So, why are so many schools constructed like prisons?  Often large imposing buildings, sometimes windowless, usually institutional.

And why are students sentenced like prisoners?  They are incarcerated for six to eight hours a day, five days a week, from the ages of five to sixteen as a minimum sentence.  Parents often add one to five pre-k years and colleges -- a.k.a. "the big house" -- , in general, require an additional two.

The meals at prisons and schools, so I hear, are sometimes comparable.  And there is always a time limit on lunch.  However good or bad the food is:  choke it down fast!  Students and prisoners alike are told how they can dress, how they can fix their hair, and their seats/beds are assigned.  Bullying occurs in both the prison yard and the school yard, students sometimes the meaner combatants.

Schools, like prisons, can be locked down in emergency situations, no one in or out.  Security checks are ritual, the search of book bags and lockers not unusual.  Physical contact is limited.  No fraternization with the guards/teachers is allowed.  Policemen wander both sets of halls.  Both students and inmates long to get outside, to stretch, to roam free.

And what freedom does a child have to learn in this environment?  He is told when and where and what to read, when and how to hold a pencil, what to think, and when to start and stop learning.  He learns about math for 38 minutes, no more, no less.  He spends a similar amount on English grammar.  The art class he longs for comes once a week and the music he learns is scripted at best.

I appreciate the freedom of homeschooling.  To vacation when we please.  To stop and review at the moment of need.  To wear pajamas when we want.  To think for ourselves.  To not learn today, but to soak in yesterday.  To take field trips that apply to our learning.  To hug and to love my children all day long.

But, I must be careful to preserve those freedoms.  To not get caught up in "schooling" and "what the state wants" and "what colleges want" so much that I turn my own home into a prison, where we are held against our wills for six to eight hours or more a day.  It isn't easy to stay free.  When will I learn?

Homeschooling High School – Are You Crazy?

When our children were toddlers, we considered the idea of homeschooling.  My husband was all for it.  I was dubious.  I was already “on” 24/7 and couldn’t imagine that continuing into the school years.  My selfishness led us to what we thought would be the next best thing:  Christian private school.  We got the uniform, paid the tuition, and lost our daughter.  Within a month, we were dissatisfied (through no fault of the school we chose, but with “school” in general) and within nine weeks of study and prayer, we had decided to give homeschooling a try. 

When people asked, “How long?” we cautiously said, “one year at a time.”  And probably every year, we briefly re-think our decisions.  That was nine years ago.  Now people query me:  “Are you really going to go through high school?”  The implication is:  “Are you crazy?”  Doubt is easily sown and I have considered our options again.  I prayed again for wisdom (before bringing it up to my husband). 

The evening news is a constant reminder to me of some of the reasons public school will not be our choice.  Almost every time I watch, there is a teacher or student arrested, a bus accident, or some other horrific occurrence to show that many schools are not safe places these days.  My niece brings us stories that make me cringe about the indoctrination the public school tries to give her.  Besides evolution and tolerance-training, her school annually shows “The Secret” – the Oprah flick about how to ask the universe for what you want (New Age philosophy) -- yet she is not supposed to bring a Bible on campus.   A friend of ours is interning in a public middle school and keeps reminding my kids, “You aren’t missing a thing!”

So, my mind turned back to Christian school.  They tend to have rigorous academic standards and they would certainly uphold our conservative Christian values, wouldn’t they? 

Then I ran into an old friend of mine, one whose children have gone to Christian school all their lives.  And, while her children have done fine, she revealed that a majority of her eldest child’s senior class (now in their first year of college) have already abandoned their faith and training.  No matter how hard the school tried, they did not make a difference.  The children are partying, drinking and playing around with the world.

I felt a sudden renewed peace with our decision to home-school through high school.  Because there is no security in any option that we choose.  Homeschooling certainly does not guarantee a child will continue in the path laid by the parents.  We must only rely on the Lord.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.