I wrote this post two days ago and it mysteriously disappeared when Blogspot had some difficulties. Since this is information that more people need to know about, I'm re-writing it, although it may not be identical to the original simply because I do not have the original saved on any other forum. Hopefully, this one will stay put!
First, if you're unfamiliar with Common Core Standards that were adopted in 2010 by all states except Texas and Alaska, then you can read my article on that here. Common Core Standards are the lead in to forcing all publicly funded schools into a National Standard where States, nor parents, have no say in what their children learn, when they learn it, or how they learn it. The Feds would run all educational systems as they see fit, and all children would learn the same thing, in the same way, regardless of what parents, or teachers, know is best for their students. How does Bill Gates tie into that you ask? Keep reading...
Since January 2008, the Gates Foundation has given more than 35 million dollars (35,000,000.00) to the Council of Chief School Officers and the National Governors Association, the two main organizations responsible for orchestrating Common Core Standards. He has also given 12.6 million to Achieve, Inc., and more than 1.4 million to The Fordham Institute. These are two of the three national education firms responsible for "independent" analysis of the standards. Doesn't sound "independent" to me. That sounds like a serious conflict of interest.
Why would the wealthiest man in the US care about the educational system across the country? Why would a corporation care what kind of curriculum students are using, you ask? (or you SHOULD) Well, where does his employee base come from? Ask yourself that question, and you'll begin to drift toward the answer. That should scare you, people.
Those that control what is taught, also control what is thought. Don't think for one minute that Bill Gates is unaware of that statement. The basic tenet being bantered around is that since States can't make all people equal, then the Feds surely can. I suppose history isn't a part of the standards they are reviewing? History clearly shows that any time the federal government becomes involved, standards reduce dramatically. Literacy rates alone have dropped 20% since the inception of the Dept. of Education.
Education was intentionally left to the States via the Constitution. Education was SPECIFICALLY removed from the federal government simply because it opens the door to tyranny. It removes individual states from having the right to determine what their students learn, how they learn it and when. By giving control of all education to the federal government, we make it impossible for parents, or teachers, to have any control of their students and children. If you think having a meeting with the superintendent is tough, try having a meeting with federal bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. about what your child is learning!
By privatizing education, and that IS what national standards do, we really remove pluralism from our educational system. We remove a child's right to become what they want to become, regardless of what a teleprompter reading bureaucrat spews out at you. Engage your brain, people! Children do not learn the same way nor should they be expected to. Some are mechanically inclined, some academically inclined, and some are neither. By forcing schools into a position to adopt National Standards, we are turning our kids over to a corrupt political and corporate machine that has no bigger goal than to make them economic tools. Ask yourself again why Bill Gates is investing 100's of millions of dollars to pass this standard.
By having a National Standard, we are forced into a position of our children's test scores becoming National knowledge. This is where Gates is heading. He is well aware that once National Standards are in place, children's standardization will be complete. He will have access to a list of all potential employees who will best suit his business model. Our children will officially be nothing more than economic tools of the State, and education will be nothing more than what an elect few determine youth should learn.
Power in education needs to be DE-centralized, not more centralized. Our education was the strongest in the entire world until the federal government stepped in. Now, we are being told that if they tell us what to think, learn and be, we'll be better off. What history tells us is that while it sounds good on paper, it is a disaster waiting to happen. Public school has become nothing more than a government monopoly and it is failing. To suggest that that can be fixed by MORE regulation and intrusion by the government should be very suspect to all parents with school aged children.
Bill Gates recently "invested" another 20 million to "help" one of the largest publishers of textbooks come up with new ways to "teach" students. I was unaware that the Gates Foundation was now an educational "expert" who had any more basis than you or I to interfere with textbooks in the classrooms, regardless of the amount of money he has. Frankly, I think Gates needs to be taken in for evaluation. However, the powers that we have elected sold their souls to money decades ago, and that's really all they care about. Unfortunately, that means our children can be pimped out to the highest bidder.
I could go on for days about the failed "School of the Future" that Microsoft built in Philly, or the many ex-Gates Foundation employees on Obama's Education Dept. payroll, but you can do your own research there. I urge you to investigate this for yourself. What are that many ex-Gates Foundation employees doing there? I was unaware that philanthropic organizations were also educational experts. Evidently, Obama hires educational experts for different reasons than education.
The crux of my argument is this: We have a diverse population and a diverse and pluralistic society. We have learned the hard way that government doesn't "fix" anything and frankly, it wasn't designed to. We know that money talks. Bill Gates has a LOT of money. Our children deserve better than some one size fits all standard that only benefits the corporate hogs and bureaucrats sitting on Capital Hill. Anything that negates them controlling every single thing that students learn is a good thing. Shouldn't we strongly question anything that calls for a complete monopoly and the control of that monopoly being run by the very people in power to push the monopoly? Certainly in our children's education? In any other situation, the government demands that a monopoly be torn down. But, in this instance, the very minds of our youth are at stake and they want to control that. No way!
And to Bill Gates: If you want to control someones education, stick to your own daughters. Keep your hands, and your money, off MY children. You will never determine what they learn, how they learn, when they learn or at what level they learn. Every decent parent on the planet should be concerned about this. It's THAT big of a deal, people!
I'll be writing more on the project based learning and outcome that these standards are leaning toward later. That's right...the testing they are leaning toward forcing all public schools into are ALL project based learning models. Again, economic tools of the State. I keep looking around for Orwell to show up any moment...
Showing posts with label Department of Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Department of Education. Show all posts
Friday, May 13, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Common Core Standards
I intend to use this post on Common Core Standards as a building block for an upcoming series on Race to the Top and National Standards in our public school system. If you've never heard of Common Core Standards, don't feel bad, most people haven't and there's a reason for that. It's been primarily discussed behind closed doors and tied to federal funding that is intentionally tied to other bills so that the average person can't find it. If people understood Common Core Standards, the government would be in hot water and they know it. If people understood National Standards, the government would be experiencing something very similar to Egypt's current situation, and they know it. If you've never heard of either of these take overs, listen up. If you live in any of the 50 States, other than Alaska and Texas, your State legislators have already sold you out, but there is still hope. However, you'll have to be willing to fight....and that is the part that worries me. Apathy...the big killer of liberty and equality.
Common Core Standard tenets began as Goals 2000 and was former President Clinton's pet education project. Through loud opposition, Goals 2000 was eventually dead because of the federal intrusion upon education that came with it. However, a rose by any other name is still a rose. Common Core Standards are nothing more than Goals 2000 with a new name and President Obama has no intention of stopping here. Common Core standards were adopted by the afore mentioned states just last year, 2010. They were bribed to do so with federal money. I would even go so far as saying that they were forced to do so during a very difficult economic time and that was intentional.
Common Core Standards stated goal is to "...establish clear and consistent goals for learning that will prepare America’s children for success in college and work." They claim that they are doing this by having common English and Math curriculums taught through-out the United States. They also claim that this is a "state led initiative" and that states governors worked together to create these standards. When did Governors became educational "experts"? When did Governors have the right to determine what schools teach?
Who elected these people to determine "standards" for our children? I don't remember any such discussion, do you? Who elected anyone to take away each state's sovereign right to educate their citizens as they see fit? By taking away state sovereignty in education, we've allowed our children's education to become nothing more than a way for the government to use our children as economic tools. That is NOT education and the primary reason our schools are in such a sad shape...I digress.
Here's the tricky part: National funding is tied to Common Core Standards. Any state who does (did) not adopt these standards, but chooses to opt out and give local governments and parents their Constitutional right to choose curriculums and what their students learn, also forgoes the right to receive federal funding that is "supposedly" set aside specifically for education. So "our" tax money will only be given to "our" children in their educational endeavours if we go the way the Federal government chooses for us? If states choose for their institutionalized learning to be left to the parents, they forgo their own federal educational tax dollars being spent on...well, education. We can all see the slippery slope there, right? Please, tell me you can see the slope!
I also think it's noteworthy that education is NOT mentioned in the Constitution. Our founding fathers understood CLEARLY that Common Standards issued by a federal government meant that the federal government was in charge of what is taught, when it is taught and how it is taught. This program is nothing more than a set-up for National Standards. This is nothing more than the first step in a federal take-over of education. Since federal intrusion, and billions of federal dollars, have been in the public school system, our test scores have dropped dramatically and our graduation rates have plummeted. We won't even bother to cover the massive amounts of illiteracy seen in compulsory schooling. Yet, they are still throwing billions of tax dollars into a system that is not working for the students! THE STUDENTS! That is educations goal. Not the teachers, not the NEA, not the legislators, and not the states. The children's education is what education should be about. Nothing more and nothing less.
Children are not designed to be economic tools. They are not designed to all work the same, nor learn the same. Common Core standards are nothing more than a way to cull the students who would work best for large corporations into one lumped group and be able to recognize them and shape them in whatever way the government sees fit. This is the system that China uses, and one that President Obama is a huge fan of. For more info on that, see here.
National control of curriculum is nothing more than a national control of ideas. Think about that statement and let it sink it. Parents and students are the ones with the most to lose or gain by having a well educated child. Ask yourself what the government has to gain by establishing Common Core or National Standards? Ask yourself to name one program that the government has ever run successfully. It's imperative that this information gets out to the general public, and this little blog can only do so much. Talk about it, look it up, send people here...whatever you have to do to get the word moving.
ALL parents should be concerned about this, but homeschooling families probably more so than most. We have, by definition, exercised our right to educate our children away from government intrusion and teach them in the way they learn best, at a pace they learn best and what they need to know to achieve wisdom and knowledge. We have, by our very definition, dedicated ourselves to raising well-educated children and by all accounts are doing a stellar job pretty much across the board and across all racial, religious, or cultural lines.
National standards will take away our rights, just like it did parents who choose institutionalized schooling, to decide what curriculum we use, what our children are taught, and at what pace they are "allowed" to learn it. We will be required by the federal government to teach whatever they deem worthy of thought. Whatever they deem worthy for our children to learn will be what our children will be taught. If you think getting a teacher, principal, superintendent, or local school board to listen to you is tough, just wait until you have to travel to Washington, D.C. to discuss your child's education....best of luck with that. This alone is reason for all of us to stand up, and fight the good fight.
Common Core Standard tenets began as Goals 2000 and was former President Clinton's pet education project. Through loud opposition, Goals 2000 was eventually dead because of the federal intrusion upon education that came with it. However, a rose by any other name is still a rose. Common Core Standards are nothing more than Goals 2000 with a new name and President Obama has no intention of stopping here. Common Core standards were adopted by the afore mentioned states just last year, 2010. They were bribed to do so with federal money. I would even go so far as saying that they were forced to do so during a very difficult economic time and that was intentional.
Common Core Standards stated goal is to "...establish clear and consistent goals for learning that will prepare America’s children for success in college and work." They claim that they are doing this by having common English and Math curriculums taught through-out the United States. They also claim that this is a "state led initiative" and that states governors worked together to create these standards. When did Governors became educational "experts"? When did Governors have the right to determine what schools teach?
Who elected these people to determine "standards" for our children? I don't remember any such discussion, do you? Who elected anyone to take away each state's sovereign right to educate their citizens as they see fit? By taking away state sovereignty in education, we've allowed our children's education to become nothing more than a way for the government to use our children as economic tools. That is NOT education and the primary reason our schools are in such a sad shape...I digress.
Here's the tricky part: National funding is tied to Common Core Standards. Any state who does (did) not adopt these standards, but chooses to opt out and give local governments and parents their Constitutional right to choose curriculums and what their students learn, also forgoes the right to receive federal funding that is "supposedly" set aside specifically for education. So "our" tax money will only be given to "our" children in their educational endeavours if we go the way the Federal government chooses for us? If states choose for their institutionalized learning to be left to the parents, they forgo their own federal educational tax dollars being spent on...well, education. We can all see the slippery slope there, right? Please, tell me you can see the slope!
I also think it's noteworthy that education is NOT mentioned in the Constitution. Our founding fathers understood CLEARLY that Common Standards issued by a federal government meant that the federal government was in charge of what is taught, when it is taught and how it is taught. This program is nothing more than a set-up for National Standards. This is nothing more than the first step in a federal take-over of education. Since federal intrusion, and billions of federal dollars, have been in the public school system, our test scores have dropped dramatically and our graduation rates have plummeted. We won't even bother to cover the massive amounts of illiteracy seen in compulsory schooling. Yet, they are still throwing billions of tax dollars into a system that is not working for the students! THE STUDENTS! That is educations goal. Not the teachers, not the NEA, not the legislators, and not the states. The children's education is what education should be about. Nothing more and nothing less.
Children are not designed to be economic tools. They are not designed to all work the same, nor learn the same. Common Core standards are nothing more than a way to cull the students who would work best for large corporations into one lumped group and be able to recognize them and shape them in whatever way the government sees fit. This is the system that China uses, and one that President Obama is a huge fan of. For more info on that, see here.
National control of curriculum is nothing more than a national control of ideas. Think about that statement and let it sink it. Parents and students are the ones with the most to lose or gain by having a well educated child. Ask yourself what the government has to gain by establishing Common Core or National Standards? Ask yourself to name one program that the government has ever run successfully. It's imperative that this information gets out to the general public, and this little blog can only do so much. Talk about it, look it up, send people here...whatever you have to do to get the word moving.
ALL parents should be concerned about this, but homeschooling families probably more so than most. We have, by definition, exercised our right to educate our children away from government intrusion and teach them in the way they learn best, at a pace they learn best and what they need to know to achieve wisdom and knowledge. We have, by our very definition, dedicated ourselves to raising well-educated children and by all accounts are doing a stellar job pretty much across the board and across all racial, religious, or cultural lines.
National standards will take away our rights, just like it did parents who choose institutionalized schooling, to decide what curriculum we use, what our children are taught, and at what pace they are "allowed" to learn it. We will be required by the federal government to teach whatever they deem worthy of thought. Whatever they deem worthy for our children to learn will be what our children will be taught. If you think getting a teacher, principal, superintendent, or local school board to listen to you is tough, just wait until you have to travel to Washington, D.C. to discuss your child's education....best of luck with that. This alone is reason for all of us to stand up, and fight the good fight.
Monday, January 31, 2011
State of the Union Address and Education
On Jan. 25th 2011, President Obama addressed the nation. And I have some questions about either his knowledge of his subject or his honesty about it. He seemed focused on education and as I've warned most people who know me well, that's something we should all be concerned about. Our Constitution specifically removes the federal government from all forms of education and there is a very good reason for that.
Our founding fathers were very aware of what can happen when the government takes over the education of it's citizen's youth. It's fairly difficult to avoid a conflict of interest there, wouldn't you say? Therefore, it leaves it specifically in the States hands. By doing so, our founding fathers gave parents a direct route to question our state representatives. However, our state officials are gladly turning their powers over to a federal government who has failed us over and over in the realm of education. Why? Money. Plain and simple. But, I digress...
President Obama says this: (taken directly from the White House transcript)
And yet he continually uses South Korea and China as the mirror with which American children should compare themselves in the Educational Olympics he's so fond of. Parents are not given "options" in these countries in regards to their child's educational direction. How much information does he have on these two countries? Are "test" scores the only litmus test that he uses when determining a truly educated child? Are Americans merely allowing themselves to be "taught" or are they educating themselves on the things they are hearing? Sadly, I would almost be willing to bet it's the former.
Here are a few interesting tidbits about those two countries:
1. China is only first in the PISA testing, not in overall education. The PISA test is specifically for 15 year olds only and 2010 was the first year that China would agree to participate.
2. China only had children from Shanghai tested and 2010 is their first year to ever take the test. Shanghai is China's largest and wealthiest city. This is where all their education is centered. Had they tested a diverse population of 15 year olds, as the US and other countries do, it's doubtful that they would have scored anywhere close to that. But, don't let the facts get in the way of the story; we have an agenda to push!
3. Chinese students must also take a college entrance exam and they cull their students based on these tests. If you don't pass the test, not only can you not get into a Chinese University, but your career path is laid out for you by these test scores. Let's all be glad things weren't done this way when John Nash (remember the movie, "A Brilliant Mind?...that's Nash) and Einstein came through the system. They both would have been plucking away at some rice in a field if they had grown up in China and been educated according to "test" scores. They both stunk at "standardized" testing...because they weren't standard! If these two could fall through the hoops, we can very safely assume so could thousands of other brilliant minds if we adopt this system!
4. Is anyone really unclear on why we don't want to develop any system like China's? Seriously? You are aware that even reading this blog would be considered illegal there, right? So, ummm....no thanks.
5. S. Korean mothers are, literally, selling their kids to get them out of their militaryesque educational system that Obama is constantly endorsing. Guess where they're selling them to....you got it; The good 'ole US of A. Don't believe me? Read more here.
6. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Canada, Belgium, Norway, and New Zealand all have comparative scores to both of these two countries that Obama continues to use as examples of what he'd like to see us be like. However, none of these countries have the military style that his examples have.
Kids in Switzerland and Finland aren't allowed into school until they're 7 because they actually think that maybe kids should be....well, kids before they take up the mantle of becoming an adult. Finland actually outscores BOTH S. Korea and China in science and is barely a few points behind them in reading and math. And Finland does NOT require any form of mandatory testing until graduation! ....gasp!... (sorry, couldn't resist)
And while President Obama tells how poorly we're doing and we must adopt these rigorous militaristic styles, along with longer schools days, more school days and the government must oversee us from the cradle through career, he also throws this in to make sure we don't study his other words too carefully:
So, we now feel good about ourselves, but we're prepped to adopt a system that is blatantly Communist. I know, I know...there are those that simply don't want to hear that. However, you don't get to stick your head in the sand and pretend that a government run school system, that has removed God and morality from every single aspect of itself, that is now telling us flat out that they are looking at these countries to begin to "reform" our educational system isn't at least leaning toward taking away the rights of parents and placing kids in the hands of government to determine what those kids should do with their lives. When did we begin to view the Government as God? When did society begin to believe that government was all-knowing and actually had our best interests at heart? Why can't people see that government and corporations are one and the same?
If that's the case, then why no outcry over this take over of our children's education? Why do more people not stand up, and scream from the top of their lungs, that we do not want children raised under the China/S. Korean educational standards? Apathy is not an option here, people. Once this is mandated, there's no going back!
I would also suggest that you do a search on National Standards in education. It's an eye-opener, as well.
Our founding fathers were very aware of what can happen when the government takes over the education of it's citizen's youth. It's fairly difficult to avoid a conflict of interest there, wouldn't you say? Therefore, it leaves it specifically in the States hands. By doing so, our founding fathers gave parents a direct route to question our state representatives. However, our state officials are gladly turning their powers over to a federal government who has failed us over and over in the realm of education. Why? Money. Plain and simple. But, I digress...
President Obama says this: (taken directly from the White House transcript)
That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It's family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.
And yet he continually uses South Korea and China as the mirror with which American children should compare themselves in the Educational Olympics he's so fond of. Parents are not given "options" in these countries in regards to their child's educational direction. How much information does he have on these two countries? Are "test" scores the only litmus test that he uses when determining a truly educated child? Are Americans merely allowing themselves to be "taught" or are they educating themselves on the things they are hearing? Sadly, I would almost be willing to bet it's the former.
Here are a few interesting tidbits about those two countries:
1. China is only first in the PISA testing, not in overall education. The PISA test is specifically for 15 year olds only and 2010 was the first year that China would agree to participate.
2. China only had children from Shanghai tested and 2010 is their first year to ever take the test. Shanghai is China's largest and wealthiest city. This is where all their education is centered. Had they tested a diverse population of 15 year olds, as the US and other countries do, it's doubtful that they would have scored anywhere close to that. But, don't let the facts get in the way of the story; we have an agenda to push!
3. Chinese students must also take a college entrance exam and they cull their students based on these tests. If you don't pass the test, not only can you not get into a Chinese University, but your career path is laid out for you by these test scores. Let's all be glad things weren't done this way when John Nash (remember the movie, "A Brilliant Mind?...that's Nash) and Einstein came through the system. They both would have been plucking away at some rice in a field if they had grown up in China and been educated according to "test" scores. They both stunk at "standardized" testing...because they weren't standard! If these two could fall through the hoops, we can very safely assume so could thousands of other brilliant minds if we adopt this system!
4. Is anyone really unclear on why we don't want to develop any system like China's? Seriously? You are aware that even reading this blog would be considered illegal there, right? So, ummm....no thanks.
5. S. Korean mothers are, literally, selling their kids to get them out of their militaryesque educational system that Obama is constantly endorsing. Guess where they're selling them to....you got it; The good 'ole US of A. Don't believe me? Read more here.
6. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Canada, Belgium, Norway, and New Zealand all have comparative scores to both of these two countries that Obama continues to use as examples of what he'd like to see us be like. However, none of these countries have the military style that his examples have.
Kids in Switzerland and Finland aren't allowed into school until they're 7 because they actually think that maybe kids should be....well, kids before they take up the mantle of becoming an adult. Finland actually outscores BOTH S. Korea and China in science and is barely a few points behind them in reading and math. And Finland does NOT require any form of mandatory testing until graduation! ....gasp!... (sorry, couldn't resist)
And while President Obama tells how poorly we're doing and we must adopt these rigorous militaristic styles, along with longer schools days, more school days and the government must oversee us from the cradle through career, he also throws this in to make sure we don't study his other words too carefully:
America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world. No workers are more productive than ours. No country has more successful companies, or grants more patents to inventors and entrepreneurs. We are home to the world's best colleges and universities, where more students come to study than any other place on Earth.
So, we now feel good about ourselves, but we're prepped to adopt a system that is blatantly Communist. I know, I know...there are those that simply don't want to hear that. However, you don't get to stick your head in the sand and pretend that a government run school system, that has removed God and morality from every single aspect of itself, that is now telling us flat out that they are looking at these countries to begin to "reform" our educational system isn't at least leaning toward taking away the rights of parents and placing kids in the hands of government to determine what those kids should do with their lives. When did we begin to view the Government as God? When did society begin to believe that government was all-knowing and actually had our best interests at heart? Why can't people see that government and corporations are one and the same?
If that's the case, then why no outcry over this take over of our children's education? Why do more people not stand up, and scream from the top of their lungs, that we do not want children raised under the China/S. Korean educational standards? Apathy is not an option here, people. Once this is mandated, there's no going back!
I would also suggest that you do a search on National Standards in education. It's an eye-opener, as well.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Top 10 Reasons That We Homeschool
The top ten reasons that we homeschool are...
10. Because I do not want our lives chained to our children's school schedule. We believe life, learning, travel, serving, experiential learning, etc... are more conducive to raising productive adults and citizens who actually know how to be diplomatic, as well as achieve academic excellence. And yes, we do own an almost obscene amount of textbooks that we make use of at least five days a week, as well. We just think that there's so much more to learning, and education, than a textbook.
9. If we trapped adults in a 20 x 30 room with thirty peers and one supervisor for twelve years, eight hours a day, with only 30 minutes for lunch (typically a fat inducing, high calorie lunch), and then demanded that we also complete 2-3 more hours of work when we finally got home, we'd call it what it is: inhumane and cruel, or work release from prison. Why is it that the most helpless members of our society, who have no choice when in compulsory schooling, are told that this is learning?
8. Because locking kids in a room with twenty or thirty peers learning the same thing, hearing the same thing and competing for the same thing, for eight hours a day, for twelve years, is never going to lend itself to children who grow up to be social adults who are fully capable of independent thought, regardless of what the main stream media, and the government, is desperately trying to convince us to believe. If you actually THINK about that situation, does anyone believe that environment is ripe for creativity and educational excellence? Seriously?
7. We love to travel. Our kids have seen a great deal of the world and have been able to "socialize" with and accept people from all walks of life....regardless of where, or who, they are. We are of the belief that all people are created equally and our kids have the right to learn that, as well. That's tough to do in an environment where you're pegged with a label by the 3rd grade.
6. Because one on one instruction has already been proven to be vastly more efficient and produce much more academically proficient adults than corralling them all together and teaching them nothing more than passing a test so a state funded institution can receive more tax payer funds to continue the OK corral. We are not interested in our kids having an education a mile wide, but only an inch deep.
5. Because my husband and I were so bored in institutionalized learning we could barely retain our faculties. We, like most people, spent more time feeling isolated, being interested in the wrong things and comparing ourselves to others than we ever did actually learning anything.
4. Because we do not believe that there are no moral absolutes and we don't want our kids to believe that, either. Some things are just not OK, nor normal. Why can't we all admit that? Kids are like sponges...and there's just some things I don't want my kids to soak in, nor should they be expected to. Again, it's cruelty.
3. Because we are not raising our children to be economic tools of the State.
2. Because we believe that every person on the planet is indoctrinated in some way, shape or form. We also believe that a state-certified stranger shouldn't be indoctrinating our children with the information she/he was taught to indoctrinate with. No offense to state teachers...we just think we do a better job with our kids who we know, love and have a vested interest in. It's funny how you'll make a more concerted effort when you are actually invested in what you're doing and the investment isn't just a paycheck. (and I actually think most teachers do as good a job as possible with the situation they've been placed in!)
1.(a) We enjoy our kids and they are fun!
1.(b) Because we are called to homeschool the children we were blessed with.
10. Because I do not want our lives chained to our children's school schedule. We believe life, learning, travel, serving, experiential learning, etc... are more conducive to raising productive adults and citizens who actually know how to be diplomatic, as well as achieve academic excellence. And yes, we do own an almost obscene amount of textbooks that we make use of at least five days a week, as well. We just think that there's so much more to learning, and education, than a textbook.
9. If we trapped adults in a 20 x 30 room with thirty peers and one supervisor for twelve years, eight hours a day, with only 30 minutes for lunch (typically a fat inducing, high calorie lunch), and then demanded that we also complete 2-3 more hours of work when we finally got home, we'd call it what it is: inhumane and cruel, or work release from prison. Why is it that the most helpless members of our society, who have no choice when in compulsory schooling, are told that this is learning?
8. Because locking kids in a room with twenty or thirty peers learning the same thing, hearing the same thing and competing for the same thing, for eight hours a day, for twelve years, is never going to lend itself to children who grow up to be social adults who are fully capable of independent thought, regardless of what the main stream media, and the government, is desperately trying to convince us to believe. If you actually THINK about that situation, does anyone believe that environment is ripe for creativity and educational excellence? Seriously?
7. We love to travel. Our kids have seen a great deal of the world and have been able to "socialize" with and accept people from all walks of life....regardless of where, or who, they are. We are of the belief that all people are created equally and our kids have the right to learn that, as well. That's tough to do in an environment where you're pegged with a label by the 3rd grade.
6. Because one on one instruction has already been proven to be vastly more efficient and produce much more academically proficient adults than corralling them all together and teaching them nothing more than passing a test so a state funded institution can receive more tax payer funds to continue the OK corral. We are not interested in our kids having an education a mile wide, but only an inch deep.
5. Because my husband and I were so bored in institutionalized learning we could barely retain our faculties. We, like most people, spent more time feeling isolated, being interested in the wrong things and comparing ourselves to others than we ever did actually learning anything.
4. Because we do not believe that there are no moral absolutes and we don't want our kids to believe that, either. Some things are just not OK, nor normal. Why can't we all admit that? Kids are like sponges...and there's just some things I don't want my kids to soak in, nor should they be expected to. Again, it's cruelty.
3. Because we are not raising our children to be economic tools of the State.
2. Because we believe that every person on the planet is indoctrinated in some way, shape or form. We also believe that a state-certified stranger shouldn't be indoctrinating our children with the information she/he was taught to indoctrinate with. No offense to state teachers...we just think we do a better job with our kids who we know, love and have a vested interest in. It's funny how you'll make a more concerted effort when you are actually invested in what you're doing and the investment isn't just a paycheck. (and I actually think most teachers do as good a job as possible with the situation they've been placed in!)
1.(a) We enjoy our kids and they are fun!
1.(b) Because we are called to homeschool the children we were blessed with.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Homeschoolers and tax credits (Part 2)
If you would like to read Part 1 of this article, please click here.
I've given a brief overview of my thoughts on tax credits for homeschoolers in Part 1 of this post, so I'll become more specific in this one. First, all citizens who pay taxes contribute to public education in their state and well they should. An educated public is one that has options and can contribute to the society that they are a part of. However, since regulation from the federal government was overhauled in the late 1970's, there has been a significant decrease in parental involvement in institutionalized learning, and a very definite increase in federal interference and teacher "incentives" that encourage teaching to be designed with nothing more in mind than "passing the test", and thereby receive more federal and state funding for their school. (the money carrot, again!)
Where are the children factoring into this game of educational Olympics and greed? What are the repercussions for outsourcing our parenting to a government who sees not individuals with dreams, plans and goals of their own, but instead an economic tool that can be manipulated for the "common good", also known as a collective? Do not allow money to sway you into believing that you can get a little of the money without a LOT of the regulations that go along with that. Regulation that is NOT in the best interest of the children, but in the best interest of the government. We should ALL be concerned about that, not just homeschooling parents. Let's do some research...
"Children are owed as a matter of justice the capacity to choose to lead lives--adopt values and beliefs, pursue an occupation, endorse new traditions--that are different from those of their parents. Because the child cannot him or herself ensure the acquisition of such capacities and the parents may be opposed to such acquisition, the state must ensure it for them. The state must guarantee that children are educated for minimal autonomy."5
The state must ensure that children are minimally autonomous? The state must ensure that children have the right to lead their lives and pursue new traditions? Really? At what age does this begin? At what age should someone else be allowed to indoctrinate your children with THEIR beliefs? Yes, their beliefs. If Mr. Reich didn't BELIEVE his statements, he wouldn't make them. What, gives him, or the state, the right to trump my beliefs with his? At what point do we buy into one belief being superior to another and therefore the only one because it's superior? That would most assuredly reduce autonomy of individuals. And that is a scary, scary thought, regardless of your personal belief system.
Let's examine Rob Reich a little more closely. The NY Times article on this same subject, which you can find here, also has Reich write his say and here's what his circular reasoning on the subject was:
The sad and hidden truth about home schooling is that no one knows whether home schooled students are performing well or poorly. We have no shortage of anecdotes – home schoolers who end up at Stanford or who win spelling bees. Astonishingly, however, we know practically nothing about the academic performance of the average home schooler. The studies that grab headlines use a biased and unrepresentative sample of home schoolers.
Well, which one is it? Do you not know whether homeschooled students are performing well or poorly, or are all the headline grabbing stories biased and unrepresentative? It can't be both. The sad truth is that Reich KNOWS that homeschooled students who take the SAT/ACT that almost all college/University bound students must take are doing exceptionally well. There's the "testing" that so many "think" that homecshoolers must take, so that should satisfy that argument. The ones that don't take those exams weren't going to college or University anyway, just like their public schools counterparts, so where is his beef? Does he believe that a human beings worth lies in his/her career goals? You can find the information for homeschooled vs public/private schooled children's test scores all over the place and they ALL concur; Homeschooled students are essentially spanking the compulsory schooled students, and Reich IS aware of this fact, as is the NEA. I do not think this is a reflection on the students, but on the education that they are receiving. Institutionalized learning has been overtaken by a system that is greed driven, not learning driven. Again, the ED has failed miserable and their "regulations" do not work.
One last Reich excerpt:
"Federal dollars come with strings attached, and these particular strings are in the best interests of children, anyway."
The only thing we can agree on is that federal dollars come with strings attached. To factually claim that those strings are in the best interests of the children is Reich's belief system, again. And he has no right to push his ideology onto anyone but his own children, which I have no doubt he will do.
I recently presented Mr. Reich with a challenge on his Stanford blog. He summarily deleted my post and offered no reply. Here was the challenge:
I would send my children to compulsory schooling for the exact same amount of time that he homeschooled his children. In homeschooling them according to his beliefs, he must introduce them to a "broader view" (another big anti-homeschooling cry that he adheres to), by introducing them to MY beliefs with no persuasion as to his own beliefs. After all, that is what he proposes of homeschooling parents, right? If there was ANY argument from him, then the truth would be revealed. He is not opposed to homeschooling itself, what he is opposed to is that parents are introducing their children to THEIR beliefs and not the ones that Reich holds as truth. By refusing, what he is also revealing is that he isn't interested in "broader views", he is interested in HIS view as the ones that all should adhere to. This is tolerance at it's finest, isn't it? (insert sarcasm there)
As a side note: in his post in the NY Times, Reich comes across as almost gleeful at the prospect of tax credits. This alone should alert ALL parents, not just homeschoolers, to check themselves when accepting tax credits or breaks of any kind. We may be silently promoting Reich's views that education is a tool for minimal autonomy and a collective mentality on all levels and becoming more like the Third Reich that this type of education stems from.
Tax credits are nothing more than a cry for regulation of something that has created NO harms, and in reality has actually been proven to be working for the vast majority of the students involved. I urge you, ALL parents, to closely monitor what is happening in the lives of our children. They truly are worth more than any other thing in our lives. They are not economic commodities to be outsourced to a government who cannot provide them with the individual care they so desperately need and want. They are our future, and our responsibility. Do your own research and open your eyes. There is no proof that government interference in education is beneficial...quite the contrary. Ask yourself if a few dollars is worth selling your right to educate your children? Ask yourself if you, or an entity with no goal but economic ones, has the best interest of your child at heart. Be honest, be diligent, and be your OWN judge. Resistance has NEVER been futile.
Quite probably there will be more to come on this...
I've given a brief overview of my thoughts on tax credits for homeschoolers in Part 1 of this post, so I'll become more specific in this one. First, all citizens who pay taxes contribute to public education in their state and well they should. An educated public is one that has options and can contribute to the society that they are a part of. However, since regulation from the federal government was overhauled in the late 1970's, there has been a significant decrease in parental involvement in institutionalized learning, and a very definite increase in federal interference and teacher "incentives" that encourage teaching to be designed with nothing more in mind than "passing the test", and thereby receive more federal and state funding for their school. (the money carrot, again!)
Where are the children factoring into this game of educational Olympics and greed? What are the repercussions for outsourcing our parenting to a government who sees not individuals with dreams, plans and goals of their own, but instead an economic tool that can be manipulated for the "common good", also known as a collective? Do not allow money to sway you into believing that you can get a little of the money without a LOT of the regulations that go along with that. Regulation that is NOT in the best interest of the children, but in the best interest of the government. We should ALL be concerned about that, not just homeschooling parents. Let's do some research...
"Children are owed as a matter of justice the capacity to choose to lead lives--adopt values and beliefs, pursue an occupation, endorse new traditions--that are different from those of their parents. Because the child cannot him or herself ensure the acquisition of such capacities and the parents may be opposed to such acquisition, the state must ensure it for them. The state must guarantee that children are educated for minimal autonomy."5
The state must ensure that children are minimally autonomous? The state must ensure that children have the right to lead their lives and pursue new traditions? Really? At what age does this begin? At what age should someone else be allowed to indoctrinate your children with THEIR beliefs? Yes, their beliefs. If Mr. Reich didn't BELIEVE his statements, he wouldn't make them. What, gives him, or the state, the right to trump my beliefs with his? At what point do we buy into one belief being superior to another and therefore the only one because it's superior? That would most assuredly reduce autonomy of individuals. And that is a scary, scary thought, regardless of your personal belief system.
Let's examine Rob Reich a little more closely. The NY Times article on this same subject, which you can find here, also has Reich write his say and here's what his circular reasoning on the subject was:
The sad and hidden truth about home schooling is that no one knows whether home schooled students are performing well or poorly. We have no shortage of anecdotes – home schoolers who end up at Stanford or who win spelling bees. Astonishingly, however, we know practically nothing about the academic performance of the average home schooler. The studies that grab headlines use a biased and unrepresentative sample of home schoolers.
Well, which one is it? Do you not know whether homeschooled students are performing well or poorly, or are all the headline grabbing stories biased and unrepresentative? It can't be both. The sad truth is that Reich KNOWS that homeschooled students who take the SAT/ACT that almost all college/University bound students must take are doing exceptionally well. There's the "testing" that so many "think" that homecshoolers must take, so that should satisfy that argument. The ones that don't take those exams weren't going to college or University anyway, just like their public schools counterparts, so where is his beef? Does he believe that a human beings worth lies in his/her career goals? You can find the information for homeschooled vs public/private schooled children's test scores all over the place and they ALL concur; Homeschooled students are essentially spanking the compulsory schooled students, and Reich IS aware of this fact, as is the NEA. I do not think this is a reflection on the students, but on the education that they are receiving. Institutionalized learning has been overtaken by a system that is greed driven, not learning driven. Again, the ED has failed miserable and their "regulations" do not work.
One last Reich excerpt:
"Federal dollars come with strings attached, and these particular strings are in the best interests of children, anyway."
The only thing we can agree on is that federal dollars come with strings attached. To factually claim that those strings are in the best interests of the children is Reich's belief system, again. And he has no right to push his ideology onto anyone but his own children, which I have no doubt he will do.
I recently presented Mr. Reich with a challenge on his Stanford blog. He summarily deleted my post and offered no reply. Here was the challenge:
I would send my children to compulsory schooling for the exact same amount of time that he homeschooled his children. In homeschooling them according to his beliefs, he must introduce them to a "broader view" (another big anti-homeschooling cry that he adheres to), by introducing them to MY beliefs with no persuasion as to his own beliefs. After all, that is what he proposes of homeschooling parents, right? If there was ANY argument from him, then the truth would be revealed. He is not opposed to homeschooling itself, what he is opposed to is that parents are introducing their children to THEIR beliefs and not the ones that Reich holds as truth. By refusing, what he is also revealing is that he isn't interested in "broader views", he is interested in HIS view as the ones that all should adhere to. This is tolerance at it's finest, isn't it? (insert sarcasm there)
As a side note: in his post in the NY Times, Reich comes across as almost gleeful at the prospect of tax credits. This alone should alert ALL parents, not just homeschoolers, to check themselves when accepting tax credits or breaks of any kind. We may be silently promoting Reich's views that education is a tool for minimal autonomy and a collective mentality on all levels and becoming more like the Third Reich that this type of education stems from.
Tax credits are nothing more than a cry for regulation of something that has created NO harms, and in reality has actually been proven to be working for the vast majority of the students involved. I urge you, ALL parents, to closely monitor what is happening in the lives of our children. They truly are worth more than any other thing in our lives. They are not economic commodities to be outsourced to a government who cannot provide them with the individual care they so desperately need and want. They are our future, and our responsibility. Do your own research and open your eyes. There is no proof that government interference in education is beneficial...quite the contrary. Ask yourself if a few dollars is worth selling your right to educate your children? Ask yourself if you, or an entity with no goal but economic ones, has the best interest of your child at heart. Be honest, be diligent, and be your OWN judge. Resistance has NEVER been futile.
Quite probably there will be more to come on this...
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