The Liberated Learner – Column by Suzanne Kearney
Imagine a crystal ball reveals that your child’s school will be the target of a mass shooting. You don’t know the date and time, only the certainty. What would you do? Would you drop your child off the next day with a sack lunch and a pat on the head? My guess is no. You would do whatever it took to protect your child from danger.
What if the risk to your child weren’t physical, but mental, emotional, and spiritual? What if the attack focused on the mind and soul, rather than the body? Would you act?
It may be argued that your child has a higher risk of harm from educational indoctrination than from the relatively low probability of a school shooting. Ideological warfare in the government schools is definitely more widespread, and the poisoning of the mind has countless consequences which are impossible to quantify. I believe if we truly understood the existential carnage inflicted upon our youth under the auspices of “public education,” we would most hurriedly pull them out.
So why don’t we? For many, it comes down to cost. No doubt, we are in trying financial times. But let me encourage you: the options for working homeschool parents are more plentiful than ever before. Let me share with you a few stories of real homeschool families who found a way to clear the financial hurdle. Maybe they will inspire you to re-evaluate your own circumstances and make homeschooling a viable option for your own family.
Beth* is a single, divorced mom. When she started noticing changes in her teen daughter Emma, and linked them to her peer group at school, she pulled Emma out. Beth applied for financial assistance with Home School Legal Defense’s Homeschool Foundation, which covered all her daughter’s curriculum expenses. While Beth worked full time, Emma completed her schoolwork at my home, where she had accountability, supervision, and social interaction. Emma is now married, has a daughter of her own, and is thriving as a wife and mother.
Angela is a mother of five who manages a Christian camp with her husband. The flexible schedule and togetherness of camp life allows them to fit the three “R’s” in and around camp activities, many of which double for educational credit: physical education, facility maintenance, and working in the kitchen, for example. Angela’s family also has a side business running a food truck, and on weekends the kids help out, learning practical skills such as inventory and cash management, sales, and customer service.
Valerie has opened the door of her family’s homeschool, inviting others to be educated right alongside her own children. She teaches a few other families’ grade school kids while their parents work. Valerie collects tuition at a substantially reduced rate than what would be paid at a private school, and the kids get a customized, “homeschool” experience.
Helen is a single mom who was recently widowed. After her husband’s death, fellow homeschooling friends came alongside her and helped teach her youngest son while Helen worked. Helen maintains slightly reduced hours so she can also do some of the educating herself. By being efficient, she fulfills her teaching responsibilities in only a couple of hours per day.
These are just a few real stories from people I know. I have heard countless ideas from ambitious parents who are highly motivated to get their kids out of the public schools, including: husbands and wives working staggered days or split shifts to share the homeschool responsibilities between them; grandparents taking on part of the educational process; creating “pods” with other like-minded families, where education is split up for 1-2 days per week per family; financial sacrifices including getting rid of cars, downsizing homes, relocating, food gleans, thrift store clothes, and curriculum exchanges; using free curriculum such as Easy Peasy, and countless other ideas.
You see, when you seek to do what is best, the possibilities become infinite. We may not have a crystal ball to foresee our children’s future, but we can do everything in our power to increase their likelihood of success.
What are you willing to sacrifice for your child’s future? Is any price too high?
*Names have been changed to protect privacy.
