Learn in Freedom

[tracysaboe]

In other words, we're going to need to start our own private school.

Yup. That's the best way to convince people. Become entrapreneurs ourselves.

Tracy

[Michael Fisher]

I was one of the first to say it, but I take it back.? ? I think starting a school should be a lower priority for us.

There are 200,000 children enslaved in public schools in New Hampshire.? Starting a private school isn't going to solve that problem.? Even the LSF would hardly scratch the surface if it became wildly successful.

No, my friends, we need to do something drastic to stop this.

We need to convince everyone to pull their children out of public schools permanently.? The fact that many in our own movement refuse to do so is evidence enough that we are not good at this type of persuasion.? We need to work harder, pursuade more effectively, and we need to act fast.

[Pat McCotter]

(This is not a rant. This is a genuine contribution to the discussion.)

To give the perspective of one of those who did not pull a child out of public school.

As a married couple with one breadwinner and the other not able to teach; then as a single parent working fulltime out of the home - not self-employed;

How does one accomplish this?

I know the admonition that if you are not able to provide (financially, emotionally, intellectualy) for a child you should not try to raise one. I also know the admonition that if you do have a child you should do everything you can to ensure they get the necessary learning to grow and find their own way in the world.

Admonitions do not work. What we need is to teach those like me how to teach our children. I don't need someone telling me to pull my child out of the public school without giving me a solution to the - sometimes perceived, sometimes real - problems that would cause.

Again, this is not a rant.

Pat

[AlanM]

(This is not a rant. This is a genuine contribution to the discussion.)

To give the perspective of one of those who did not pull a child out of public school.

As a married couple with one breadwinner and the other not able to teach; then as a single parent working fulltime out of the home - not self-employed;

How does one accomplish this?

I know the admonition that if you are not able to provide (financially, emotionally, intellectualy) for a child you should not try to raise one. I also know the admonition that if you do have a child you should do everything you can to ensure they get the necessary learning to grow and find their own way in the world.

Admonitions do not work. What we need is to teach those like me how to teach our children. I don't need someone telling me to pull my child out of the public school without giving me a solution to the - sometimes perceived, sometimes real - problems that would cause.

Again, this is not a rant.

Pat

I understand what you are saying, Pat. However, education and schooling are 2 different things. A child can be educated in a school, it is true, but the school is not necessary. Did you teach your child to count? to learn the ABCs? If you did, then you can GUIDE them through an education. Teaching is a misnomer. One cannot teach, one can only guide and encourage. There are plenty of resources available for homeschooling a child. What it takes is the will, and the understanding that the child does the learning.

[Kat Kanning]

I hadn't any idea how to teach when I started with Kira.  So I read a bunch of books about it, got help from other homeschoolers.  There are homeschool support groups all over.  I'm not sure how one would do it as a single parent.  Working at home would make the problem easier.  Homeschooling is not the only option when pulling kids out, though.  Parents not able to afford private school can sometimes get help from their church, or things like the liberty scholarship fund. 

We've been dead poor since I stopped working and started homeschooling.  I just knew I could never do that to any child of mine, though....send them to public school I mean.

Do you have a child Pat?  I'm sure several of us homeschoolers would sit down with you and talk about it with you, if you like.  Tony Lekas homeschooled and has his kids in college now.  Dawn Lincoln I'm sure would talk to you also.  Or was this a theoretical question?

[Pat McCotter]

No, none of our kids are home now. I just needed to turn the discussion to solutions instead of exhortations.

It's all well and good to tell parents to take their children out of the public schools, but many parents don't have the support groups or any idea of where to turn for this information.

If you want to persuade parents to take their children out of the public school you will need to educate the parents first as to their alternatives.

Another side of this coin of taking children out of school is the entrenched bureaucracy is going to fight this movement tooth and nail. You folks know that is going to happen but the parents of those children are going to bear the brunt of that bureaucarcy's ire. This will need to be addressed as well.

Parental education. Support against the powers that be. Less exhortation.

Cheers!
Pat

PS: Thanks for the support offerred. It is great to be part of such a group of folks as this.

[Eagle]

Throw a big ol' wrench in the middle of the state and government education machine.

Get a hold of all the state and government employment applications you possibly can
and have all of our children apply for jobs...right now...skip the schooling...
since +++half+++ of their +++income+++  when they do go to work as adults will go to
perpetuating the government and its workings anyhow. Rent a schoolbus and fill 'er up with our
grade school kiddos and take them to a state/government employment agency and get in line...
out to the street and down the block. Coordinate it all over the state...heck...all over the country!

Tell 'em its lawless to steal our kid's minds and futures...
so we'll circumvent the under-age work/labor laws...
We're even now.

[AlanM]

Pat,
While I agree that folks need solutions, they also need to recognize there is a real problem. Most folk are unaware of what the purpose of public schools is. Most, unfortunately, swallow the PR that gov schools are trying very hard to educate the kids. They don't realize the gov schools' purpose is indoctrination and subjagation.
Alan

[Kat Kanning]

Educating parents about alternatives....that's what we were trying to do with Dawn's Educational Alternatives Fair.

http://www.soulawakenings.com/underground/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=Education%20Fair

[Russell Kanning]

I should not have to educate other people to get them to stop stealing from me. I don't have to show them the way. I don't pay for them ..... let them figure out what to do with their own kids.

[Michael Fisher]

One quick thought on this subject:

In ancient Rome, before the era of emperors and during the time of the Republic, they found that school was entirely unnecessary. ?Hella had no schools. ?Athens had nothing resembling what we have today. ?Children were fully integrated into society.

In first few decades United States, the situation was identical. ?There was nothing resembling what we have today. ?Knowledge flowed freely. ?Children were fully integrated into society, as they should be.

The truth is that knowledge is not difficult to obtain or communicate - it is not a limited resource that must be doled out through great efforts only to those who are worthy of it.

Anyone can teach. ?Anyone can learn. ?People learn best by following their own path to knowledge.

The greatest mistake anyone can make in homeschooling is to disregard what the child wants to learn and focus on forcing on him what he ought to learn.

Bring the child out into the real world. ?Experience is the greatest teacher and the best source of a love of learning.

[Michael Fisher]

I should not have to educate other people to get them to stop stealing from me. I don't have to show them the way. I don't pay for them ..... let them figure out what to do with their own kids.

It's similar to the chicken-and-the-egg problem.

If we don't get people to abandon this system, they will never stop stealing from us to support it.  Persuasion is our only option.   

[Pat McCotter]

Pat,
While I agree that folks need solutions, they also need to recognize there is a real problem. Most folk are unaware of what the purpose of public schools is. Most, unfortunately, swallow the PR that gov schools are trying very hard to educate the kids. They don't realize the gov schools' purpose is indoctrination and subjagation.
Alan

That is the parental education I was talking about, Alan. Many of these parents don't know there is anything but "free" public schools or expensive private schools. We have taken the time to research the subject and history (ongoing for me) and know all about incrementalism in government regulations.

Most people don't know what the goal of schools is. The hospital didn't hand out an instruction manual with this child. What is the prupose of a child. What am I supposed to do now? You probably won't be able to reach these folks; there was no planning ahead in their lives and the public school is probably a baby sitter for them.

The others who planned to have children may or may not know why they did, but they probably planned how and where they were going to "educate" them. They researched the schools in different areas, etc., etc. They may even have researched alternatives such as private/homeschooling. The public school parents from this group are probably the ones you wil be able to reach.

Then there are the kids themselves. I know I was 13 when I finally learned what I needed to know in school - how to regurgitate what they wanted for the test, say "Yes, sir", "No. ma'am", and go off and learn what I wanted. There was a thread here earlier that had brochures to hand out to kids for escaping the public schools. If we could reach these kids it would also help.

Pat

[Russell Kanning]

Persuasion is our only option.? ?

I think that is why you are frustrated this week.
We can lead and others can follow....I am not going to wait for everyone to agree with me.

[Lloyd Danforth]

I should not have to educate other people to get them to stop stealing from me. I don't have to show them the way. I don't pay for them ..... let them figure out what to do with their own kids.

True, but, it is the neighborly thing to do and, could result in you're living in a better world.

Hard to believe that even the cops arresting this guy liked him!:)