We were, of course, speaking about ideas last time. How can an idea hurt? It might cause us to hurt ourselves if acted upon. If I decide that gravity is bunk and jump off a building for example. It may cause me to head in a poor direction or associate with a “bad” crowd. Ideas – acted upon – can cause grief. The root of the danger comes from the action – acted upon. No action – very little danger.

As a general observation, we don’t want to go down the wrong path or cause ourselves any grief. We protest if something bad does happen. We want to be able to map out life in a straight path – one that is safe. One without mistakes. We want life on rails. A train can’t go except where the rails are and have been deemed “safe”. We do want pretend danger – like a roller coaster, but that’s on rails also. This has the effect of making everyone’s experience in life approach sameness and without risk.

I would submit that we truly learn who we are when we take risks – face fears. What is the real result? Is it the end of the line? Could we die? Sure if the real danger is not there, then there is no real risk and we know it inside. Most often the real result is that we then have to readjust our plans and maybe lost some time. Was that time wasted? I think not. I think in facing real danger, we build confidence and learn courage. If we never face a fear or take a risk we become hollow, sheltered, and afraid. We learn in that time we headed off to the risk and that makes it worth it – whether the risk succeeds or not.

Let me give you some examples.

Horseback riding. My daughter just started taking riding lessons (not as fancy as that sounds). Here is this petite child on the back of a huge ball of muscle. She was so scared that all she could do was nod to the teacher. But, she did it. You should have seen the gleam in her eyes. She has ridden ponies at parties and even been on a trail ride. This was different. This horse was all hers to control. It was not on rails.

Sailing. I can’t tell you how many people think sailors are nuts. They think that taking a small boat out of sight of shore is the sign of absolute craziness. The sailors will tell you that out there is when they feel most alive – when their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual parts pull together in unity. Why? Because the ocean is a real danger and they are risking their life – not being stupid – but pursuing a passion.

Do we do the same with education – like college – we all go so knowing it won’t get us ahead but “they” don’t either. Everyone the same. Taking an alternate path may be brilliant or maybe fail totally. Which will you choose?  What if the alternate path does fail? Is there a mark in life that says you have to be somewhere at such and such an age. Is failure permanent?

Are we killing genius? Imagine Einstein on Ritalin. He was a behavior problem that failed math. Watch the movie “A Beautiful Mind” about John Forbes Nash, Jr. The movie is for entertainment and not completely historically accurate, but does hit the important points. Mr. Nash received a Nobel Laureate in Economics for his theories. He didn’t attend lectures while at college and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He refused drugs saying he would not have thought differently to come up with his ideas if not also deemed “crazy” because he doesn’t think like everyone else. Maybe we have to embrace people who are different and choose different paths. Real diversity versus political correct diversity (That’s a mine field so leave it at that).

If you homeschool, then you have already taken a risk – one that is calculated, mitigated, and worth it. You have chosen to try something other than the “norm”.  Here is a question for you. Do you build a wall around your home out of fear? Or, do you allow your children to explore the world, bit by calculated bit, even though it is dangerous?  Do you allow your child to think differently? Do you allow them to follow their passions like the sailors? Institutions, regardless of type, are really good at ensuring everyone “inside” is the same and good at correcting deviations. If we, who have chosen the less traveled path don’t allow our children to be “different” and pursue their passion – who will?

Catrina’s thoughts, combined with an event a few months back where a homeschool family sought amnesty in US because Germany prevents it, spawned a few thoughts of my own.

The Yahoo article (link lost) mentioned that most of the European countries either didn’t allow homeschooling or severely limited it. In Germany, even “private” schools had to follow a nationally approved curriculum. The rationale is that this “ensured” that all children would receive “proper” education where parents may not provide the approved views. The danger is that the parents may provide an opposing view. The rationale continued saying that these countries provide free education to all people – many included college – so there was no need for homeschool.

A danger to whom?

The article was actually neutral in its report providing pro and con arguments for amnesty. It was just stating how Europe works and their beliefs on homeschool. The part that weighted on my heart was the comments posted below the article. Some people supported the freedom to homeschool, while others were against parents raising “radical” children who grow up to be serial killers, etc. Bypassing any effort to even address the fallacies inside these arguments, certainly some of the negative comments were posted by trolls looking to get an emotional rise out of the readers. In most of the negative comments ran a consistent undercurrent of – we must ensure that citizens get the “one truth” and not allow another “false truth” take its place by citizens sheltered from that “one truth”. Of course, if you are exposed to this “one truth” you would instantly see all others for the myths they are. This undercurrent was also present in the rationale behind the European’s policies on homeschooling.

Obviously, this “one truth” is not necessarily truth at all nor is the “false truths” really myths. The danger seems to be to the approved (by who is a good question) “one truth”. Presenting only the approved “one truth” is exactly what Catrina referred to as presenting only one side with marginal allowances for “debate”. Real Truth can stand on its own. It doesn’t need protecting from opposing views in an honest exchange.

Radical?

Am I off the deep end on these thoughts? Let’s examine how opposing views are treated today. Do we see active debate on these subjects or do we see staged events designed to prove one point of view or the other? Pick any side you like – they all seem to seek a homogeneous audience. In ancient times, we had 3 main TV channels (with a few extra UHF channels). Everyone watched these channels. Regardless of what bias or position presented on a channel, everyone discussed it the next day. Some supported the broadcast and others opposed the message. Ultimately, everyone benefited from the public debate.

In a society that values diversity, we segregate ourselves into media and social islands distrusting (and possibly fearing) opposing views.  At least we still have the views out there and are not quite reduced to only one being allowed.

Why is homeschooling dangerous?

We’re back to the original question. Yes, it can be dangerous. If as a homeschool parent, I teach and encourage an open debate of ideas, assist in the ability to reason and think through subjects, insist on a deeper understanding of things than simply at the surface, and help form a habit of honestly seeking truth in my students, then I will develop a dangerous citizen who will question concepts from both sides of the issue and will see through the veneer of words into the truth under them. Real Truth is discovered by honest seeking. It is earned by each individual. It can’t be simply transferred because it is not tested. An individual needs the tools to understand and the self realization that they can seek. It also helps to live in a society where we have the freedom to be able to honestly debate and all ideas can be openly presented. We need more dangerous citizens – whether homeschooled or not. If you are a parent – go make some and join Catrina, Dale, and myself swimming upstream.

Obviously, I’m referring to the loosely titled Heath Care Package. Before you run screaming, this is not an endorsement or critique of Health Care as such. I’m not even sure what‘s in the package they are voting on. I’d be willing to bet most folks (for or against the thing) don’t know either. We’ve all heard how this will give care to millions, straighten out the insurance situation, and also fix the economy. What I have not seen are any specifics that would say exactly what it is doing. I suspect the text of the document changes hour by hour as they try to garner enough support to pass it. I’d bet that most of the Representatives voting (again yeah or nay) don’t know what is really in this document – just what they’re being told. The one thing, I think, both sides of the debate can agree on is that if this passes it will mean greater government oversight and control of the whole health care system – including the economy of paying for and providing care, the availability of care, and our personal level of participation in it. Depending on how you may think – this could be good or bad from your point of view.

What has this to do with Homeschool?

I’m all for helping the less fortunate as are many folks. My concern, as I suspect many homeschool parents share, is increased governmental control and regulation in my personal affairs and life plus pocket book. While I don’t know exactly what form this will take with the Health Care Proposal (as of this minute it has not been passed), we can compare it to something the government does control. For comparison, we could argue the merits of Social Security, government control of the post office, or the Federal Reserve System, but I think the best example is public school. The biggest item on most states budget is “education”.

Wouldn’t you give up some control for the betterment of everyone?

It depends. I certainly would voluntarily self sacrifice for someone in need. I think most of us do. Look at the donations of time, goods, and money for Haiti and Chile. While I would do it freely, I would resent being told I had to give $100 to that cause or fly down there and help. I would resent it more if I were told I had to give to a cause I don’t agree with. I suspect most people are like this. One of the possible provisions is that I must get health care insurance. Again this may be “good” insurance or “bad” insurance depending on how it is implemented. I would resent HAVING to participate either way.

Let’s compare that to school. Being educating is mandatory – has been starting in 1852 in Massachusetts. How, where, and what is a parental decision. Even though today (it has not always been this way), the populous’ default is public school, we have available private and home school alternatives. We also can choose our own curriculum. There is no forced national course of study (really borders on fascism there).  The closest we get is at a state level for a state degree from high school a student must have studied certain general subjects. As a parent who decided to forgo the public school option, I would resent being told I had to teach certain subjects a certain way or being told I cannot teach certain concepts. I would resent being told I had to send my child to a public facility. Even if we teach our children different concepts, most homeschool parents cherish the freedom to be able to make these decisions for ourselves. We would not like having our children removed from our care to protect them from us. (See http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100302/us_time/09171196809900 for recent discussion on Amnesty for German Homeschool parents and other proposals for European countries to control school.) Thankfully, the HSLDA, www.hslda.org, helps protect that freedom.

I would not give up control of my children’s education for anything.

How does the government do with school?

To see some discussion on what is being taught, please see some of my earlier posts. For this one, let’s look at something more easily measured – costs. According to the census office, http://www2.census.gov/govs/school/07f33pub.pdf page 13 the cost per student in public education is between $5683 in Utah to $15,981 in New York for the fiscal year 2006 – 2007. Page 108 shows the per county/parish spending. Page 21 shows per pupil spending broken into admin, instruction, etc. The US average on page 13 shows $9666 per student in 2007. I think we can safely round that up to $10,000 per pupil in 2010.

This amount, $10,000, would pay for the tuition to a great many “top notch” expensive / exclusive private schools. I don’t think the public school is giving a comparable environment or education. I live in an average county so my 3 children cost myself and my neighbors $30,000 per year when they went to public school. (And, the school has the nerve to send home requests for donations to buy paper for the teachers to photocopy assignments onto).  For a classroom of 30, the school eats $300,000 in taxes per classroom.  To be sure, the actual school does not see the full amount – especially when you break it down to the instruction.

The percent that goes into instruction is less than 50%. An article that is a little easier to read is from SC – http://thevoiceforschoolchoice.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/senate-finance-committee-11249-per-student-public-school-student/. It shows 43 cents per dollar going to actual instruction (including salaries). The rest is administrative, maintenance on assets, and debt service.

To be easy, we can call it 50% of the amount spent on public education goes to instruction – salary and supplies. We get half of what we pay for. As part of the United Way campaign at work, we can designate groups or causes for charitable donations (conveniently drawn from our salary for us). Most folks balk at giving to an organization that has less than 95% of money received going to the charity. That means the organization must have a 5% or less overhead to operate and pay for its people and buildings. Public School, if it were listed as a charity, would have 50% overhead and no one would donate. This means that the “real” cost of public instruction is $5000 per pupil. The other $5000 is waste into the system.

What could we do with that money as a homeschooler?

Here’s an idea. Close all the schools – force everyone to homeschool and give each homeschool pupil $5000 per year for education. We could cut the biggest state expense in half. Most families could afford to homeschool if one parent stayed home while getting $5000 per student (more in New York). Obviously, such an idea has other issues than just the economics, but it makes the point. $5000 is way over the amount spent per student homeschooling and each student homeschooled saves your neighbors about $10,000 per year in taxes. More homeschooling means fewer taxes for everyone. (Also, the same applies for each private school child).

According to the HSLDA, a home school household spends $546 per year per child on average for books, fees, and teaching materials. I think we spend about $700. Let’s round up to $1000 per child. To be fair, the homeschool parent does not draw a salary, heath care, or a pension. This leaves $4000 per student to pay for that. In a classroom of 30, this amounts to $120,000 to pay for the instructor. When you figure in benefits and a salary around $50,000, this is a little high but not crazy high. The next time the homeschool parent feels like they are not contributing to the household income (with one salary that is usually tight); let them know they are providing the equivalent of $4000 per child right off the top.

How does all this relate?

The $4000 for the instructor plus $1000 per child comparison shows that it really should only cost us $5000 per child per year US average to educate each and every child. We are being charged twice that for the privilege of governmental involvement. In this case, we are taking something we can do for ourselves for a reasonable amount ($1000 per year) or contract out for a reasonable amount ($5000) and doubling it to an unreasonable amount ($10,000). I figure paying $10,000 for $5000 worth of product or service is unreasonable. With the Health Care Reform, we are taking something that is already unreasonably expensive and adding more governmental involvement. I know the claim is that the government will reduce the cost, but history is against this claim. The same was said about education. In fact, I know of no situation where adding more government reduced cost. If our comparison is any indication, then the cost for care will double from unreasonable to crazy with the added benefit of being told how I am allowed to care for my family. Again the specifics of the bill may be good or bad. My concern is the same as I have with education. If I don’t like the prescribed course of education/care, can I opt out? Can I control how my family is cared for?

Ideally, is there a way to apply the lessons learned from homeschool vs. public to the health care picture? Maybe we could then really reduce costs and gain greater personal control? Your thoughts?

Why go to college at all? Is it really needed?

Why do people go? I think the answer you would get the most often is – to get a better job or to increase their ability to earn a good living. I actually mentioned to some people at work (not a scientific survey for sure) that we were thinking about not sending our kids to college – just to see their reaction. Their first comment was to the effect – bad idea, they need a degree. To which I asked – Why? The response – “you need a degree to get a job. No business would look at you without a degree.

Is this true? Do we really need a degree?

Some points to consider:

• It sure appears that the nature of business is changing. I don’t think these white collar jobs we just lost are coming back.
• When the economy rebounds, I think companies are going to hire more single proprietor consultants / contractors instead of employees. You would be hiring yourself – no degree needed.
• Today it sure seems most business assumes everything on a resume is a lie. They give grueling behavioral interviews to determine if the candidate knows anything about the area they are being hired for.  They even assume your degree, GPA, and achievements have been “enhanced”.
• If the student is primarily looking for job skills, then does that really make college an advanced trade school? Maybe an over simplification, but it is a thought worth considering.
• For most colleges, the marketing strategy is all about improving your income by getting your education there. Is that working? Do most people find work in the field they graduate in? Maybe a doctor, lawyer, computer specialist. What about a history or English major?

If these trends continue, especially more people working for themselves, then a business won’t care about your degree. They will only care about your successful accomplishments in their area of need. Obviously, certain professions require a certification. No one wants a doctor or plumber that has no experience or filter for quality control. Most professional certifications require an internship or apprenticeship plus a test to become certified. It could be argued that this is where the real learning occurs.

College is an education not just a trade – what about that?

I absolutely agree that someone graduating with a Bachelors degree or higher should be educated on top of being trained in a trade. I mean educated in the older concept of an educated person. This would include the ability to think, the ability to present oneself well in writing and speech, and the ability to converse about history and literature. In other words, the true meaning of a liberal arts education before that term was perverted – to be a well rounded person. This is a big component in what folks are asking Dale about. They want a “real” education without the trash.

Are we seeing this product from most curriculums in a modern college? I don’t think so. Do we see engineers able to discuss the Homer’s epic poems or Shakespeare? What about psychology majors conversant in world religions, their theological basis, and the metaphysical ramifications of such thought.  Was Descartes correct in his explanation of our existence? Does Aquinas really sum up virtue with 4 cardinal and 3 theological virtues? Ok, don’t shoot me. Some do, but usually as a result of personal interest. Most of the time, with some exceptions, the official transcript for these degrees don’t include these types of subjects as required stops. Certainly, knowledge of any one of these specific examples or even all of them does not automatically make someone “educated”. Regardless of the student’s position, pro or con, the value is in going through these types of subjects and arguing them.  Here is where logic and rhetoric come in. As an example of how degrees have gotten away from the critical thinking skills, my wife found out that law schools generally have abandoned the Socratic Method which in 1992 when she graduated was considered the ONLY way to ensure good lawyers.

Could this be provided in an alternate arrangement?

I think so. I don’t have a technical evaluation of how nor a business analysis on if it would be profitable (and therefore able to exist), but I do have some thoughts on properties that must be in place to be successful.

• The alternate school would have to break some of the issues of mass education like the homeschooling does.
• It will have to engage the student individually to achieve that person’s goal for their education  – make it mean something to them.
• It should include a lot of individual work – no classroom needed – video, reading, writing, labs, interactive online, etc
• Group work and community interaction can occur over many social media formats.
• A mentor would be appointed or chosen to guide the student through the program and provide continuity.
• The guiding mentor teaches the trade / curriculum over a continuum without concern for grades or time limits. No artificial semester breakdown. The student either finishes the whole course or doesn’t. All who finish will gain mastery. The student has input into “deviations” from the base curriculum.
• Internships provided via “partners” who are local (at least somewhat) to the student.
• Absolutely provide an opportunity for the student to create a portfolio of work to show potential clients examples of what they are capable of.
• After the student has a basis, leaders in subjects can be available for online sessions where questions can be posed and explored. The Socratic style revived.
• Because of the individual nature of the program, a student can explore in depth subjects like philosophy or theology. Access to online sessions adds meaningful discourse.

This is something of a throwback to the old model of college where you studied with a professor decorated in their specialty – to be able to sharpen your wit against their stones.

I believe the best way to learn, period, is inside a personable exchange between a student who wants to learn (and willing to work for the learning) and an engaged mentor. This is the homeschool model. It doesn’t matter whether the student is 6 years old, 15 years old, 20 years old, 40 years old, or older. A student is assigned a primary (picks a primary) mentor as a guide. This person advises and ensures that the student goals are met. They evaluate the student and suggest the next step – no set curriculum. Some steps would be self work for the student, some with a master as apprentice; some where the student gets to participate in forums with leading (true) thinkers. It is just like the parent does for the homeschool child.

Would such a school work? We would have to figure a way to make the money part work where it is inexpensive for the student but profitable for the school. That is the tough part. If that works, then I believe it would produce the best results possible for each student – a real education.

What are your thoughts?

http://www.ralphjordanblog.com/2010/02/a-hard-look-at-school-part-1/

I’m sure in reading the excerpts or the whole text we all could come up with examples where we can see the results of the 6 lessons. We could also dismiss the whole thing as overly paranoid. I’d like to provide a few more thoughts and examples from today for consideration but first the promised solution.

Mr. Gatto’s solution for the 6 lessons is “…At the pass we’ve come to historically, and after 26 years of teaching, I must conclude that one of the only alternatives on the horizon for most families is to teach their own children at home. Small, de- institutionalized schools are another.”

I could not agree more. The best way to avoid being indoctrinated with these 6 “values” is to avoid them – to replace them with an environment where the child is taught their inherent self worth giving them the ability to approach the world in their own way – to follow a subject to its natural end. Who better to teach that than a parent? All we have to do is look at examples like Einstein or Newton to see where this path can lead. Both were rejected by the traditional system of their day, but they persevered in following their own path.

For the record, I’m not picking on individual teachers. We know many and they are really good people trying to do a good job – this not an article against them but against a flawed system they are a part of. Keep the people, change the system, and we have something great.

Still think this is paranoid? Here are some personal examples showing that even in the best the institutional school has to offer – danger lurks.

From a personal perspective, we fell into the trap of thinking of homeschool as just another option along with the public school system. We homeschooled our oldest boys from 1^st through 6^th grade.  When they were in 5^th grade, we moved from one city to another. Our new city has a reputation for having a really good school system. They earn a number of awards to be sure and the students show a great mastery of the subjects taught (not just the 6 lessons). Being in the south, the school system has a decidedly Christian atmosphere reflecting the majority of the folks living in this area. The students are all very respectful and the environment is physically safe. Pretty much this is the ideal public school situation. It is really the best that system of education has to offer.  At this time, our daughter was entering 1^st grade. We chose to try out the system with her figuring we could pull her at anytime. (I must say her 1^st grade experience was great). The area we live in does not allow homeschool students to participate in school based sports, so when the boys hit 7^th grade age wise they wanted to attend school to play sports. As we had already finished a course of study up to most of 8^th grade, we figured we would let them play – both at sports and school – for a couple of years. The boys are in 8^th grade.

So far so good – not really. We pulled them a few weeks ago to homeschool through high school. Our daughter was pulled from 3^rd grade in the middle because she couldn’t add, subtract, or multiply due to a rocket math curriculum they have employed. She reads on the 6^th grade level so aptitude is not the issue. She also has formed some bad habits including a lost interest in learning. The timing of seeing Mr. Gatto’s article was perfect for us to express what we were seeing even in a good school.

Here are some bits of our experience based on the 6 lessons:

Lesson 1: “Stay in the class where you belong.” Our daughter entered third grade with no bad grades. Suddenly, she could not pass the speed tests and was told she was bad at math. Really? Did she suddenly became bad at math or did the school basically fail to teach her. She was to be considered for remedial classes if she didn’t improve. She was told outright that she has no aptitude for math and would be classified as a remedial student. Nope – we pulled her. In 2 months, she has learned and come up to age speed on addition, subtraction, and is progressing (as she should) with multiplication concepts. To boot, instead of just memorizing patterns, she understands why math works – pretty good for someone bad at math. She has done in 2 months what the school system had 15 months to accomplish. Refuse to accept labels. When the boys entered 7^th grade, they were given a test to see if they were gifted. My middle son loves to find ways to answer questions in unexpected manners. He prides himself in solving problems his own way. You can imagine the response. In the ultimate irony, he was considered not gifted because he didn’t answer test questions in the way that they expected a gifted child should. They actually had a grading key for the expected responses and his was not on the key. It would be funny if it were not sad.

Lesson 2: “ to turn on and off like a light switch” Our daughter had begun the habit of forgetting everything after each quiz. She would say, we’re done with that. Her classes had no connectivity. Back at home, she was studying the Red Sea as part of bible and later was writing a paragraph about Arabian horses (tied to history and geography she is learning). She came running into the kitchen excited because it dawned on her that the Arabian horse came from the same region as the Red Sea and knew where that was on the globe. This was not an explicit connection made in the books or by us but one she deduced. Wow, learning is fun again – subjects don’t end with a bell. One of the complaints the boys had is that the teachers ask questions and the entire class sits there staring out the window. To combat boredom, our sons will engage the teacher.  It is to the point that the teachers asks them not to respond, but gets no response from anyone else. The boys’ words are that their classmates have figured out that nothing in class is important to them and that no one can make them learn. They exhibit their individuality by refusing to participate unless specifically told to do something.

Lesson 3: “surrender your will to a predestined chain of command” In the middle school, they have to sit in assigned seats in class. They have to sit in assigned seats at lunch. They can’t go to the bathroom at lunch, only between classes which they have 5 minutes to make. My son came home and rushed to rest room to do number 2. He explained that all the halls are one way to preserve order. To go to the bathroom, he would have to pass up his classroom and the circle around to get to class – you can’t go up stream. There is no time. Also, bathroom passes are not given out – period. Lunch is 16 minutes long so no outside or break time. I now have to laugh when someone asks if I will hurt my kid’s socialization by homeschooling. The school actually sent home a request for money to take the kids on a field trip to a leadership reaction course to improve the kid’s interactions across classes and social boundaries. The letter was condescending to parents at best. We, being radicals, wrote back that they should be getting these lessons daily in school and no special trip should be needed, plus how can you learn such important basic lessons in one day.

Lesson 4: “only I determine what curriculum you will study.” Interestingly, when we calculated, at home we do about 15- 17 different subjects a day. At school they do 5-6 subjects a day. Wow. When the boys entered middle school, we met with the advisor. We explained that they were ahead of a 7^th grade level. We were told that the school would have to make that evaluation and they were to be placed on the Red team (they have a White and Blue team as well). Red sounded good. They would also be placed in regular classes until they could be evaluated. Fair enough. We got a call from their math teacher saying that he wanted to keep them in regular math to see how they would do. At least he called, the rest of their subject teachers didn’t. After about a quarter, he called to say he was moving them into advanced math that they were wasting their time in basic study. In an attempt to give a compliment, he said that our boys were the best educated and prepared homeschool kids he has encountered. Kind of a back hand compliment, but I understand where he comes from. He usually sees a homeschool failure not a success. We later found out the Red team is where they placed the “slow” kids. Even when they can’t profile kids, they still grouped them.

Lesson 5: “your self-respect should depend on an observer’s measure of your worth”. This one is scary. Don’t we propagate lesson 5 in work with resumes and annual evaluations. These have no bearing on getting a job or raises. They are trashed – but are expected by the company and the worker. This way we know our worth at work. Did you know only 7% of jobs are given based on receiving a resume. I was a supervisor and can tell that raises are budget based. The rating on your appraisal has nothing to do with your raise.

Lesson 6: “they are being watched.” On the wrestling team, a couple of kids ran off where they were not supposed to be during a meet. The coach, instead of punishing the “offenders”, punished the whole team because they were supposed to police themselves. What? If my kid were to confront another and harsh words ensued (much less an old fashion fist fight), I would be called to take him to counseling.  Where is the lesson of justice in mass punishment? We had planned on continuing homeschooling religion and Latin while they were in public school. The system had them going from 6:00 AM when they woke up until 10:00 PM when they finished their work. This is worse than a job.

In the previous post, I opened with a series of questions buried in business process engineering as applied to the education system. What are we producing? Is it what we want / need? I think an easy argument can be supported that we are producing factory workers and compliant citizens. In the early 1900’s, the country was growing. Business needed workers that would behave in a factory setting. The issue was capacity to produce more. This is the time frame that the school system was developed. It had the same issue – capacity (remember the baby boom). Both business and schools were organized to be able to produce a marginal product but were easy to add more capacity. Education was producing what business needed. Zip ahead to today and we see those businesses failing. Look a GM, it would be gone if not for government intervention. The workers that were produced for that business would be out of jobs. I think it is clear to see we need a different kind of business structure and a new kind of educational structure as well.

Is / was anyone you ever talked to happy about being in school or did some folks learn in spite of it? Is this what we need? I fully believe that we need folks that can think for themselves. We need people that are happy – happy with who they are, happy living, and happy to make a better place for their neighbors. People that instead of looking for a business to give them a lively hood or a government to take care of them, will go out and create new businesses, will innovate solutions to the issues facing them and their neighbors, will create opportunity for their neighbors, and be happy for doing it.  I’m encouraged because over the two decades since Mr. Gatto has written his initial article, homeschooling has blossomed from a few “odd” families into being a legitimate choice for families. Will every child that is homeschooled turn into an earth changing leader – Of course not. Still, I’m convinced our future leaders will be formed from the homeschool apprenticeships and not the public education factories.

My opinion – what’s yours?

Due to the length of the article, I will pull some thoughts forward for you, but I encourage you to read the whole article if you have time. It is reprinted here: http://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html.

Also Mr. Gatto has gone on to write a number of books. He can be found at http://johntaylorgatto.com/. [PS my favorite title is “Weapons of Mass Instruction”. I have not read it but it is now on my list based on the title alone.] You can read many experts of his books and the whole text of his latest:

http://johntaylorgatto.com/underground/

http://johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm.

The reason this caught my attention so much is that we are doing a business process engineering class as part of the IEM program. The primary questions asked by this discipline is – what are you producing? Are your processes actually producing what you want or something different? Do your processes help you be more or less competitive in today’s world? Applied to education – What are we really teaching children to become? Is this what we need in today’s world? Normatively, we are producing doctors, lawyers, programmers, plumbers, schoolteacher, etc. but is that true? Is there a more efficient way with better results? Gatto’s discussion, I think, offers some insight. Please keep in mind this was 1991 – how much more does it apply today?

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Obviously, with a title of “The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher”, the article discusses the six lessons and then makes some observations [with apologies to the author for my editing - most of this text is his words and his credit]

Lesson 1:  “Stay in the class where you belong.” … The children are numbered so that if any get away they can be returned to the right class … the methods to number the children have increased in complexity over the years until it is hard to see the human being under the burden of the numbers each carries. Numbering children is a big and very profitable business, though what the business is designed to accomplish is elusive. … the kids can’t imagine themselves anywhere else; they envy and fear the better classes and have contempt for the dumber classes. So the class mostly keeps itself in good marching order. That’s the real lesson of any rigged competition like school. You come to know your place. … I insinuate that the day will come when an employer will hire them on the basis of test scores, even though my own experience is that employers are (rightly) indifferent to such things. … The lesson of numbered classes is that there is no way out of your class except by magic. Until that happens you must stay where you are put.

Lesson 2: “to turn on and off like a light switch” [at the whim of the instructor]. I demand that they become totally involved in my lessons … competing vigorously with each other for my favor. But when the bell rings I insist that they drop the work at once and proceed quickly to the next work station. Nothing important is ever finished in my class, nor in any other class I know of.  The lesson of bells is that no work is worth finishing, so why care too deeply about anything?

Lesson 3: “surrender your will to a predestined chain of command” Rights may be granted or withheld, by authority, without appeal. As a schoolteacher I intervene in many personal decisions, issuing a Pass for those I deem legitimate, or initiating a disciplinary confrontation for behavior that threatens my control. My judgments come thick and fast, because individuality is trying constantly to assert itself in my classroom. Individuality is a curse to all systems of classification, a contradiction of class theory.

Lesson 4: “only I determine what curriculum you will study.” (Rather, I enforce decisions transmitted by the people who pay me). This power lets me separate good kids from bad kids instantly. Good kids do the tasks I appoint with a minimum of conflict and a decent show of enthusiasm. Of the millions of things of value to learn, I decide what few we have time for. The choices are mine. Curiosity has no important place in my work, only conformity. … This is another way I teach the lesson of dependency. Good people wait for a teacher to tell them what to do. This is the most important lesson of all, that we must wait for other people, better trained than ourselves, to make the meanings of our lives. It is no exaggeration to say that our entire economy depends upon this lesson being learned. … [He goes on to show the number of industries including things like fast food that depend on this lesson] … We’ve built a way of life that depends on people doing what they are told because they don’t know any other way.

Lesson 5: “your self-respect should depend on an observer’s measure of your worth”. My kids are constantly evaluated and judged. A monthly report, impressive in its precision, is sent into students’ homes to spread approval or to mark exactly — down to a single percentage point — how dissatisfied with their children parents should be. Although some people might be surprised how little time or reflection goes into making up these records, the cumulative weight of the objective- seeming documents establishes a profile of defect which compels a child to arrive at a certain decisions about himself and his future based on the casual judgment of strangers.  Self-evaluation — the staple of every major philosophical system that ever appeared on the planet — is never a factor in these things. The lesson of report cards, grades, and tests is that children should not trust themselves or their parents, but must rely on the evaluation of certified officials. People need to be told what they are worth.

Lesson 6: “they are being watched.” I keep each student under constant surveillance and so do my colleagues. There are no private spaces for children; there is no private time. Class change lasts 300 seconds to keep promiscuous fraternization at low levels. Students are encouraged to tattle on each other, even to tattle on their parents. Of course I encourage parents to file their own child’s waywardness, too. I assign “homework” so that this surveillance extends into the household, where students might otherwise use the time to learn something unauthorized, perhaps from a father or mother, or by apprenticing to some wiser person in the neighborhood.

…

It only takes about 50 contact hours to transmit basic literacy and math skills well enough that kids can be self-teachers from then on. The cry for “basic skills” practice is a smokescreen behind which schools pre-empt the time of children for twelve years and teach them the six lessons I’ve just taught you.

…

It is the great triumph of schooling that among even the best of my fellow teachers, and among even the best parents, there is only a small number who can imagine a different way to do things. Yet only a very few lifetimes ago things were different in the United States: originality and variety were common currency; our freedom from regimentation made us the miracle of the world; social class boundaries were relatively easy to cross; our citizenry was marvelously confident, inventive, and able to do many things independently, to think for themselves. We were something, all by ourselves, as individuals.

…

In every important material respect our nation is self-sufficient. If we gained a non-material philosophy that found meaning where it is genuinely located — in families, friends, the passage of seasons, in nature, in simple ceremonies and rituals, in curiosity, generosity, compassion, and service to others, in a decent independence and privacy — then we would be truly self-sufficient.

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Look again at the six lessons of school. This is training for permanent underclasses, people who are to be deprived forever of finding the center of their own special genius. And it is training shaken loose from its original logic: to regulate the poor. Since the 1920s the growth of the well-articulated school bureaucracy, and the less visible growth of a horde of industries that profit from schooling exactly as it is, have enlarged schooling’s original grasp to seize the sons and daughters of the middle class.

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With lessons like the ones I teach day after day, is it any wonder we have the national crisis we face today? Young people indifferent to the adult world and to the future; indifferent to almost everything except the diversion of toys and violence? Rich or poor, schoolchildren cannot concentrate on anything for very long. They have a poor sense of time past and to come; they are mistrustful of intimacy (like the children of divorce they really are); they hate solitude, are cruel, materialistic, dependent, passive, violent, timid in the face of the unexpected, addicted to distraction.

…

“Critical thinking” is a term we hear frequently these days as a form of training which will herald a new day in mass schooling. It certainly will, if it ever happens. No common school that actually dared teach the use of dialectic, heuristic, and other tools of free minds could last a year without being torn to pieces

…

All the pathologies we’ve considered come about in large measure because the lessons of school prevent children from keeping important appointments with themselves and their families, to learn lessons in self-motivation, perseverance, self-reliance, courage, dignity and love — and, of course, lessons in service to others, which are among the key lessons of home life. Thirty years ago these things could still be learned in the time left after school. But television has eaten most of that time, and a combination of television and the stresses peculiar to two-income or single-parent families have swallowed up most of what used to be family time. Our kids have no time left to grow up fully human, and only thin-soil wastelands to do it in.

…

School is like starting life with a 12-year jail sentence in which bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I should know.

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Obviously, Mr. Gatto has some discussion to tie his thoughts together. I’ve just included some for thought provoking consideration. He also discusses some of the history of where and why we have the system we have today.

Because of our personal situation, we have employed a sort of hybrid homeschool. In my next blog, I’ll talk about our situation and how, even in a “good school” the points Gatto makes shows true. Lest you leave depressed, Gatto offers a solution which will be in the next post. Stay tuned.

Company: Veritas Press

Site: http://www.veritaspress.com/

Mission: Provide Classical Christian Educational Products to Home School market. Seeks to provide the best materials possible and to be a blessing to their customers.

1) Would you characterize Veritas as a publisher or distributor?

R: Marlin gave a brief history of his business, which I always love hearing how people got started. In brief, he started with a concept of part-time, small, single curriculum “History and Bible” while he was in real estate. This ended up migrating into full school coverage with self created products and other courses. They entered this stage with 2 commitments. First they would not market at home school fairs – too time consuming, expensive, and away from family. Second, they would only provide best products to suit their market and that they would create products. [ed. He and his wife build excellent products]. He wants to stay as a publisher because a distributor only depends on others for products. By providing select products from other sources and their own materials, it is harder for someone to step in and directly compete. This dual function provides value to his customer base. Veritas is currently moving into more services like online live courses which they have been providing for 4 years. They’ve grown up from just 32 students in the first year (as a trial) to a fully fledged offering now.

1b) What excites you about directions you’re headed?

R: Vertias is just starting an “asynchronous online course” and sees one day having a complete school available this way. It is very expensive and time consuming to develop, but they maintain control over content and quality. Marlin sees education as a whole moving online.

2) What is your biggest issue?

R: Capital to develop what he wants (see online above). Even if someone plopped capital on table he would need the talent to create what he wants as new products. It is difficult to delegate a project like this and still maintain quality of offerings [ed. Also I get impression he really likes and gains enthusiasm from the creative process. ] He feels his hands on approach has kept the bar high in terms of quality of product (clean, easy to use, content, etc) and in meeting the goal of high level and intellectual education with success in students learning at this level.

3) What consumes the most time?

R: Perfecting his golf swing – his self described smart-alecky answer. [I think it shows that enjoying life takes a priority in his balance between business and other aspects of life.] For business, he says he does the things he likes. He enjoys reconciling the accounts from the bank. He enjoys planning and development of new products and marketing. He likes to add new products like Omnibus. He spends the least time on operations – he has a great VP and feels the best way he helps the VP is to stay out of the way.

4) Thing you do that has biggest impact on ROI?

R: Not unexpected – he said product development and marketing. Marlin also said that profit is not his driving factor. He does indeed wish to make a profit but not at the expense of everything else or at any expense. He liked doing real estate but feels his work now has intrinsic value [ed. His cause is obviously educating the next generation and wishes to leave a legacy in that respect].

5) What keeps you up at night?

R: Nothing. Goes to bed early and sleeps well. He feels it is important to be able to do that. Obviously sometimes life events will intervene but in general we should strive to be rested. He feels it is necessary for an entrepreneur to be able to know what they can control and to worry only about the things they can control when they can control them. [ed. I get a sense that he turns over the things that are out of his control to God. He never mentioned God directly but this is just a sense you get speaking to him. Peace is a fruit of the spirit.]

6) Is there any product or service you are looking for? (I added other than the development of the online courses because we had spoken about it.) Is there an XYZ that you wish you could get your hands on?

R: He said he likes to develop his own products and knows he needs talented help to do so. He’s been very fortunate to be able to work with the folks he has. Veritas will always also sell products produced by others so finding those is always a good thing. He said students are ready for subjects a lot sooner than current curriculums give them credit for. Many students can handle more difficult subject matter – we have too low educational expectations of students. He is excited about the marriage of the tech world with good books.

I came away with the impression (as if my opinion matters) that Marlin is a well grounded, spiritual man with his head screwed on right. He is the kind of man that you really like to see succeed and the country needs more of. I encourage you to check out Veritas Press and keep an eye on them in the future. In the end, it was a very pleasant discussion and Marlin was very gracious with his time and information. All the nerves were for nothing.

Some are curiosity – What’s that like? How do the kids do? Etc.

Some are interest – How do balance multiple grade levels? Can you homeschool if you haven’t finished college yourself (We have a cousin who just finished homeschooling her son through high school and she has no college experience. She also has enough challenges in life to take away almost any excuse. He is heading to college himself while running a very successful computer repair business). Do you think we could do it? How did you get started?

Some are well meaning (but usually un-informed) – What about social interaction? Won’t the kids be bored (like sitting in a classroom is the most interesting thing a young child – esp. male – can do)?

Some are even mean-spirited general comments like – “All the home school kids we know are abnormal / ill-behaved / [fill you favorite insult]”. Of course, we give proper consideration to comments like these and generally say a short prayer for the speaker (and asking forgiveness for the word we just used to describe them).

Yesterday the comment we got back was … “I’m glad that’s you and not me” – really a variation of better you than me. I honestly don’t believe this person was in any way trying to be mean. No ugly words from yours truly even.  I have to ask – why? Why would you not want to spend the best part of your and your child’s day together? Do you understand how exciting it is when your child has the “ah-ha” light go on for something they were trying to understand and you’re there? Do you know how contagious their excitement for life is? Why would you be glad to surrender the incredible relationship we have with our children? Even as young teenagers we don’t get all the “normal” rebellion. Do you know how cool it is to have your 14 year old think you’re still cool? Of course they don’t or they wouldn’t say it.

The other comment we get so often is “I would never have the patience to school at home”. What? Do you really realize what you’re saying? That you don’t have the patience to be with your children all day? That you can’t teach your children? That someone who is paid a salary (way too low for the precious responsibility they have) will have more patience with the needs and foibles of your child than you could? Can you say Ritalin for behavior? This is your flesh, but their job. I’m not trying to be mean – I know some teachers for the school system that do a great job, but it is still their job. I firmly believe that as parents we have the direct responsibility for raising and educating our children and that, in the end, we will be held to that responsibility. We must teach them to be adults and instruct them in faith – if not they don’t stand a chance and society will suffer (maybe we’re seeing some of that now). Whether we step up to the plate directly or not, our kids watch everything we do (more than we even think they do – ask them to do a skit where they parody you one night – you will be surprised how much of you they know). We are our children’s teachers. To say we won’t take the patience to do it is a cop out. Of course it is a valid option to choose to send your child to a school or to homeschool or some other situation, but the responsibility stays with the parent. All parenting requires patience in abundance.

Of course in the interest of not directly hurting someone’s feelings, I never say all of that directly. These thoughts just swirl in my head. Generally, the person saying “better you” or “I don’t have the patience” is usually looking for a convenient excuse to move the conversation to the next topic (or maybe they are just trying not to hurt my feelings with their real thoughts).  I usually say something like “Oh it’s great” and “you really could do it too”.  What I really want to say is “Yeah – better me …”

Going into IEM, I think I was most concerned about the Entrepreneurial series of all the scheduled classes. The whole entrepreneurial process seemed a mystery that certain gurus had discovered but us mere mortals would never really fully get. I knew that “real” entrepreneurs didn’t just build business plans and documents and file paper with the Gov. (though I figured they had to do some of that). There is a spark of something there that goes beyond the administration (like leadership – it’s something you know when you experience it, but it’s hard to put your finger on). I figured that spark would be difficult to teach so (based on past university / academia experience), I figured this class would be the admin stuff. Truly the heart of the series, as it has been run for us, is that it focused on the spark not the admin.

We are all graduate students … um clients… and without fail all successful in other studies and in life. I know I don’t always feel that way but if we step back everyone in class is a success story and darned smart too. I suspect the same thing could be said about anyone considering these classes. We have the capacity to figure out how to write a business plan or file Gov paper work. At the very least, we know how to find out who knows how to do that stuff.

I’m grateful that this series took the harder road – even when some of the assignments seemed ambiguous – by definition they have to be because each person is different and in effect this series is trying to pull out each person’s spark. It takes time to do that. It is a good move to start in the summer and continue over into the fall giving 6 months for us to focus on what we want out of life (and as any good coach does – force us to focus even when it is difficult). Sports’ training is really the same thing over and over each day and not always comfortable, but you get better inside and out each time you do it. Relationships are also built day by day. It is a fact of life – living is uncomfortable but vastly rewarding. Being an entrepreneur is not just building a new company but is having a different lens to look at life through. Regaining / discovering that lens is the greatest (unexpected) value I gained form this series.

As for specific tasks, the single hardest part and best part is developing a “business” plan for my personal situation in the ME INC project. After that, I really liked seeing examples like Patrick Cash showing that mortal humans can do it by just plugging away a little at a time. I also gained greatly from the funnel analysis as a way to organize the idea evaluation into product process. Finally, hearing about what you discovered during your business coaching experience really gives insight into the closed door world. Things like what CEOs really look for, how they think, what VC’s are really looking for, what really matters, social media and marketing, etc.

I really think the re-vamped series hit the mark.

Codex.wordpress.org – this is not a tool but a reference resource for doing anything with WP.

WP-sIFR – style your headlines using different fonts – SEO and print still see regular HTML but browser displays nice font. link resourse: sifrgenerator.com

ALL-IN-ONE-SEO; SEO SLUG; YARPP; SOCIABLE; GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS – Search Engine Optimazation tools

Analytics360 – analytic tool – duh

wp_query – add custom content to site

Flutter – the ultimate (a few of the presentations hit this one) custom content manager – add hooks to databases and custom fields and content.

My page order (also a my category order plug) – set pages to show on menu in your order as opposed to alpha.

Page sidebar – html on side bar

cformsII – contact manager – with email etc.

wp_shop == $50 but best shopping cart with links to payment etc.

FeedSmith – hook to Google’s feedburner which allows you to add subscribers and feed your posts to them via multiple channels (RSS, email, etc).

exec-php – code in posts, pages and text widget

Map-press – allows maps in your posts / sidebar

Artisteer.com – not a plug in but a full tools for creating themes for WP, Joomla, Drupal, Blogger, Dot Net Nuke, or static page.

Powerpress – PodCast ability to WP. Some tools for creating a pod cast would be a good mic and software like -griffinitalk; Audacity; garageBands; Adobe Soundbooth

For the record I did not find these on my own. These are all gleaned from the wonderful presentations by the experts at the WordCamp. As I learn more about WP, I will use these notes as a basis for further research. One other take away – if you are trying to do something in WP and it doesn’t seem easy to do – there is a good chance someone has written a plug in to handle it for you. If you find any good ones, please let us know.