Breaking Out of the Education "Box" and Finding Freedom

Breaking Out of the Education "Box" and Finding Freedom

August 24, 1999

Like a sixth sense, Americans know that it is back-to-school time. Having grown up with the reality of compulsory schooling, we feel instinctively comfortable with the notion of our children, aged 5-18, leaving us 180 days a year for 7 hours a day. We rarely question the validity of this system that we have come to accept as American as apple pie.

The idea of children going to a local government-owned building to spend their days away from their families has not been around all that long in America—barely a century. Up until the late 1800’s, children were educated at home, at church, or in a neighbor’s house (called Dame schools). Think about the famous men who pre-date compulsory government schooling—Ben Franklin, Abe Lincoln, George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt. What these historical figures shared in common was curiosity, a desire for learning, independent thinking, and a love of freedom.

On the contrary, when one examines the origins of the public school system in America, one runs into Dewey, Owen, Mann, and the Carnegie Foundation. These figures represented a socialist mind-set, a desire to use compulsory schooling not only as a vehicle for imparting limited academic knowledge, but as an instrument for shaping the minds of America’s children toward the acceptance of socialist ideology.

Those of us who’ve turned to home schooling our children have seen our ideas about education change drastically. Most of our expectations of school were based solely on what we ourselves had experienced. It took awhile to deconstruct these embedded assumptions of what "school" should be, but as I became more immersed in the educating of my children, those preconceptions fell away.

I began to see outside "the box." In doing so, I was soon able to understand how an unquestioning loyalty to a government-run institution, which has the capability of destroying free thought and innovation, could cost us our freedom.

How? It is hard to identify the freedom-destroying aspects of traditional schooling while wrapped up in the day to day activities at a school. Once leaving the school system, just having the space to think and the freedom to create new ways of teaching naturally leads to a questioning of the status quo.

Think about it. Schools are a collection of small rooms where a pseudo-family is created. The "family" sits in small groups, and these peers become the pseudo "siblings." The teacher, or pseudo "mother," facilitates various government-directed "themes" into their "learning" using state-approved books. There are extra-curricular activities designed to keep the children happy while in this home away from home, as they have their minds shaped to the federally mandated plan called Goals 2000. Every moment is controlled by the "parents" through bells, whistles and crowd control techniques.

What happens to most children as they progress through the grade levels? They lose their spirit, their zeal for learning. Somehow it gets squashed within the confines of those government buildings and that government curriculum. As a result, they become more peer-controlled as they lose interest in academics. Classroom "group encounters" (aka group therapy), focusing on the kids’ psychological health, sex education, and group "values" replace knowledge-based learning.

Dichotomously, the home school setting is a place of safety, creativity, and love. This type of setting naturally fosters a love of learning and free expression with real family members who truly care about each other. Curriculum is tailored to each child’s interests and strengths—and to the family’s values, not the governments.

As a home school teacher, I’ve infused my personal loyalty to the concept of freedom into our lessons, emphasizing the importance of the Declaration of Independence and such figures as Patrick Henry. In addition, in order to encourage entrepreneurism in my kids, I have had them create business plans, complete with market research, floor plans, logo design, business cards and brochures.

When teaching them about famous artists, instead of having them mass produce a copy of a famous work (ie ‘Meet the Masters’ art programs), I teach them the techniques of the artist and we find a setting where they can create their own masterpieces using those techniques.

Breaking the mold of "schooling" is difficult at first, so deep are its roots. But home school parents are key to redefining education to something both constructive and healthy. Home schooled children are learning in freedom. They may always be the minority, but they will be the individual thinkers, the freedom lovers, the truly educated. They will have spent more time with their parents and grandparents and more time away from the influences of our jaded culture. They will, most likely, be more grounded in their faith in God, and more resistant to peer pressures as a result.

The concept of home schooling is not progressive as much as it is regressive—back to our nation’s beginnings when true innovation and love for freedom were the impetus for greatness. Dare to knock down the walls of "the box" and find that greatness in your kids.

Eileen Spatz is the mother of three children whom she now home schools. Because of extreme disappointment in her children's public school, she was motivated to became active in researching and writing about educational issues (since 1994). Although Spatz identifies problems such as questionable teaching philosophies (outcome based education) and faddish pedagogy (new new math and whole language) as serious problems in today's public schools, her emphasis these past four years has been on exposing the disturbing federal education bills (Goals 2000 and School-to-Work) which were signed into law in March 1994.

By informing the public through her writings, which appear in The Orange County Register, the LA Times, The Washington Post, and Investor's Business Daily, she is hoping to encourage other parents to take control of their children’s' education. In addition to newspaper columns, she has appeared on cable television specials regarding education, and is currently contributing to a book on the subject.

Several of Eileen's essays can be accessed at PrestonSpeed Publications.

Eileen lives with her husband, Mark, and kids (Chelsea, 12; Christopher, 10; and Sammi, 6) in San Clemente, CA.

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