For this year’s year-end roundtable (YERT), we have six guests and friends of the podcast, each with a different view on education to have a discussion on homeschooling in 2021.
Our guests are Abby Cleckner, Kerry Baldwin, Jordan, Nathan Moon, and Chris and Karin Polk, most of who grew up attending public schools. A few of the pannel are, or have been, teachers both within and outside of the public school system. A couple of them currently offer training or courses to adults about how to think for themselves, skills they feel they see as lacking in current public curriculums.
In this episode, we ask questions like, are schools are a training ground for compliant citizens who will pull whatever lever they are told without question? Does the system set teachers and students up to struggle?
Most of the panel currently homeschool their children and view it as the only real way to protect their family values and provide an education tailored to their specific childs’ interests.
They also discuss how formal education influences people’s understandings and perspectives on how the world works, in terms of politics and social structures in society. If our public school system was created to make a compliant labor force, with no desire to question the system or learn on their own, then we must encourage our children to pursue their personal interests, to learn how to think and enable them to with the tools to do it themselves.
Control of our children’s education starts at home. Homeschooling might seem like an impossible dream but, especially in the last couple of years, families of every background have found a way, and there are endless resources for innumerable methods to teach the next generation.
Timestamps:
00:49 Announcements for 2022
New Bad Roman sponsorship program
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New co-host
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4:08 Guest introductions
Jordan
Grew up at public school in West Texas
Has a teaching certificate in Texas
Left public schools for so many reasons
Now teaches at a university model homeschool group
Kerry Baldwin
Teacher of the Socratic Method
Homeschool Parent
Three kids
Divorced mom
Works from home
Homeschooled as a kid
Before it was legal in New Mexico
“I like to say that my education was born from civil disobedience.”
Socratic method
AKA inquiry-based learning
Courses available for middle school on up
For both students and teachers leading students through the method
Register for summer here
Karin Polk
Grew up in public school
Stay-at-home parent
Homeschooling all three kids starting 11 years ago
Chris Polk
Grew up in public school
Claims homeschooled status for himself now because he’s learning so much with his kids
It’s like doing school over again, but actually learning something
Had a good experience in public school
Most families at their church homeschooled, so they did too
Taught in a public school
Only lasted a year
Abby Cleckner
Went to public school
K-college
Moved a lot
Had a terrible experience when she put her kids in
Switched to a magnet, but then moved to rural area without one
Lets her older kids decide where to go to school
Homeschools the younger ones
Older ones have chosen to stay in public
“Homeschooling is teaching them to be self-directed and make their own decisions and use their own logic to figure things out. And so, in that vein, I feel like it's not my place to force them into what kind of schooling.”
13:28 Why are people ignorant in 2021?
Why don't they understand how our governmental system works?
Didn't we learn that in public school?
They actually cut civics classes out of school in the 90’s
But it's not only young people who don't understand
Perhaps people are just so focused on their favorite news anchor that they don't remember facts
Like that an executive order from the president can't override state law, thanks to the 10th Amendment
Homeschool Community has grown dramatically since COVID
New truckers come to Chris because they want freedom, but they've never learned to think for themselves
They never really learned to comprehend what they're reading or do basic math for themselves
If they previously worked for a big corporation, all they know is how to do what they're told
His students get so frustrated when he won't just give them the answer
It's the same at school as in corporations
Sit down. Shut up. And do (or learn) what I tell you.
Prussian model of “Just pull the lever”. You don't have to know why
Schools don't care if you're learning
You cannot be held back when you fail; you will still graduate to the next level “for social reasons”
So many kids wind up graduating from high school with maybe a fifth-grade-level education because they were not required to pass their classes
What can they be successful at?
Pulling a lever
Teachers are likely to care, but they're held back by the administration
That is why so many teachers are also leaving public schools
Schools don't communicate with parents
There was a kid who had passed a total of 3 classes in all of high school, and his parents didn't find out until the school informed them that he wasn't graduating at the end of his senior year
24:24 Why are teachers leaving public schools?
From a behavioral standpoint, if you take an underpaid overworked position and pile more work on it, people are going to want to escape that position
Teachers do many hours of extra work outside the classroom during the summer and at home during the school year
The average secondary school teacher has about 120 students they are solely responsible for teaching in their subject
No support from parents
Lots of red tape from admin
That's why teachers are always so excited for summer
COVID brought very different expectations to the position
Tons of extra work
So, we have a teacher shortage
If a student is willing to take advanced classes, they might get a decent education
Schools often hire people who don't have a teaching degree as long as they are in school to finish that degree
“Almost anyone can be a teacher. All you have to do is just find the Craigslist ad and dust off your transcripts. But that doesn't mean that you're a good teacher.” -Nathan
“A lot of parents are pulling their kids from public education because they're realizing they're not receiving systematic instruction, they're receiving systematic indoctrination.” -Nathan
Teachers are also realizing this and are unwilling to participate
Teachers almost never quit because they don't like teaching or because of the children
It’s the policies they have to follow
This disaster started in the 1800's when we changed our education system
Suddenly, professionals/the state were responsible for teaching our children rather than their parents
It contributes to the breakdown of the family
Parents don't know how their kids are doing in school
Teachers watch the children failing, and are tied down by policies that prevent them from intervening
32:18 The roles of students and teachers
“When we talk about education, we are talking about what the adults are doing for the kids, but. We're not talking about what the kids are doing in order to learn. And this is, I think, a mistake.” -Kerry
Students’ interest is essential
Even the greatest teacher cannot teach students who don't care about the subject
Teachers: architects or gardeners?
Architects build a very specific product
This is what public schools want teachers to be
Gardners feed and tend to their plants, which will not come out looking identical
Provide the environment; it's up to the plants to grow
Whose responsibility is it to make the school look good?
“Administrators and bureaucrats put a ton of pressure on teachers, teachers, in turn, put a ton of pressure on kids and parents, parents put a ton of pressure on kids and kids are carrying the education systems on their backs.” -Kerry
“Education is learning how to learn so that you can teach yourself whatever it is that you want to teach yourself.” -Kerry
It isn’t learning a bunch of facts
It's learning why those facts are important
Parents aren't going to know everything, so it's important the kids know how to learn on their own or alongside their parent
41:13 Curriculum
A curriculum that worked well for one kid is not likely to work well for all of them
Don't expect to use the same one for all of your children
We cannot recommend a curriculum that will work well for every child
Many new homeschool parents seek to replicate public school at home
Everyone gets burned out
The parents feel like failures
Breathe and just go with what they're interested in.
They will learn naturally
“Keep it simple, Stupid.” -Chris
43:35 How has education influenced what we've seen happening these last couple years?
Public schools don't teach how to analyze a text
People have not been critically reading the articles they consume
They don't know how to tell what information is important and how to apply it to their life
Even a lot of homeschool curriculum is just filling in bubbles with the right information
Instead of bullet points and boring charts, information should be narrative
That's what humans naturally are; that's how we've always learned
When kids are learning about their personal interests, they learn a lot more quickly and in-depth than when a tired teacher is trying to reach 30 students who don't want to be there every day
Kids also need more time to play and learn that way
Developmentally, they simply cannot be expected to sit still for 8 hours every day with only two 15-minute breaks
Actually, adults shouldn't be expected to do that either!
Homeschoolers can go as in-depth on a topic if they want
They’ll learn more than just the public school propaganda:
This bad thing happened in history, but America swooped in and saved the day. The end.
If a student wants to learn more about a topic or keep reading, that's seen as a problem, and they “need to learn to work on their transitions”; to comply with the system better
Kids aren't allowed to enjoy learning, so they quit trying
They're rewarded for pulling the lever, not for exploring why the lever is there
Learning is not encouraged; compliance is
MAGA makes sense when you think of the public school history propaganda
We all learned that, especially back in the 40s and 50s, America solved all the world's problems and was a prosperous nation
“They're too dumb to know they're dumb” -Jordan
But now schools have swung away from this teaching
Changed to: America is the worst. White people are the worst.
The only way you'll have control over what your children learn and the values instilled in their brains is to home-school them
A lot of people think there's no way they can homeschool their kids
They are losing free babysitting
There’s the pressure to succeed that comes from government requirements for teachers, schools, and students
But the lesson time takes half as long
All types of parents have found a way to succeed
If you know the Socratic method, you can learn even from the most terrible, one-sided curriculum
Because you’ll know how to ask the right questions
Media represented by talking heads who were taught what to think
But there are exciting technologies coming
Like blockchain
We can get ourselves and our kids ahead of the game by learning about it while most students are busy being indoctrinated
1:10:07 Options for homeschooling
University Model
Kids go into a small school 2 or 3 days a week
The other days, they are at home doing their homework
Or at least find a co-op of other parents who can support your journey
YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO TEACH YOUR CHILD
There are so many tools available for all different styles of learning
We don't need the Department of Education
They were only established in the 70s
Our education system would probably improve if they went under because everyone would be homeschooling
It's actually unconstitutional and should never have existed
1:14:03 Final Thoughts & Where to Connect with our Guest
Nathan
Homeschooling is possible for your family. You can find a way
Even if you don't do it, do take a greater interest in your child's education
Take the initiative
Children can send submissions here, and I’ll post them
Chris
We should get disgruntled teachers to open little schools
Jordan
You can't do it wrong
If you're considering changing your child's schooling, you clearly love them and want what's best for them
Follow your gut
They are your child, given to you because you would know how to care for them
Kerry
Abby
The homeschool community continues to grow exponentially
Even people who are fans of the public school system have criticisms
COVID regulations have made schools into literal prisons
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