Children come into this world curious and ready to learn. They have just enough hearing and sight to kickstart the wiring of their brain.
They are born to know. Literally.
It's a profound characteristic because it begs the question, know what? And in that lies the secret to life.
If the desire to know is how we tackle the mysteries of life, including who we are, why we are here, and where we are going, then shouldn't we protect our children's desire to know at whatever cost?
Shouldn't it be our #1 priority? I take the position that it should be which begs another question: Well, how do we do that?
One of the ways we do it is by not putting our children into school because, ironically, schools will kill our children's curiosity and love of learning.
John Taylor Gatto, an award-winning teacher and author of the best seller, Dumbing Us Down, said that schools are dangerous places for kids. That was his conclusion after teaching for 30 years.
And John was right.
1. The Confining of the Child's Mind
Children are taken out of the home and put into schools at far too early ages. Even Harvard studies show that children do not benefit from early education.
Instead of feeling safe and loved while exploring, moving, and exercising their curiosity and desire to know, children are put into organized programs where they are confined to a classroom and told what to do and when to do it.
The cuter the classroom, the more deceptive are the dangers of school.
What we know through research is that children enter preschool with their curiosity intact (as long as they are coming from the home and not from two or three years spent in daycare).
Somewhere around kindergarten and first grade, their curiosity begins to wane. That little light in their mind begins to dim.
The curious child learns that school is a place where you sit still and listen. Too many questions are not encouraged; and he learns to be quiet.
The more he suppresses his desire to know, the more dwarfed his curiosity becomes.
“The children are teach have almost no curiosity, and what little they do have is transitory. ”
It's like a Bonsai plant. When you clip the child's curiosity, his mind is hindered from growing.
As a school teacher has 30 other children to contend with, she can’t handle a lot of questions because she needs to stick to her schedule and get on with the day's lessons.
While it isn’t the teachers’ fault, the child quickly learns that his desire to know is not socially acceptable in the classroom.
2. Failure to Read
Most children are taught to read before they are developmentally ready. While some kids can manage, some can't, and some will even fail.
The children who struggle will begin to think they are not very smart, and their self-esteem will decline and their confidence will grow weak.
If school is where they go to learn things, then they conclude that they’d rather not learn anything. At least then they will not have to suffer through the frustration and embarrassment of not being able to keep up with the rest of the class.
3. Textbooks that Kill
Have you ever read a real science or history book, one that wasn't a textbook? It's a totally different experience because science and history are fascinating subjects, and if the author is a good writer, you won't be able to put the book down.
But we don't teach our children with well-written books in school. We bore them to death by imposing textbook learning on them, replete with the endless list of proscribed questions
I hated science and history in school. Juxtapose that to my homeschooled children who read quality science and history books for fun, and you'll begin to see the problem.
“The children I teach are ahistorical; they have no understanding of how the past has predestinated their own present, limits their choices, shapes their values and lives.”
Put a child into school, hand him a textbook, and threaten him with a test; and you are about to destroy any interest he had in that subject.
4. The Tricky Test
And let's not forget the exams. After reading the boring textbook, a child now has to have an exam on something he was completely uninterested in.
Not only that, but he has to guess what questions the teacher might ask, so he can memorize the answers.
And how much information will a child retain? Probably not as much as he would have if he had been interested in the subject. And he will proceed to forget most of it once the exam is over.
5. The Reward and the Punishment
And then come the grades. It doesn't matter if a child does well or he does poorly because he has studied for an exam, not for the joy of learning.
Whether he is rewarded with an “A” or punished with a “D”, he still loses.
Schools are dangerous places for kids because they destroy the one quality it takes to get a real education; the desire to know.
The Crisis in Education
We are in a crisis in education, and we have been for a long time. There is nothing to reform, because the system never worked.
As long as education is in the hands of the government, an education will never be had.
Children received a real education when the parents were in charge of the schools, prior to the 1850's and before the government introduced mass schooling.
Before then, America's parents dictated what their children learned, how they learned, and when they learned. They even dictated who they would learn from.
Fortunately, American’s have retained the right to educate their own and educating our own is exactly what we need to do.
“That certified teaching experts like me are deemed necessary to make learning happen is a fraud and a scam.”
Unless you want the government's dumbed down version of an education for your children, you will need to keep them out of school.
At home, you can preserve their love of learning and desire to know about the things that will matter to them in life.
And, following sound principles and methods, you can give them a stellar education.
Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.
When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Liz will share her 6-step framework to raise children of higher intelligence, critical thinking, and of better character.
As a homeschooler, you will never have to worry about failing your children, because working with Liz, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated. She also provides you with the tools and support you need to homeschool successfully.
Teach your child to read before sending him to school! Learn more about Elizabeth's unique course, How to Teach Your Child to Read and Raise a Child Who Loves to Read.
For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s singular online course, Raise Your Child to Thrive in Life and Excel in Learning.
Elizabeth Y. Hanson is a homeschooling thought-leader and the founder of Smart Homeschooler.
As an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach, she has 21+ years of experience working in education.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, based on tradition and modern research, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.
Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.
"I know Elizabeth Y. Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”
—John Taylor Gatto Distinguished educator, public speaker, and best-selling author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
