The Importance of Being Mother & 3 Reasons Why No One Can Replace You

On Motherhood.

Maternal Instinct

The motherhood of mammals has a divine quality to it. It’s the quality of an unconditional desire to protect our young. Elephants have it, bears have it, and even platypuses have it. It’s called a “maternal” instinct, which science is now busy trying to disprove, at least in human mothers. 

Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind.
— Howard W Hunt

I’ve noticed in studying the animal kingdom that when a mother, such as an elephant, is traumatized, it can reject its young, but this is rare. Under normal healthy circumstances, the maternal instinct is alive and thriving. We will do anything in our power to protect our offspring.

There is an unforgettable scene in the Greek play Alcestis when the father and mother of Admetus refuse to give up their lives to save their son, even though they are old,

Admetus, in turn, states that they are not his birth parents. If they were, they would have forfeited their lives to save their child.

Yes, we will do even that.

Maternal Intuition

When we are intimately bound through our bodies to a child for nine months, a deep connection develops, and the maternal intuition arguably develops through that connection.

Most of us can sense when something is right or wrong, but as a mother, that intuitive sense extends to our babies. We feel their impending danger as if it were our own.

Any mother will tell you how many times she suddenly had the urge to immediately stop what she was doing and check on her child, who was just about to hurt himself.

A mother’s instinct is an inherent life preservation system for her offspring.

Compassion

What children develop when we care for them, especially breastfeeding and carrying our young, is compassion. 

Our legislators ask big questions today, such as, “Why are Americans so violent?” Well, has anybody in our government stopped to question our attitudes towards motherhood and our subsequent treatment of our children?

We hardly offer maternity leave for mothers who need to work, and we promote this idea that women only have a “life” if they work. Hence, too many mothers are under pressure to put their young ones into daycares and preschools, sometimes as early as two weeks old!

Who is showing these children compassion when their mother is absent? And this is no criticism on mothers; I was a working mother. It’s a criticism of a society that undervalues the importance of motherhood.

And besides, being a mother is having a life; it’s a beautiful and meaningful life. 

An ounce of motherhood is worth a pound of clergy.
— Rudyard Kipling

Dr. Stuart Brown, a play expert, said that he studied compassion and found that African people were more compassionate than Western people. He attributed this to African mothers carrying their babies on their backs until the babies could walk.

Elephants keep their offspring beside them for the first ten years. The more developed the brain, the longer the mammalian offspring will stay with its mother. 

We Are Raising the Next Generation

Is there a more important job than that of being a mother? Traditionally, we raise our young to grow up to lean either on the side of good or bad character.

Our children are with us more than anyone else during their early years. We are helping them form and develop their emotional foundation for life. We are teaching them how to become a civilized human being.

Give me a child before he is seven, and I will show you the man.
— Aristotle

They love us, and they look up to us, and we have their attention. When we establish a healthy balance between love and authority, our children will learn to obey us.

When they obey us, we can teach them right from wrong and how to be polite, kind, considerate human being who cares about the well-being of others.

Of course, this is assuming we are all of these things!

No one is perfect, but we do our best to improve ourselves and to provide a good role model for our children knowing that in our children's eyes, we are God-like. 

It is we who are raising the next generation; and it is too critical of a role to leave it to anybody else. 

As you can see from the above, there are more than 3 reasons for why no one can replace you!

☞ Disclaimer: This is not a politically-correct blog.

Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should 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 original online course, Raise Your Child to Thrive in Life and Excel in Learning.

When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will guide you in homeschooling with the classics for superior intellectual and character development.

As a homeschooler, you will feel confident knowing you have the guidance and support you need to homeschool successfully.

Would you like to teach your child to read? Learn more about Elizabeth's unique course, How to Teach Your Child to Read and Raise a Child Who Loves to Read.

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, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

She has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

10 Foolproof Ways to Convince Your Spouse (or Anyone) to Homeschool

If your husband or wife’s mind is already set against homeschooling, you have to approach the situation very gingerly. It’s not wise to push our views on someone, least of all a spouse.  

It is time that we squarely face the fact that institutional schoolteaching is destructive to children.
— John Taylor Gatto

Usually when a spouse doesn’t agree with homeschooling, it’s because he doesn’t understand what John Taylor Gatto refers to as "the dangers of public school."

The Conversation

But you can start the conversation by asking your spouse a question, such as, "What are your hopes and goals for our children’s education?"

You have now opened the channels for him to let you know his hopes and goals in a non-threatening way. As he shares these with you, listen for his concerns too.

Once you’ve got a friendly discussion going, approach the subject of homeschooling.

If you were to consider homeschooling, would he have any objections or concerns? If so, what would those be?

The Objections

The typical objections to homeschooling are the following:

  • The children will be academically behind and fail to get into a reputable college.

  • Homeschooled kids lack good social skills.

  • Homeschooled children don’t have any friends.

  • You aren’t qualified to homeschool unless you’re an accredited teacher.

  • You aren’t qualified to homeschool unless you have a college degree.

Maybe your husband doesn't know any homeschoolers and the idea sounds too fantastic to him?

Keep in mind that your spouse wants what is best for his children just as much as you do.

The Persuasion

Whatever his objections are, you want to take note and ask him if he would be open to watching some videos on the subject, looking at some research, or even reading some books together.

If you keep the conversation neutral and show a genuine interest in his views and concerns, most reasonable husbands will oblige their wives. 

Now, here comes the tricky part: you will need to provide him with information that is sound and relevant.

No need to panic though because we have you covered. You can download our free resource list to convince anyone about the merits of homeschooling.

The list will provide you with 10 resources to educate your husband (or anyone) about the the many problems with public school and why homeschooling is the best option today. 

This resource is also helpful if you have family members or friends who are strongly opposed to homeschooling.

Grab your free download here: 10 Resources to Convince Anyone About the Merits of Homeschooling.

Once someone truly understands what is fundamentally wrong with public school, it is near impossible to put a child into it unless the person has no other choice.

Some Cautionary Advice

Be careful about taking the attitude of proving your spouse wrong. No one likes to be proven wrong, and trying to show your spouse that you were right will not help your cause. 

Instead, you want to humble yourself and be gentle in the way you handle the situation.

Go slowly.

When someone has a fixed opinion, it’s prudent to allow time for that person to shift into a new mindset.

Start early by educating your spouse when your children are young.

By the time they are ready to go to school, hopefully, you'll both be excited about homeschooling! 

School is a twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I should know.
— John Taylor Gatto

Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.

Become a Smart Homeschooler to raise smart, ethical, and critically-thinking children. Join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course and feel secure knowing that you have what you need to homeschool successfully as well as live ongoing support from Elizabeth.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with our online course, Raise Your Child Well to Thrive in Life and Excel in Learning.

Elizabeth Y. Hanson is an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and a Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach with 20+ years of experience working in children’s education.

Utilizing her unusual skill set, coupled with her unique combination of mentors, Elizabeth has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child. She devotes her time to helping parents get it right.

☞ Disclaimer: This is not a politically-correct blog.

5 Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Curiosity

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A friend showed me a clip of her nine-month-old baby.

I looked into the baby's eyes as I watched the video. The intense alertness that I witnessed, the acute observation of each facial move she saw in her mother's face, was fascinating.

The baby wanted to know how to make the same expressions her mother was making.

It's the intense desire to know that all healthy children possess, yet what happens to their curiosity as they grow a little older?

Why do so many children forsake that infinite sense of wonder that’s so innate to each of us? 

No thief, however skillful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire.
— L. Frank Baum

One of the reasons for this is because too many children start school at young ages. By the time they reach kindergarten or first grade, the light of curiosity begins to dim.

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Think about it. If your child has a small shovel in his hand, but every time he tries to shovel something his teacher tells him to stop, he will eventually stop picking the shovel up.

When a child cannot follow the lead of his curiosity, or is not in an environment where he can exercise his desire to know, he will put his curiosity on the shelf.

Yet, the level of his curiosity is related to his intelligence. The more curious he is, the more he will exercise his mind to discover or learn something. To lose his curiosity would be a tragedy because it means he would never fully develop into all that he can be.

We cannot let this happen! Therefore, if you want to encourage your child’s natural curiosity, whether it has been dimmed or not, here are five things you can do:

  1. If you have to put your child into an outside program, look for a daycare or preschool that is play-based and ideally held in the outdoors, such as a Forest School. Make sure they are operated by people who understand what children need at these tender ages.

  2. Do not entertain your child! It is not that you don't ever play with your child, but only that you do not become his full-time playmate. Allow him to follow the dictates of his curiosity and figure things out for himself, so he develops his mind. Children are little scientists by nature. In the right environment, they will learn how to entertain themselves. 

  3. Be curious yourself. Take your child into the outdoors and explore with him. Let him walk barefoot on fallen leaves and dip his feet into spring water to awaken his senses. Bring his attention to the songs of birds and the rustling of the trees as the wind blows through them. Collect a bug or two and read about them when you get home.

  4. Immediately remove all screens from your child's life both inside and outside the home. Under no circumstances should you hand him your cell phone to quiet him because you are busy. Screens are a cause of a dimming curiosity; not only that but they will thwart your child's brain development

  5. Lastly, if you can, don't put your child into any school programs until he is at least ten years old. Until then, teach him yourself because so many learning problems take root during those early years. The first few grades of elementary school are easy to teach when you know what you are doing

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Here’s a thought: our ability to excel, to become the best version of ourselves, begins with our desire to know.

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.
— Benjamin Franklin

Let’s work to keep our children’s curiosity alive—even if that means teaching them ourselves— so they can become all that they can be.

☞ Disclaimer: This is not a politically-correct blog.

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, Elizabeth will guide you in homeschooling with the classics to raise brighter and more creative children.

Enroll using the link below and feel confident knowing you have the guidance and support you need to homeschool successfully.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s original 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, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

She has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

*****

“Elizabeth has given us counseling and guidance to help us succeed with our home school planning. When I feel overwhelmed, scared, or lose my confidence, she offers words of wisdom and support.”

— Sherry B., Pittsburg, PA

5 Facts You Should Know About Virtual Homeschools

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The number of “homeschooling” students learning online has grown exponentially during the past decade, and it’s been no accident.

The US government has contracted private businesses such as K-12 to provide an online education for your child. And virtual schools are nothing less than capitalistic enterprises with marketing budgets large enough to convince you that virtual schools are best.

BUT ARE THEY?

There is overwhelming evidence that virtual schools provide a sub-par education.

THE FACTS

1) One need not look very far to find the evidence. Consider this: 54.6% of virtual high school students graduate within four years compared with 85% of high school students nationally, according to the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulder.

But even if virtual schools did provide a good education, what effect does online learning have on a child’s social and emotional development?

Social Development

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2) A lack of proper social development is a matter that should concern us tremendously. To develop excellent social skills, one must socialize.

To put your child in front of a computer all day, and expect that he'll grow up to be a socially-adept person is wishful thinking. 

It would be like confining a child to a playpen and expecting him to learn how to run.

Daniel Goleman first pointed out in the 1990s that emotional intelligence, which includes good social skills, is vitally important to a person's ability to do well in life.

People with high EQ tend to function better in their personal and professional relationships leading to less stress and greater happiness. Let us not forget that personal relationships also include the parent / child relationship.

Ancient philosophers understood the importance of emotional intelligence, and many modern studies have confirmed Goleman’s findings.

Even if we had no studies, we have our common sense. 

Screen Addiction

3) Another oversight by us is the idea that a child can study at a computer all day and not develop the habit of using the computer. What we do every day becomes our habits and forms who we are.

Who do you think will be at a higher risk for gaming or internet addictions: the child who plays sports, reads, and has an active social life or the child who spends a large part of his day in front of a computer?

We want our children to form good habits when they are young, so they grow up to live good lives.

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 The Virtual Teacher

4) What about the role the teacher plays in the child's learning process? A good teacher inspires a student to love the subject, and a good teacher motivates a child to work harder.

A good teacher influences a child to become a better student because the teacher develops a meaningful relationship with the child.

How can a computer screen with a teacher staring at you from the other end be a replacement for a teacher in the room? Can the image of you in a mirror ever replace you? Both have a real person behind them, but there is only one real person in the room. 

Health Problems

5) Sitting in front of a computer all day causes health problems. Adults suffer all sorts of ailments from time spent in front of computers such as musculoskeletal injuries, headaches, poor vision, inability to focus, obesity, cardiovascular illnesses, and declining memories.

Why do we ignore the potential health risks for our children when they are in even more need of physical activity than we are?

Here are only 3 health issues we should consider, but there are more.

a. Myopia

Children who use the computer are at higher risk for developing myopia (nearsightedness), according to researchers. In the past few decades, as computer use has become more and more common for children, so has the necessity for reading glasses.

(Too early reading may cause this too.)

Myopia when young can lead to eye diseases long before a person is old. Sadly, myopia in students increased significantly during Covid when many young children were in front of computers and continue to be today.

b. Effects on Posture

Posture is also a problem because sitting at the computer causes us to slouch forward and tilt our heads back, which can lead to headaches, muscle strain, and chronic neck and back problems.

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c. Obesity

Obesity amongst children has become a significant concern amongst pediatricians because of the physical and psychological health problems that accompany it like heart disease, musculoskeletal issues, and a lack of self-esteem, to name a few. 

The Alternative

We have this idea that only "accredited" teachers can teach, but there isn't a proposition more ludicrous than this one.

As parents, we are always teaching our children.

Rather than using the virtual schools riddled with so many unwanted side-effects, why not homeschool your children with real books instead? 

Learning from real books and a real teacher is more engaging, more fascinating, and more rewarding which will lead to overall better academic success.

Remove the computers, and your homeschool will become a place of constant social interaction with everyone in the family, naturally leading to closer families too.

It’s a win / win.

☞ Disclaimer: This is not a politically-correct blog.

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, Elizabeth will guide you in homeschooling with the classics to raise brighter and more creative children.

Enroll using the link below and feel confident knowing you have the guidance and support you need to homeschool successfully.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s original 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, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

She has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

*****

“Elizabeth has given us counseling and guidance to help us succeed with our home school planning. When I feel overwhelmed, scared, or lose my confidence, she offers words of wisdom and support.”

— Sherry B., Pittsburg, PA

Are You Educated Enough to Homeschool?

As women, we tend to think we are not enough just the way we are. Add homeschooling into the mix and our list of not enough now includes neither smart nor educated enough to homeschool.

The thought of homeschooling conjures up fears that we may fail, we may disappoint our families, and, worst of all, we may hinder our children's chances of success.

We wonder how other homeschooling moms do it?

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The truth is that even if you didn’t go to college, you could still succeed at homeschooling if you put your mind to it.

What follows is my defense that any well-intended parent—with the right understanding and the right tools—can do a better job educating her children than public school.

I'm Not Smart Enough, Nor Educated Enough

To this, I would ask, who is? My father was in the category of truly learned men of the 20th century, and he never considered himself educated. My father's position used to baffle me until one day I understood that the more you know, the more you can comprehend how little you know.

It’s an irony of life that the most simple questions contain the greatest mysteries.

Most homeschooling parents went through public school and did not start out with a good education.

However, it is never too late to correct this problem.

The good news is that when you homeschool, you will correct it by developing your mind alongside your children. Becoming more intellectually savvy is a by product of homeschooling.

So is developing your brain to a greater degree.

We used to think the brain became fixed at a certain age and didn’t change after that other than to decline as you aged, but neuroscientists have shown that this isn't true. The brain continues to wire itself which is why homeschooling also keeps our brains nimble. 

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When you have conversations with homeschooling moms, you'll find that they usually have a lot of general knowledge (if they do not have their kids in virtual schools). This is because the more children they have, the more they teach, and, therefore, the more general knowledge they gain—without even trying.

And don’t forget that we have many brilliant self-taught people in our history including William Blake, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mark Twain, The Wright Brothers, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Karl Marx, and Frederick Douglass, to name a few.

We are so well-trained to believe in the magic paper one receives upon college graduation, that we forget most famous people in Western history were self-taught to some degree.

Libraries raised me. I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.
— Ray Bradbury, author

Even without a college education, you will still do a better job homeschooling your children than the public school system can do. In fact, if you have no college education, your kids may have a better chance of excelling academically if you homeschool them.

The reason for this is that parents with less education will not be able to help their children with homework, and these children will fall behind in school. Once the children fall behind, they begin to do poorly in school, putting them on a negative academic trajectory.

There were no significant differences in children’s SAT scores based on the education level of their parents. Mothers who had not completed high school were able to teach their children just as effectively as mothers with college degrees.
— NHERI

When you homeschool your children, you will have the books on hand to understand the material yourself, and you will make sure your child understands it before he moves onto the next lesson. He will not be under pressure to keep up with his classmates which will help him focus better and learn more.

What parent wants their child shuffled through a system where after 12 years of schooling, the child is still unprepared to do well in life?

Children learn what they live. Put kids in a class and they will live out their lives in an invisible cage, isolated from their chance at community; interrupt kids with bells and horns all the time and they will learn that nothing is important or worth finishing; ridicule them and they will retreat from human association; shame them and they will find a hundred ways to get even. The habits taught in large-scale organizations are deadly.
— John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down

One last thing, don’t forget that you are the person who loves your child the most and cares most about your child’s future. How can anyone else ever trump that?

So please, please, please do not let a feeling of intellectual inferiority stop you from homeschooling!

You will rise to the occasion and become a better educated person yourself because you were a homeschooler. 

And your children will have a solid foundation upon which to build the rest of the lives.

☞ Disclaimer: This is not a politically-correct blog.

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, Elizabeth will guide you in homeschooling with the classics to raise brighter and more creative children.

Enroll using the link below and feel confident knowing you have the guidance and support you need to homeschool successfully.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s original 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, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

She has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

*****

“Elizabeth has given us counseling and guidance to help us succeed with our home school planning. When I feel overwhelmed, scared, or lose my confidence, she offers words of wisdom and support.”

— Sherry B., Pittsburg, PA

The Six Purposes of Schooling by John Taylor Gatto

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When people ask me why I homeschooled, I tell them I had no choice. If they knew what I know about public education, they would homeschool too.

John Taylor Gatto was the man who opened my eyes to the nefarious agenda behind institutionalized schooling. What follows is a transcription of the key section from John’s classic speech and opus, The Underground History of American Education.

John was a brilliant and well-researched man. I have read what is below in Ingles’ book myself; it is all true.   

Transcription of John’s Talk

“I have something here.  I have the six purposes of schooling [from the book Principles of Secondary Education by Alexander James Inglis] as laid down in 1917 by the man whom Harvard named their Honor Lecture in Education for. 

So far from being a fringe individual, this guy is the reason the Harvard Honor Lecture in Education is named as it is:  The Inglis Lecture.  I would like to read you the six purposes of schooling.  I moved heaven and earth as it took years to find this book [Principles of Secondary Education]--just like trying to find in past years a copy of the Carol Quigley [book] Tragedy and Hope.  

I learned about Inglis from a twenty year President of Harvard [1933-1953], James Bryant Conant, who was a poison gas specialist in World War I--and was in the very inner circle of the Atomic Bomb Project in World War II--was High Commissioner of Occupied Germany after the War. 

So he [James Bryant Conant] wrote--there must be 20 books about the institution of schooling--of which he was completely a proponent.  And he is a very, very bad writer.  I forced myself to read most of these books, and one of them he says that if you really want to know what school is about, you need to pick up the book that I’m referring to Principles of Secondary Education

Two years it took me to find a copy of the book [Principles of Secondary Education by Alexander James Inglis]--750 pages, tiny print and as dull as your imagination can be.  And furthermore, it is not till you get to the very middle of the book--in an unlabelled section--that he spills the beans.  Let me spill them for you.  

 There are six purposes, or functions, as he calls them.  The first he [Alexander Inglis] calls the Adjustive Function: Schools are to establish fixed habits of reaction to authority.  That’s their main purpose--habits and reactions to authority. 

That is why school authorities don’t tear their hair out when somebody exposes that the Atomic Bomb wasn’t dropped on Korea, as a history book in the 1990s printed by Scott Foresman [did], and why each of these books has hundreds of substantive errors.  Learning isn’t the reason the texts are distributed.  

The Adjustive Function

So, first is the Adjustive Function--fixed habits.  Now here comes the wonderful insight that being able to analyze the detail will give you.  How can you establish whether someone has successfully developed this Automatic Reaction because people have a proclivity when they are given sensible orders to follow. 

That is not what they want to teach.  The only way you can measure this is to give stupid orders and people automatically follow those.  Now you have achieved Function #1.  

The Integrating Function

Have you ever ever wondered why some of the foolish things that schools do or allow to continue?  [Function] #2, he [Inglis] calls it the Integrating Function, but it is easier to understand if you call it the Conformity Function. 

It’s to make children alike as possible--the gifted children and the stupid--alike as possible because market research uses statistical sampling, and it only works if people react generally the same way.  

The Directive Function

The Third Function he calls the Directive Function: School is to diagnose your proper social role and then log the evidence that here is where you are on the Great Pyramid, so that future people won’t allow you to escape that compartment.  

The Differentiating Function

 The Fourth Function is the Differentiating Function.  Because once you have diagnosed the kids in this layer, you do not want them to learn anything that the higher layers are learning.  So you teach just as far as the requirement of that layer.  

The Selective Function

 Number five and six are the creepiest of all!  Number 5 is the Selective Function.  What that means is what Darwin meant by natural selection: You are assessing the breeding quality of each individual kid.  You’re doing it structurally because school teachers don’t know this is happening. 

And you’re trying to use ways to prevent the poor stuff from breeding.  And those ways are hanging labels--humiliating labels--around their neck, encouraging the shallowness of thinking.

 I often wondered, because I came from a very very strict Scotish-Irish culture that never allowed you to leer at a girl.  But when I got to NYC, the boys were pawing the girls openly and there was no redress for the girls at all, except not showing up in the classroom--high absentee rates. 

Well, you are supposed to teach structurally that sexual pleasure is what you withdraw from a relationship and everything else is a waste of time and expensive.  

 So, the Selective Function is what Darwin meant by the favored races.  The idea is to consciously improve the breeding stock.  Schools are meant to tag the unfit with their inferiority by poor grades, remedial placement, and humiliation, so that their peers will accept them as inferior.  And the good breeding stock among the females will reject them as possible partners.  

The Propaedeutic Function

 And the Sixth is the creepiest of all! And I think it is partly what Tragedy and Hope is about--a fancy Roman name, the Propaedeutic Function.  Because as early as Roman bigtime thinkers, it was understood that to continue a social form required that some people be trained that they were the custodians of this.  So, some small fraction of the kids are being ready to take over the project. 

That’s the guy--the honor lecturer [Inglis], and it will not surprise you that his ancestors include the major-general of the siege of the Luknow of India--famous for tying the mutineers’ on the muzzle of the cannons and blowing them apart, or somebody who was forced to flee NYC, a churchman at the beginning of the American Revolution, because he wrote a refutation of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. 

They were going to tar and feather him.  He fled and was rewarded by the British by making him the Bishop of Nova Scotia.  Those are Inglis’ ancestors!  

 So, Al Inglis is certainly--when I learned of this and wrote to Harvard, asking for access to the Inglis Lecture.  Strike me dead, Lord, if I’m exaggerating at all.  I was told “We have no Inglis Lecture--hasn’t been for years, and we have no records. 

It was the same that happened when I discovered that Elwood B. Cubberly, the most influential schoolman of the 20th century and the bionomics genius had been the elementary school editor of Houghton Mifflin, and I wrote Houghton Mifflin--Is there any record? And they said, “We have no record of anyone named Elwood P. Cubberly. 

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Now Harvard is telling me, “There is no Inglis Lecture.  A week passed and I got a call from Harvard, from some obscure office at Harvard, saying “What is your interest in the Ingles Lecture?”  I knew that I was on thin ice. 

And I said, “Well, James Conant referred me in his books to the man the Inglis Lecture is named after, and I was just wondering if I could get some background on this fellow, and a list of the lectures.  

 And in due time, I got a list of the lectures and instructions [on] how to access the texts, but not easily. Enough hoops that someone who has to mow the lawn and burp the baby wouldn’t jump through those hoops.  I was able to prove Harper’s [magazine] wouldn’t publish [it in] the cover essay I wrote, which Lew Laflin [?] named Against School, but I had called The Artificial Extension of Childhood because I think that is the key mechanism at work here.  

 So, they wouldn’t print the information about Cubberley because Houghton Mifflin denied it.  It was only months after that I looked through my extensive library of incredibly dull books about schooling, and I opened [one]--and on the facing page said Elwood B. Cubberly, Editor and Chief of Elementary School, publishing arm of Houghton Mifflin. 

By the way, the secondary Editor and Chief was Alexander Ingles.  So you see how this cousinage works.” 

*****

Download your free copy of 10 Surprising Facts About Homeschooled Kids.

*Video transcribed by Roger Copple. To watch the full 12-minute video: The Six Purposes of Schooling [Video]

☞ Disclaimer: This is not a politically-correct blog.

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, Elizabeth will guide you in homeschooling with the classics to raise brighter and more creative children.

Enroll using the link below and feel confident knowing you have the guidance and support you need to homeschool successfully.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s original 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, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

She has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

*****

“Elizabeth has given us counseling and guidance to help us succeed with our home school planning. When I feel overwhelmed, scared, or lose my confidence, she offers words of wisdom and support.”

— Sherry B., Pittsburg, PA

A History Lesson For Your Kids on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is fun to learn about because we associate it with love.

Kids, with their innocent little hearts, may make Valentine's cards for their friends and parents, and Valentine's Day is also famous for romantic dinners on the town and proposals of marriage.

But you may be surprised to learn that Valentine's Day didn't begin as a holiday to celebrate love.

Early History

On the contrary, it began as a holiday to honor the martyred Christian saint, St. Valentine; and the celebration of St. Valentine dates back to the early Roman Empire!

There are various reasons for St. Valentine's martyrdom. However, there was more than one saint named St. Valentine, so it is unknown which St. Valentine our holiday is named after.

One reason given for a St. Valentine, who was martyred under the law of the Roman Emperor Aurelius in 273, is because this St. Valentine was illegally helping Christians escape persecution.

For centuries there was discord between the early Roman Empire and Christianity and even amongst various sects of Christianity within the Roman Empire.

The main point of contention between the Christian sects was whether or not Jesus was the son of God.

The Love Connection

The "love" connection to St. Valentine's Day possibly came from the unconditional love for Christ making one willing to die for him. This particular St. Valentine would undoubtedly fit into this category.

There was a tradition throughout the Empire that martyred saints had certain calendar days dedicated to them on which they remembered the martyred saint.

But there were so many martyred saints that by the time we reached the Middle Ages, there were enough saint holidays to fill every Day of the year!

St. Valentine's Day is first recorded as occurring on February 14th, as far back as the 8th century.

The supposition is that the influence of the "courtly" love of the Middle Ages, and the early spring mating of lovebirds, eventually morphed into a holiday for lovebirds.

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
— William. Shakespeare

England, of All Places

During the 18th century, in England, St. Valentine's Day became designated for people to express their love. You may hear some Americans today say something to the effect of, "It's just another Hallmark holiday created to make money!"

But the celebration of Valentine's Day for lovebirds precedes Hallmark cards. (However, the business became successful by introducing Valentine's Day and Christmas cards in the early part of the 20th century.)

Now considered more of a romantic holiday than a day to remember martyred saints, we still find churches that continue to celebrate St. Valentine's Day as a proper saint's festival, including the Church of England.

Changing Dates Around

But like the Christians would do in the Middle Ages, the churches today have moved the saint's celebration from February 14th to another date for convenience.

A fun question to ask your children is whether or not it was right to change the Saint’s day to another day because of our modern celebration of love on February 14th.

I’m sure they’ll come up with some amusing answers!

A Hallmark holiday, After All?

Given that we did change the saint’s day, does that mean Valentine’s Day has becomes a Hallmark holiday after all? If so, no worries. Handmade greeting cards are so much more memorable than Hallmark cards, anyway.

Now that your children know the origins of Valentine's Day, why not encourage them to make Valentine's Day cards for the people they love? If you have relatives who live out of town, they can even post their cards in the mail, serving as an act of kindness and a grammar lesson in addressing an envelope.

Homeschool Planning

If you're homeschooling and your kids make Valentine's Day cards, you will also cover an art, grammar, and history lesson.

Another thing you could do is to make Valentine’s Day cookies and have your children deliver them to your neighbors as a gesture of goodwill.

Since baking includes math, you have also covered a math lesson too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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, Elizabeth will guide you in homeschooling with the classics to raise brighter and more creative children.

Enroll using the link below and feel confident knowing you have the guidance and support you need to homeschool successfully.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s original 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, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

She has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

*****

“Elizabeth has given us counseling and guidance to help us succeed with our home school planning. When I feel overwhelmed, scared, or lose my confidence, she offers words of wisdom and support.”

— Sherry B., Pittsburg, PA

Are There Times When a Child Should Not Read a Book?

As an activist for helping parents raise good readers, you may be surprised to know that there are times when I think it is wrong for a child to read a book.

You see, there is an etiquette to reading just like there is an etiquette to everything in life: there’s a time to read and a time not to read.

Fortunately, unlike table manners, there are only two reading rules your child needs to learn.

THE RULES

Rule #1.

Books should never come to the dinner table or any other table where food is present. When you eat, you eat; when you read, you read.

It is uncivil to read a book at the dinner table. Meal times are a time for pleasant conversations and showing an interest in what others have to say, which is virtually impossible to do while reading.

Out of respect for books, children (nor adults) should ever eat while reading. You don't want to soil the books with food. It’s also a bad habit to eat while reading because it can lead to unwanted weight gain.

Rule #2.

Children should not read at social gatherings.  

I’ve seen children plop themselves and their books in a central position to the other guests as if to holler, "Look, I have something better to do than talk to all of you!"

The accomplishment of raising a good reader, which a parent does deserves to feel proud of, never justifies antisocial behavior.

I’m sure I’m not the only adult who’s had conversations with kids that go something like this:

"Hi, sweety, how are you?"

Child looks up uninterestedly.

“Fine."

Child’s head goes back into book.

"What are you reading?"

"A book."

While it's fabulous, marvelous and awesome that he is reading, his manners leave a lot to be desired.

This sort of behavior is a red flag that the parents are failing to teach their child right from wrong in matters of lasting significance.

I am always saying “Glad to’ve met you” to somebody I’m not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.
— J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Books, under no conditions whatsoever, are never more important than a living, breathing human being who needs or deserves your attention, and the reading of books should never give license to uncivil behavior.

It's not that a child can't ever take a book with him when he’s away from home. He can. He can bring a book on an airplane, a long drive, the doctor's office or to any other place where he might have to sit quietly for a long time, but never to a party!

Politeness [is] a sign of dignity, not subservience.
— Theodore Roosevelt

WHAT ABOUT SOCIALIZATION?

Engaging in social activities can be uncomfortable and awkward for young children, especially if they're shy. Hiding their face in a book is one way to avoid the awkwardness.

But it's not the right way.

The right thing to do and the thing most beneficial for your child is to let him face his shyness by engaging in conversation with others. Children do not develop good social skills in a vacuum, they learn them by socializing. In other words, through practice.

As Daniel Goleman demonstrates in his ground-breaking book, Emotional Intelligence, good social skills–which are predicated upon good manners–are the basis for just about everything in life that will make a person happy: a successful marriage, good relationships with one's children, long-term friendships, and a successful career.

And Goleman's research proves that there are even times when a child should not read a book!

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, Elizabeth will guide you in homeschooling with the classics to raise brighter and more creative children.

Enroll using the link below and feel confident knowing you have the guidance and support you need to homeschool successfully.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s original 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, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

She has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

*****

“Elizabeth has given us counseling and guidance to help us succeed with our home school planning. When I feel overwhelmed, scared, or lose my confidence, she offers words of wisdom and support.”

— Sherry B., Pittsburg, PA

One Tweak to Your Home Could Increase Your Child’s IQ

We can blame the failed public school system for its dumbed-down curriculum.

But we cannot blame it for the dumbing-down of our children’s minds that’s occurring in our own homes!

We are a part of the problem.

If you want to do something proactive to reverse the dumbing down of your children, it’s simple: throw out the television set (and all forms of screen-use for your kids). It will be one of the kindest things you can do for them.

At least get the screens out of sight until they are older.

Children need to be engaged in real life experiences and spend at least some of their time reading real books. Reading, by itself, will strengthen your children’s intellects.

What the Science Says

Psychologist, David F. Marks, believes that literacy levels directly affect our IQ scores based on his research. I agree with him based on common sense, no research needed.

Scientist have determined that we can increase our intelligence, and reading is one of the ways we can do. this.

Would our literacy rates increase if we all took our televisions outside and smashed them? Yes, I believe they would.

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If demolishing the television leads to more reading, and more reading leads to higher levels of literacy, and higher levels of literacy leads to higher IQ’s; well, there you have it.

Therefore, unless you want to compete with the public schools for the dumbing-down of your children (and I know you don’t!), give your home a little tweak. Remove the trance-inducing screens and give your kids a book to read instead.

Another Option

Here’s another option for you: tell your children to grab their coats and shoes and go outside until dinner time. The key word is “tell”.

You are not giving your kids an option; you are commanding them to go outside. It’s not a mean thing to do; it’s actually kind. The outdoors will benefit your children and stimulate their imagination and creativity.

What’s mean is providing 70% of American children with a television in their rooms.

Wise are the parents who set boundaries for their children so the children can learn how to occupy themselves in ways that will serve them well in life.

Educational Programs

But there are educational programs on television, you say? It doesn’t matter. It’s the passive, mind-numbing act of watching television instead of the brain-developing activities that makes the difference,

The world is a fascinating place, but television’s youth today are not fascinated by it. They’re bored by real life. It’s not fast enough. It’s not exciting enough. It’s not crude, silly, or bloody enough.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
— William Blake

The truth is that the lives of real men and women are fascinating. You can observe them, you can read about them, and you can live a fascinating life yourself.

Nothing you watch on television will ever beat what happens in real life with its infinite supply of comedy and tragedy; it’s unknown mysteries and endless surprises.

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow stronger.
— W. B. Yeats

A dependence on screens, however, can obstruct us from seeing the wonder of our majestic world and the noble potential of the human being.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

So be kind to your children and throw out the television.

If you can’t throw it out, at least ban it to some obscure corner that’s safely out of their view.

If they don’t see it; they won’t think about it.

If it is in sight, watching television will compete with everything else your children do in their leisure time. If they don’t establish good habits when they are young, the television will always win their attention.

After they are a little older, when they’ve developed a reading habit, you can let them watch something once a week. A little weekly dose will safely stave off the “forbidden apple” syndrome, but make sure they have established a good reading habit first.

It’s all about the habits. The results are in the habits.

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, Elizabeth will guide you in homeschooling with the classics to raise brighter and more creative children.

Enroll using the link below and feel confident knowing you have the guidance and support you need to homeschool successfully.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s original 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, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

She has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

*****

“Elizabeth has given us counseling and guidance to help us succeed with our home school planning. When I feel overwhelmed, scared, or lose my confidence, she offers words of wisdom and support.”

— Sherry B., Pittsburg, PA

How to Build the Pursuit of Excellence into Your Homeschool Plan

How to Build the Pursuit of Excellence into Your Homeschool Plan

Public school promotes mediocrity; as homeschoolers, we want our kids to excel.

Therefore, establishing concrete goals is a part of every successful homeschooler’s plan. And whatever educational goals you set, it is vital that you create the steps for your child to reach these goals.

Read More