Unexpected challenges will happen, and how we handle them will make all the difference.
Read MoreThe Productive Mother's Homeschooling Routine→
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We know the hours can easily disappear when we don't have a schedule in place for our day, especially when homeschooling.
“Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives you a 1,000 percent Return on Energy!”
To reach your new homeschool year’s goals, you want to set your days up for success.
Otherwise, you’ll feel overwhelmed and exhausted scrambling to get everything done after you’ve run out of time. In other words, you won’t get it done.
It happened to me, and it’ll happen to you too if you don’t watch out!
One way to be more productive during the day is to create a morning routine.
HOW TO PLAN YOUR MORNING
Planning your morning is a matter of working backwards, starting with the night before. You have to decide what time you will go to sleep, so you get enough sleep to wake up at the optimal time to perform your morning routine.
As a mother of two, the morning hours were important to me as they are probably important to you. Waking up an hour or so before your children will give you a less harried start on the day.
To create your morning routine, you have to first decide what are the important things you want to do as a part of your routine.
Whatever you decide, write your schedule down on paper so you can see it in front of you. Pin it to the wall or wherever you want to put it to remind yourself of each step. You want to follow a certain order too, so your routine becomes a habit you don’t have to think about.
After coffee, you read for 30 minutes; after reading, you go for a 30-minute walk and so forth.
The things you write down will be your morning ritual. It’s sounds so simple, but it will have a huge impact on how much you get done. Planning a routine is also a proactive strategy which will serve to keep your stress levels down as well.
But it doesn’t stop there, not when you have kids!
THE OFFSPRING RITUAL
You want to follow your morning ritual with what I call the Offspring ritual.
Teach your children to get into the habit of getting up at a certain hour each day and performing their morning ritual. Maybe they start their day by brushing their teeth and then chatting with you for 10 or 15 minutes to reconnect after a good night’s sleep.
After a good chat, they run off to get dressed, put their dirty clothes in the hamper, make their beds, and come in for breakfast at a designated time.
(Eating on a schedule is much better for your children’s health than eating at random meal times.)
Depending on how you set things up, you can prepare breakfast while they are getting ready or you can enjoy another cup of coffee and wait for them to help you prepare it.
After a relaxed breakfast, the children clean up while you get ready to teach And that’s why we also need a homeschool ritual.
After you finish eating breakfast with your children, you will head to your homeschool room and examine your plan for the day and prepare to teach your children.
Once your mind is in gear for teaching, you can ring your school bell!
THE HOMESCHOOLING RITUAL
A general rule is to teach your most essential subjects first, the ones that if there were an interruption to your day, you could still relax knowing you'd gotten those finished.
Language arts and math for the morning hours work well.
Give your children 2-minute breaks when they begin to get restless, so they can stretch, run around the block, or jump on a trampoline. Getting a good dose of oxygen into their brains will replenish their thinking energy.
You want to schedule a long lunchtime break when they can eat and then go outside and play for a while.
Let the morning hours be the more intense hours of study, and in the afternoon you can take it easy. Read some history, do a science experiment, or read a story out loud. Some days you may have outings planned with other homeschoolers.
Always make sure you children have enough some time to read or pursue their hobbies; practice an instrument, do some artwork, or play a sport.
On the days when you stay home, try to finish homeschooling around the same time each day, so everyone has leisure time before dinner including, and most importantly, yourself!
Final Reminders
If you create a schedule and adhere to it, you will prevent your day from slipping right past you. Otherwise you’ll find that too many times the afternoon has rolled around, and you have barely made it past grammar.
“Excellence / Perfection is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends.”
The key to your success with keeping a routine is to keep in mind that we are not perfect beings and some days we will falter in our plan. We don’t tell ourselves we are hopeless at sticking to a plan, as this will reinforce that behavior.
Instead we get up the next day with a new intention, and we start all over again. Eventually, we will get better and discover the freedom and ease that comes with keeping to a plan not to mention more productive homeschooling days!
Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.
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.
When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will make homeschooling manageable for you. She’ll guide you in helping your kids reach their intellectual potential and developing good character.
As a homeschooler, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated knowing you have the tools and support you need to homeschool successfully.
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.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, she devotes her time to helping parents 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
Raising Stellar Kids Begins With Our Habits!→
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We impact our children’s character development every single day through our own behavior.
Yet, we don’t stop often enough to reflect upon the messages we send our children through our words and actions — even the expressions on our face.
For example, a common habit which we all have today is spending time on our phones around our children.
The typical scenario looks like this: We’re texting a friend or maybe we’re surfing the web when the child asks for something. We reply by telling him to wait as we continue looking at our screen.
The child begins to whine, and we mumble to him that we’ll be there in a second. But we’re not there in a second.
The message a child gets is that the phone is more important than he is.
“Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.”
— Phyllis Diller
Those two minutes we intend to spend on the phone can add up to hours in a day, and the hours in a day, over time, can add up to weeks and so on and so on.
To put things in perspective, in 2023, the average person will spend 3.15 hours on their phone every day; 12.6 hours per week; 50.4 hours per month; 604.8 hours per year.
You can see what a strong message we give our kids when we take a “quick” glance at our phones.
In addition, our kids will probably grow up to repeat the same pattern with their children. Don’t you find yourself repeating patterns that were once your parents?
I’m not suggesting we should cater to our child’s every whim, only that we should be diligent in the way we show up for our kids.
We can replace the smartphone with any bad habit, such as, eating junk food or eating too much; not exercising, using bad language, not keeping our word, gossiping, telling too many “white” lies, or working too much.
Our bad habits become examples for our children, so if we want to raise our kids well, we have to start by working on ourselves.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ”
— Aristotle
Raising kids above the fold takes a combination of factors and one of these factors is our own habits.
We need to reflect on our habits because it’s easy to go through life oblivious to things that seem inconsequential at the moment, but with time they become lessons we teach our children, for better or for worse.
Let’s take inventory of our habits; the things we think, say, and do — are they messages that will serve us and serve our children well over time?
If not, let’s work to replace those bad habits with good habits.
Start with one bad habit, conquer it, and then choose another. To try and tackle many bad habits at once would be to invite defeat. One step at a time in replacing the bad with the good while we adopt better habits for ourselves.
Be specific with ourselves about precisely what bad habit we are replacing with what good habit, so every time we find ourselves falling back into the bad one, we can quickly self-correct by replacing it with the good habit.
It’s not until our children are older and have developed their own habits, values, and beliefs that we come face-to-face with our own shortcomings.
We’ll naturally become more effective parents if we become aware of the little things we do that add up to the big lessons we teach.
Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.
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.
When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will make homeschooling manageable for you. She’ll guide you in helping your kids reach their intellectual potential and developing good character.
As a homeschooler, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated knowing you have the tools and support you need to homeschool successfully.
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.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, she devotes her time to helping parents 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
What Key Trait Do Independent Thinkers Possess?→
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It's easy to adorn oneself according to the latest fad, but it’s not so easy to stand in one’s truth when it goes against mob rule.
Learning to think and act independently requires courage: the courage to do what's right and just even in the face of ridicule, the loss of friends, or a loss of income.
John Taylor Gatto was an excellent example. He quit teaching when he was in his 60s, because he discovered that schools were causing more harm to children than good.
As a public schoolteacher, he believed that he was a part of the problem.
John sent an op-ed to the Wall Street Journal and announced his decision to quit teaching in schools. When you are a couple of years away from retirement and a pension plan, it takes a lot of courage to walk away.
“Character is higher than intellect.”
Sporting purple hair and nose rings is not a sign of an independent character. People who dye their hair crazy colors and fill their bodies with tattoos and rings are following a group-think fad in spite of their belief to the contrary.
We should teach our children to dress well and to conform to outward standards of propriety but to be nonconforming in their attitudes, beliefs and values.
Because the greater independence of the mind is not manifest outwardly; it's an inward state.
To raise our children to be independent in mind, we need to foster courage in their characters.
People often mistake courage for the absence of fear, but the absence of fear can lead to rashness. Courage is not an absence of fear, but the ability to act in spite of one’s fear.
For example, my children performed at piano recitals, recited poetry to small audiences, and attended public speaking classes. Through these kind of activities, they learned to develop their courage muscle.
Permitting your child to run into a local grocery store alone, to climb a tree, or to ride a bike for the first time are all activities that will strengthen his courage.
Every day there will be opportunities to let our children strengthen their courage.
As we know from Aristotle, and as we can observe in our own lives, our daily habits add up to the quality of our characters.
Children like to challenge themselves, and we need to encourage them to do so. The more they learn to face challenges in spite of the difficulty or discomfort, the more courage they develop.
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
Having courage will also help to preserve their moral integrity, because having moral integrity requires us to stand in our truth both privately and in public.
Someone once told me that I needed to develop a “public” persona. In other words, I should have two selves; one for the public and one for my private life.
But I believe the goal is to have one self.
As Shakespeare said in Hamlet:
“This above all: To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.
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.
When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will make homeschooling manageable for you. She’ll guide you in helping your kids reach their intellectual potential and developing good character.
As a homeschooler, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated knowing you have the tools and support you need to homeschool successfully.
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.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, she devotes her time to helping parents 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
4 Strategies to Raise Low-Tech Kids Who Excel Academically and Socially→
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We are now raising kids in a cultural environment that is not conducive to developing good social skills or well-trained minds.
Your biggest obstacle to raising solid kids today is technology. You will first need to understand just a little about how technology affects the growing brain, and then I’ll share my 3 strategies for raising kids who excel socially and academically.
Your Child’s Precious Brain Cells
Did you know your child is born with about 100 billion brain cells and that these cells make trillions of connections with one another during his first three years of life?
And did you know that those very connections form the foundation of his intelligence?
Yet, because of the overuse of technology, too many children are not receiving adequate stimulation during the pre-adolescent years which inhibits the formation of new neural pathways.
On top of that, if they don’t sufficiently use the pathways they have formed; the unused pathways will be sloughed off at adolescence.
“Technology: ‘the knack of so arranging the world that we don’t have to experience it.”
Simply put, despite the generous pediatric recommendations, if your child is in the habit of using technology, chances are there may be some delays and possible disruption to his developmental processes.
I am going to be blunt with you: if your child is using technology, he may not become as intelligent as a child who has a tech-free childhood. It is the obvious conclusion when you understand how technology affects the growing brain.
What Can A Parent Do?
With our children being targeted by educational software companies, and with the gaming industry's enormously powerful lobby, navigating a world with less technology does require some effort.
It is possible and you can do it, however, you must be intentional if you want to raise an intelligent, ethical, critically-thinking child.
There are 4 things you can do which will protect your child mind, and by default, make your life easier. .
Strategy #1: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
The first action you can take is to remember that your children will not ask for technology if they don't see you using it or see it in the home.
Therefore, out of sight, out of mind.
Host your television and computer in your bedroom and / or office, and, for the most part, keep yourself unplugged during the time that you spend with your children.
As far as your home is concerned, it's really that simple.
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
Strategy #2: Going Against the Grain
When you visit friends, don't be shy to let them know that you are raising your children in a low-tech zone and that you prefer your children play with their kids rather than plugin together.
After all, that’s why you brought them over—to play together.
When it comes to our children's well-being, we have to stand up for what is best for them, even if we get slack from others.
We have to remind ourselves that our child’s well-being is more important to us than what others think about our choices.
Fortunately, most intelligent and reasonable parents will respect your request. (If they don't, you may want to question the value of their friendship.)
Strategy #3: The Forbidden Apple Syndrome
Here is the crux of the matter, though: You absolutely must find like-minded family and friends to raise your children with.
You cannot be the only parent to say "no" to technology; otherwise, technology is exactly what your child will seek out the minute he leaves home. We call it the Forbidden Apple syndrome.
If you don’t find like-minded friends, your children will see you as the odd parent who doesn’t like technology.
“If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.”
Underneath this new attitude towards you will be one of disrespect. It's the curse of raising kids in the West where mainstream practices are not often what’s best for our children.
What if you can’t find like-minded friends? The sad answer is that you will probably have to compromise a little to avoid the Forbidden Apple syndrome.
#4 Homeschool Your Kids
When you homeschool your children, it is much easier to keep them off screens. As a homeschooler, you will hopefully raise strong readers, and strong readers excel academically.
Instead of giving your kids screens, you will give them real books.
Your child will develop better social skills by being homeschooled, too. He will not be exposed to the negative social environment so prevalent in schools today. Instead, you will raise him to have good manners and teach him how to get along with other people.
Good social skills are much easier to develop if a child is being homeschooled. It has been studied and proven to be true.
Therefore, keep your kids off of screens!
It must follow, as the night, the day,* they will do better academically and socially.
A line from Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.
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.
When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will make homeschooling manageable for you. She’ll guide you in helping your kids reach their intellectual potential and developing good character.
As a homeschooler, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated knowing you have the tools and support you need to homeschool successfully.
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.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, she devotes her time to helping parents 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
The Secret to Raising Grateful Children→
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"No matter what I do, it never seems to be enough!" is a typical complaint from your average 21st-century parent.
While parents are understandably frustrated, they're little ones are growing up to become entitled adults.
Common strategies employed to battle the empidemic of ingratitude are not working either. The Sermon is a perfect example of a strategy that has failed us.
THE SERMON
We lecture our kids to be grateful for what they have, and our lectures fall on deaf ears. They have no idea what we are talking about. For the most part, they always had what they need and gotten what they wanted.
And even if they hadn’t, poor character traits are not conquered by lecturing and “ingratitude” is a poor character trait.
Better not to let the trait develop in the first place!
“Take full account of what Excellencies you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not.”
— Marcus Aurelius
THE SECRET
The secret, therefore, to teaching your children to appreciate the things you provide for them is to raise them to be minimalists. The less they have, the more appreciative they'll be when you give them more.
The less often you indulge them with their wants, the less they'll come to expect them. When you do give your children a want, they'll be grateful, and they won't forget to say thank you.
The words of true gratitude will come roaring out of them, no prodding needed.
A minimalist philosophy isn't restricted to material goods either. You can apply it to all aspects of your children’s lives by saying “no” to them more than you say “yes.”
John Rosemond calls it Vitamin N. It's not that you want to become a contrarian and rigidly oppose everything your children ask for, but raise them to understand that their wants are not your primary concern.
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
— A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
Provide your children with the things they need for emotional, physical, spiritual, and intellectual growth, but raise them to understand that the goal of your life is not to make them happy but to raise them well.
This isn't to say that you never accommodate a want of theirs, but don't make it a habit to indulge them too much.
What’s the rule?!
It’s simple: say no 75% of the time and say yes 25% of the time. If you practice this ratio of yes to no’s, you’ll see the gratitude scale climb steadily in your home.
A golden parenting rule to remember is that you aren't responsible for making your children happy; that’s up to them to figure out.
And they’ll discover the secret to happiness much faster if you indulge them less.
Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.
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.
When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will make homeschooling manageable for you. She’ll guide you in helping your kids reach their intellectual potential and developing good character.
As a homeschooler, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated knowing you have the tools and support you need to homeschool successfully.
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.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, she devotes her time to helping parents 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
5 Reasons Why Leisure Time Matters More than Extra-Curricular Activities
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We over schedule our children and fail to recognize the inherent harm in making extra-curricular activities a priority in our family's life.
Let's look at the consequences of hyper-scheduling our kids.
Stress levels increase for everyone
No one has time to discover the simple pleasures of life
Family time is compromised
Too Many Missed Family Meals
Exhaustion
Yet, our minds and our bodies crave and need downtime to relax and experience life at a slower pace. Our children's needs aren't any different.
Why Leisure Time Matters More
Hobbies
Children need leisure time to learn how to entertain themselves with hobbies like needlepoint, knitting, collecting stamps, or building model airplanes. Maybe they want to explore the outdoors or build something from scratch. Hobbies give us something to look forward to no matter how young or how old we are. During rough patches in life, our hobbies will keep us moving forward.
Social Skills
Leisure time also allows children to go outdoors and play with the neighborhood kids or visit a friend, both of which are crucial to developing good social skills.
“Time is a game played beautifully by children.”
Read a Book
And sometimes, like us, a child just wants to lie down and read a book. There are a lot of reasons why children don't read today, but one of them may be that they don’t have enough leisure time to develop the habit of reading.
Family Time
When each child has multiple extra-curricular activities, there's little time for shared activities as a family.
Your family time begins to revolve around extra-curricular activities; in other words, family life becomes less o a priority than extra-curricular activities.
Exhaustion
Some children need more downtime than others. The over-scheduling of their day can result in fatigue and a loss of enthusiasm. The underlying stress of having too much to do can make them irritable and unpleasant to be around.
We all know what it feels like to be exhausted!
Too Many Missed Family Meals
Often the extra-curricular activities take place in the evenings leaving no one home to cook or serve a family meal. Consequently, the family eats with dad while you rush Tommy to soccer practice.
We know the importance of family meals for children. The more family meals you share, the fewer problems your kids will have. Children need to feel emotionally connected to their family, and meal times is one of the critical ways in which they can connect.
According to research, having family meals at least 4 times a week lowers the risk of obesity, substance abuse, eating disorders, and an increased chance of graduating from high school.
Putting It into Perspective
What's more important at the end of the day?
When your children are grown will it be more important that your kids were in a lot of activities or that your family has a strong bond which keeps you together whether your kids live near you or not.
Instead of over-scheduling your children, in addition to their homeschooling subjects, which would include sports, let them take one class in something they enjoy doing. But don’t let their classes interfere with meal times or weekend activities.
And make sure your children have enough leisure time to figure out where their interests lie and what they're good at.
“If you are losing your leisure, look out! — It may be you are losing your soul.”
Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.
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.
When you join the Smart Homeschooler Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will make homeschooling manageable for you. She’ll guide you in helping your kids reach their intellectual potential and developing good character.
As a homeschooler, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated knowing you have the tools and support you need to homeschool successfully.
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.
Are We Setting Our Boys Up for Failure?→
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What is the first thing boys learn when they go to school?
Read MoreEven Harvard Says Young Children Do Not Need School!→
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Institutions like Harvard are catching on to what child developmental psychologist have been touting for many years:: schools are not the best place for young children.
Read MoreAvoid These 4 Mistakes if You Want to Raise a Child Who Reads→
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Why do we place so much value on reading as a culture but fail to raise a country of readers?
Read More5 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.”
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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
Are You Educated Enough to Homeschool?→
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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?
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.
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
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
Why Rote Memorization is Essential to a Good Education→
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A common practice of students since time immemorial, rote learning has received an undeservedly bad rap in the postmodern world.
Read More3 Reasons Why American Schools Are So Violent
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Schools are the scene of far too much violence for a parent's comfort, and I would expect them to get worse if we move deeper into a recession.
In 2022, as of November, there were already 68 school shootings, and the year is not over yet. There will be more. The year before Covid, in 2019, there were more mass shootings than days of the year.
People blame guns, but that's ridiculous. We don't blame knives when someone gets stabbed or poison when someone gets poisoned, so why do we blame guns when someone gets shot?
Guns don't pull the trigger; mentally-sick people do.
The problem is not guns. We have always had guns in the US as a constitutional right to protect ourselves against a tyrannical government, but random mass shootings on such a scale are relatively new.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
What is wrong with Americans?
Here are 3 facts to consider that may hold a key:
TOO EARLY EDUCATION
Children are put into school too early. We know there is a direct correlation between the absence of play in childhood and sociopathic behavior.
Children who go to early education centers are not engaged in enough play or the kind of play a child needs in his early years to foster humane qualities such as empathy.
“Play allows us to develop alternatives to violence and despair; it helps us learn perseverance and gain optimism.”
Playtime outside has decreased by 71% in one generation in both the US and the UK, according to Dr. Brown..
MOTHERS ARE COMPELLED TO WORK
Too many mothers have no choice but to work, and young babies are left in daycares where strangers take care of them. How can the transmission of empathy occur when the child has is left by his mother in infancy?
This isn't to criticize working mothers, either; I was a working mother too. It is a criticism of a society that does not recognize the importance of a mother in her child's early life.
We use euphemisms such as "primary caregiver" to pretend handing our babies over to strangers is of no importance.
If babies could speak, they would clue us in on this societal delusion. No one can replace the tender love and care of a mother for her offspring.
MULTIMEDIA VIOLENCE
Our multimedia industry promotes violence. Jerry Mander published a book in 1978 titled, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. One of his arguments was that when we watch television, our minds cannot differentiate between reality and what we see on the screen.
When children watch violence in films, they become desensitized to violence.
Since the 1960s, we have known about the effects of violence on our hearts and minds. Why have we not curbed the violence in the media, especially for children? On the contrary, it has become even more pervasive in our lives.
It is so pervasive that when a bomb went off on a busy street in Istanbul in November of 2022, the Americans were unphased. I was there to witness it.
On the contrary, the Turks were devastated. Violence is a part of an American's daily life. I have never felt safe in America, but in Turkey, I have never felt unsafe, even while walking home late at night.
VIDEO GAMES
Video games are a national hazard to a child's mental health. Internet Gaming Disorder is now an entry in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Is this not enough to prove that our kids should not be gaming?
Grand Theft Auto is a game that involves prostitutes! The more violent acts you commit in the game, such as binding, gagging, torturing, and killing women, the more points you win.
What mentally-deranged individual came up with this idea? Leonard Sax points out, as have many studies, that playing games like this over and over again desensitizes our boys to violence, especially against women.
Talk about an easy way to breed misogynists. Geez.
There are other factors to consider with the rise in violence, too, such as the epidemic of narcissism, the breakdown of the American family, and economic disparity. Still, the above three are clearly factors in a society that has become “Rated R” for violence.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There is something fundamentally wrong with a people when their kids are no longer safe in school. Next year there will be a whole new set of statistics and more aggrieved parents who will bury their kids.
It's a sickening thought.
Do everything within your power to stay home with your kids when they are under the age of six (seven is even better), keep them off of technology, and don't enroll them in school.
If you think this sounds extreme, remember that it was the American way of life only 60 years ago.
And if you are able to keep them home during their school years, homeschool them. You CAN do it; millions already have.
☞ 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 of school-age children, we guide you in homeschooling with the classics to raise more intelligent children of a better character.
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 our online course, Raise Your Child 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, Elizabeth has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child. She devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.
She 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
9 Books Every Parent Should Read→
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The following books were carefully chosen as a guide to help you navigate some of the issues you will face raising your children in present times.
Read More3 Steps to Raising Grateful Kids
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If you want to create an attitude of gratitude in your home, here's three things you can do to foster feelings of gratitude in your children:
Read More6 Reasons to Limit Extra-Curricular Activities
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Would you agree that we over-schedule our children?
Let's look at the consequences of hyper-scheduling our kids.
Everyone has higher stress levels
We don’t have time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, such as having a cup of tea together, reading a book, or going for a walk
Our family time is compromised by some of our kids being in classes in the evening
Too many of us can’t find time for family meals
Everyone is exhausted which leads to irritability and outbursts of temper
Why We Should NOT Teach Our Kids to Follow Their Passion
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Teaching your children to follow their passion sounds promising, but when you reflect on the word passion, you realize it's a misnomer. We don’t actually want our children to follow their passions.
Read MoreShould We Ban Trick-or-Treating?→
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I took my kids trick-or-treating on a few occasions, but the more I thought about the messages we were communicating to our kids, the more I began to think trick-or-treating might not be such a great idea.
Ironically, while growing up, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays. What kid doesn't like candy? Having a free-for-all candy night with no adult supervision was the equivalent of kid Heaven.
But now, I stand on the side of those who think we should ban trick-or-treating.
#1 Reason to Ban Trick-or-Treating
Letting our children trick-or-treat contradicts our position that sugar is bad for their teeth and bad for them. We limit the sugar our children eat all year, but one day a year we give them a free rein to eat as much sugar as they want.
Do you have any idea how much sugar they consume? The average kid consumes three cups of sugar on Halloween!
Eating Halloween candy is not limited to one night, either. For however long it takes them to get through their bag of candy, that's how many days they are filling their bodies with harmful amounts of sugar.
The gross amount of sugar consumption creates severe sugar spikes in our children's blood levels, leaving them feeling not so well.
Overeating candy comes with the underconsumption of wholesome foods, which only exacerbates the problem.
Allowing our children to trick or treat on Halloween and eat so much candy is not practicing what we preach, nor is it responsible parenting. I'm guilty too, but when the facts are on the table—wow.
I read that one dentist pays children $2.00 for every pound of Halloween candy they give him. While I can appreciate the intention behind this gesture, is it sending our kids the right message?
We buy the candy, the kids knock on our doors, we give them the candy, and then the kids sell it to the dentist.
How can turning our kids into greedy candy peddlers be a solution? Greed is the #1 problem in the world today, and we are all suffering because of it. We don't want to encourage greediness in our children, do we?
#2 Reason to Ban Trick-or-Treating
We teach our kids not to talk to strangers, and we teach them that it isn't polite to ask people for things, yet, one night a year, we let our kids knock on the doors of strangers and ask them for candy.
One shameful moment for me as a kid happened one day on my way home from school. I had just turned twelve, and my best friend Bridget and I were famished after a long day sitting in classrooms.
At about 3:20 in the afternoon, as we were walking home with grumbling stomachs, we had this bright idea.
We could trick-or-treat!
We knocked on the door of an apartment near our school, and an elderly woman opened the door. Very surprised to see us, she asked, "Isn't it a little early, girls?" She gave us some candy anyway.
As an adult looking back, not just on that isolated incident but on the idea of knocking on a stranger's door and asking for candy, isn't this a contradiction?
We teach our kids not to speak to strangers and NEVER to take candy from a stranger, yet once a year, it is permissible. We teach them that it's not polite to ask for things, yet once a year, it is permitted.
#3 Reason to Ban Trick-or-Treating
But here's the crux of the matter: Halloween is a creepy holiday; it has gotten even creepier since the corporate world has taken it more seriously.
In my old neighborhood, a neighbor had gravestones on his front lawn and skeletons that moved and looked like they were coming out of graves. When we drove up the hill at night, my kids used to get scared because the scene looked so real.
So did I!
And that was a mild scene. My friend's neighbor in the town next to us would spend a fortune decorating his lawn until it looked like the scene out of a horror movie. I used to wonder what on earth that man was thinking.
Halloween is supposed to be for kids, not psychopaths.
I like the idea of carving pumpkins, but should we be wasting food like that? With so much starvation and deprivation in the world, it seems insensitive to waste pumpkins for a night of amusement.
For Halloween, about 22.2 million pumpkins go to waste! At your average price of $5.00 per pumpkin, that's 111,000,000 dollars of food that we waste. The average cost to feed one person per day in the US is supposed to be about $11.00 (seems very low); divided by 111, 000,000, we could feed 10 million people, roughly.
My god, that's shameful.
On second thought, we should ban Halloween.
☞ 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 of school-age children, we guide you in homeschooling with the classics to raise more intelligent children of a better character.
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 our online course, Raise Your Child 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, Elizabeth has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child. She devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.
She 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
