Veteran Teacher Applauds Homeschoolers by Dan Kimber

I'm writing this as a public school teacher of thirty years who believes in public education but who also understands the growing trend toward home schooling. I should say at the outset that among my profession, that statement is heresy. It suggests to some that our training and expertise as educators can be easily replaced; that we, ultimately, can be displaced from our positions by parents who see a better way for their children.

For many years I have viewed home schooling as a radical, highly personal and inevitably incomplete form of education for our young. Because of my own traditional schooling and my dedication to teaching in the forum that I have for so long taught, my thoughts on home schooling have been colored and conditioned to believe that public education is the best way.

In recent years I have come to believe otherwise. There is a fundamental shift that has taken place in public education, and it is not, in my considered opinion, for the better. We find ourselves dealing more with problems (or "challenges" to be more politically correct) than with truly educating our children. We are increasingly being asked to be in lockstep with standards and benchmarks that emanate from distant places and from people completely out of touch with the higher objectives of learning. Minimal standards are replacing high aspirations

Parents offload their children at our doors with a vague assurance that their child will receive a proper education. The great majority of parents have very little contact with the school and their child's teachers and are satisfied when the grades come out that they are an accurate indication of achievement, or lack thereof. They have almost no idea of what is being taught, how much of it is being "dumbed down" to accommodate a growing population of underachievers, and whether any attempt is being put forth to individualize instruction for the sake of their child's aptitude and potential.

I am toward the end of my career and find myself more and more removed from it. Young teachers are being taught to dispense information and process students so that they will, first and foremost, pass standardized tests, and then,secondarily, learn to function better in a technological world that values compartmentalized thinking. We have lost sight of that most noble purpose which is at the heart of a true education-namely that we educate the whole child. As school programs fall by the wayside that are not in alignment with the "core curriculum" lights are going out all across our country from kids who need more than just conforming to standards.

And so, getting back to home schooling, I have done a very informal study and have come to the following conclusions: Families are strengthened, kids do less busy work, there is a greater focus and concentration on learning, there is more time spent out-of-doors (P.E. is one of those decimated programs in schools, despite the obesity that has become our number one health concern for today's youth); there is less passive learning as kids play a greater role in what they learn and then take responsibility for learning it; children work for internal satisfaction rather than for external rewards; more time is spent preparing for life than for mindless tests (Teaching to the test is the new public school mantra); more energy is devoted to tailoring an education to the interests and aptitudes of the child; time is available for more nonacademic pursuits such as art or music; children do not have to wait until they are grown to begin to explore their passions; school is ongoing and not confined to regulated hours of the day.

I continue to believe that public education serves a vital need in our society, but I understand completely why more and more parents across the country are opting out of it. The number of kids being home-schooled in our country is presently over ten million, and growing. Those in my profession who view this as a disturbing trend would do well to understand why it is happening.

Those in political circles who have contributed to the trend by issuing their edicts and mandates to schools in the name of greater accountability need to realize that education is not a thing to be distilled and defined by statistics. And to the parents who seem to be less and less involved in our public schools these days, take a lesson from this growing army of moms and dads who are
one-hundred per cent committed to their children's education.

I teach high school in California and my brother, who shares my views about home schooling, teaches elementary school in Michigan. For many years we have watched as high expectations and striving for excellence have given way to minimal standards and an acceptance of mediocrity. Before we shuffle off into retirement we wanted to leave behind something for our own children (and grand-children) to remember that their dear old dads spent a good deal of their lives teaching the lessons of history. What we came up with is a musical CD and accompanying lesson plans that teach America's core democratic values.

We both learned early in life the magic of music to inspire, to motivate and to teach. As educators, we realize its amazing capacity to reach minds by supplementing traditional methods and styles of education. As music lovers, we recognize the power of music to stir emotion as well as the intellect, and thus educate the whole child.

In the songs we've composed we've tried to bring American values to life that are at the core of every curriculum in our country's schools. They are about founding principles and transcendent values-the things that teachers and parents understand are fundamental to every child's education.

We are living in times that test not only our resolve as a nation, but also our basic principles as a people. How well we convey a love of liberty and equality, an appreciation for democracy and diversity, a belief in truth and justice, is a measure of how well we have passed on a treasured heritage to future generations. It is our hope that "Proud to be an American" can be more than just another empty phrase that is drilled into our children. It's a celebration worthy of honored traditions, of sacred pledges, and of joyous music.

Our children have every right to inherit a world much as we did, with freedom, equality, and justice for all.

From the Editor:
Dan Kimber is the creator of
Music That Teaches and he invites you to visit his web site to hear samples of the songs and note the lessons we attached to them. He says, “We'll be overjoyed if you like them but just as happy if it provides inspiration for you to make your own kind of music with your children, and in that spirit, teach them something they'll never forget.”
Website:
http://www.musicthatteaches.com.