Homeschoolers’ Declaration of Independence

 

This week in the United States of America, we celebrated Independence Day. The holiday is an important one to us, as we reflect and remember the cost of our society and culture. As I reflected on that, I realized that the homeschooling community, as a subculture, has also declared independence, albeit without official document. I reflected on the things that we, as a homeschooling family, are now free from, and I came up with our own Declaration of Homeschooling Independence.

 

We, as a homeschooling family, in order to form a more perfect educational experience for our children, do declare the following:

We declare that our children have the right to a childhood.

We declare that the homeschool community is diverse. It consists of Christians of every denomination, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, atheists, agnostics, blended families, single parents, and every mix you can think of. It’s one of the joys of homeschooling.

We declare that the homeschooling movement belongs to the parents — not to the government, not to the school system, not to a religious institution or belief system, and not to whomever is the loudest voice inside the community at the moment. Homeschooling belongs to the families who are in the trenches, day in and day out. It belongs to the parents who agonize until the early hours of the morning about why Christopher can’t read, or why Sarah is failing math, and who spend countless hours researching, reading, and purchasing curriculum to help their children. It belongs to the mothers who have watched the Big Yellow Bus go by wistfully, only to turn back to their child and teach long division. Again.

We declare that we are free from the homeschool family “mold.” There is no one type of homeschooling family. Each is unique, as unique as every child within a family. Each family is gifted in different ways. There is no perfect homeschooling mom. There is no perfect homeschooling dad. We are all human, and, while some are gifted in one area, they will be lacking in another. And that’s fine. More than fine, that’s wonderful!

We declare that there is no perfect method of homeschooling. Neither is there a perfect curriculum. We understand that while I think my curriculum and methodology is best (otherwise, I wouldn’t be using it), that it is only the best for my children, and my family, and that doesn’t mean that it is the best for yours. Classical education is not inherently better than unschooling, which isn’t better than school-at-home, which isn’t better than Charlotte Mason… and the list goes on. We all use what works best for us and our children.

We declare the right to teach our children our morals, values, and religious beliefs (or lack thereof).

We declare our ability to see past the next testing cycle, and glimpse the long term implications of our choices. We understand that our parents/spouses/families/friends may not understand why our children can’t do what their children do at “grade level,” but that we are looking at the bigger picture.

We declare that our children are not togs in a machine, and, therefore, their educational experience will not be the same as any other. Some will start to read at two. Some won’t read until they are 10, or even 12. We declare freedom from the system that would attempt to categorize our children into little boxes. Each child is unique. Each child is a gift.

We declare that gaps happen. They happen in public school. They happen in private school. They’ll happen in our home schools. In fact, we embrace that fact.

We declare that socializing and socialization are two different things. We will teach our children social graces ourselves. They don’t need 30 other children every day to teach them that. We don’t, however, want them socialized. We declare freedom from socialization. We don’t want them to become like everyone else. We don’t believe that they need the skills of raising their hands to announce to the world when they have to pee, changing subjects with the bell, or eating while being completely silent in 20 minutes flat. Instead, we have opted to ensure that our children are able to relate to a diverse population of people of every age, socio-economic status, race, religion, and creed.

And, finally, we declare that homeschooling is much more than an educational choice. It’s a lifestyle. We devote our lives to the education and upbringing of our children. 

 

Kristi Kerr and her husband, Patrick, have been married 11 years. They have six children, from 10 years old down to 7 months old. They have been homeschooling for five years, and currently live in central Kansas. You can find Kristi on Facebook, or on Twitter.

*disclaimer*