The Liberty Advantages to Homeschooling

Screen Shot 2015-02-19 at 2.46.33 PMMy kids will be dumb, rejected by their peers, unable to get a job, go to college, or function in society as adults. They will miss out on prom, as well as all the other joys that normal kids get to experience…All these are thoughts that ran through my mind while making the decision to homeschool our three children.

My own qualifications as a teacher also weighed heavily on my mind. I don’t have any particular academic strengths. I never was, and never had the desire, to excel in school. In fact, I hated it so much that even in the late 1990s when the dogma of, “you have to go to college to get a job and succeed” was experiencing its climax, I happily chose to not take a single college course immediately out of high school.

Despite my best efforts in unshackling myself from my own conventional education, I still harbored many insecurities about taking the plunge into homeschooling. It’s one thing to make choices for myself; it’s quite another to make them for a small child. These thoughts weighed heavily on my mind, despite the fact that I can’t stand “the state,” and have proven quite successful in life by doing the exact opposite of what my teachers and school councilors advised me to do throughout my life.

As for my wife, who has her Master’s in Education and was a third grade school teacher for 7 years, we never automatically thought of that as sufficient. Our insecurities ran deep.

It wasn’t until my wife and I sat down and wrote out all the negatives and positives of each option — homeschool vs. conventional school (public or private) — that we were able to see the competitive advantage of a child who is homeschooled, versus one who is not.

***Before I go any further, I realize that homeschooling is a privilege. Not everyone has this option, so please excuse my enthusiasm for what it is: a father’s excitement about raising his kids***

Below are the Liberty Advantages to homeschooling as we see them.

1) Social Life — To start, the social life they will have in the context of being their own individuals is paramount. My children, who are homeschooled, currently interact with other children in sports, dance, karate, neighborhood play time, community events, homeschool groups. They also interact with me in daily business activities and conversations.

Rather than being locked up in a room with an authoritative figure for 7 hours each day, and literally needing a permission pass just to use the bathroom, children who are homeschooled have the opportunity to experience the same sovereignty individuals who are not in school have. You eat when you’re hungry, take a piss when you have to go, engage in conversation with people you enjoy, and voluntarily seek out hobbies with others who share your passions.

It’s funny, a lot of people think homeschooled kids are going to turn out weird.A far greater concern for us as parents is whether or not our kids will be like trained animals by the age 18 while in school, with conditioned limits placed upon their potential and a head filled with nationalistic, corporatist dogma.

1) One on One Teaching — You just can’t beat the 1-to-1 ratio a parent has, compared to a 1-to-25 ratio a public school teacher experiences. Even the most passionate teacher has to teach according to what will benefit the overall class most, which isn’t always at the level that will necessarily best teach your child. My wife, who as I mentioned is a former elementary school teacher, was shocked at how efficient a home classroom could be. What took 5 or 6 hours was only taking 1 hour when she was teaching my son.

Furthermore, you are not alone. Homeschool parents represent a large group with regular meetings, and there is plenty of curriculum, including the one my family is using: the Ron Paul homeschool curriculum.

1) The Freedom to Learn — We all learn best by doing. The biggest problem I have with conventional education is that we condition our young people to become order takers. Any diversion from what the teacher wants, or the state demands, is deemed as failure or underachievement. I don’t like training people to be submissive, or to fear the risk or being different. If a child is going to learn to live as an independent adult, why not allow them live a life of learning rather than be told what to think within these daily 8-hour conditioning sessions?

Some Other advantages — The flexibility to focus in on what your child is actually interested in. Then there’s the added bonus of being able to spend more time with your little ones.

My own personal journey and awakening came about due to the tyrannical actions of the state after 9/11, and what I have found is that the more I distance myself from the state, the higher my quality of life is. The more I choose to ignore it, the better every day becomes. 10 years ago, I would have happily sent my kids off to school. But now, I get to hang out with my children throughout the day, eat lunch with them, converse, and even join them for the occasional nap. Making your own life’s course and completely ignoring all expectations around you has to be one of the greatest acts of liberty one can experience. I can only hope that my actions can serve as an positive example for my children.

– Daniel Ameduri aka The Dissident Dad

For more info see this author’s bio

3 thoughts on “The Liberty Advantages to Homeschooling”

  1. Going to school with other children is the most important first step in life. It’s not about what they teach you (or not), it’s about learning to co-exist with random strangers, forging friendships, navigating through society.Can’t imagine depriving a child of that experience.

    My atheist parents sent me to a Church of England school – although I never believed in religion, it was an invaluable lesson in learning what other people believe – taught me respect and tolerance.

    Then I went to high school in Communist Poland – yikes. Their attempts at indoctrination taught me more about critical thinking for myself than any liberal school could.

    Life is full of lumps and traps and triumphs – we go to school to learn all that and not for the algebra lessons.

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  2. Fully appreciate the honesty and refreshing truth of this article; the actuality that NOT Outsourcing Parenthood AND enjoying it is attainable. We can choose the fabric and weave of our own lives, take responsibility of our children’s welfare and disregard the negativity of those whose insecurities would demand that we all be automatons. Thank you.

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  3. Bravo! You and your wife have committed to raising thinking adults, who will question without fear. They will be able to discern right from wrong, versus what is popular or politically expedient. By age 12, most home schooled children can be counted on to have an adult conversation, wisely discussing the woes of the world and not tell everyone “it isn’t fair”. It is hard to homeschool but in the end, you end up with smart, liberty minded adults who refuse to be sheeple. I applaud your efforts!

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