by Jane Dwinell and Dana Dwinell-Yardley

Recently, the California Appellate Court declared that homeschooling is illegal in California unless the “teaching” parent is a certified teacher for the grade the child is in. Here’s a quote from the judge: "A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare." How’s that for chilling?

As we watch our rights being taken away one by one, sometimes blatantly, other times surreptitiously, this ruling has sent shock waves through the national homeschooling community as another right, taken for granted, disappears. The homeschoolers are a collection of strange bedfellows — right-wing Christian families side-by-side with progressive, tree-hugging families who work together lobbying school board members and state legislators to ensure that their right to homeschool remains untouched. California homeschoolers are, understandably, up in arms. It will be interesting to see where this ruling goes, whether the homeschoolers will appeal to a higher court, and whether other states will take California’s lead.

We were already thinking of writing about homeschooling when we learned of this February 28 ruling. Our family has been homeschooling for twenty-one years (learning goes on your whole life, you know) and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. We have homeschooled in what is known as an “unschooling” way, which means that we have never done any kind of formal curriculum or classes. So, here are our five reasons for homeschooling (the unschooling way):

1. It’s good for children.
Homeschooling honors a child, their life, their interests, their learning style, and their individual personality. Unschoolers, in particular, learn self-direction and self-trust when they are allowed to learn as they will (never a dull moment), delving deep and long, going shallow and varied, or just hanging out and having fun. Self-confidence and creativity grow, and, best of all, kids actually remember what they learned! Because they are learning what they want, when they want (not on some top-down schedule driven by regulations and requirements), the knowledge stays with them, and helps them grow into competent, caring people. And, yes, they do manage to learn everything necessary to function in our society in this seemingly haphazard way.

2. It’s good for parents.
Who wants to send the kids off to school and let the teachers have all the fun? Those of you who are parents know the thrill of watching your child learn to walk, talk, dress themselves, and use the toilet. Why miss out on all the other developmental stages? In our family, both parents worked part time so that they could take turns being with the kids, and that allowed both parents to have more balanced lives between career and family. Homeschooling — and its challenges (because there are a few) — gives parents one more thing to work on in partnership, which helps their relationship flourish. And then there’s all the things that parents learn! You may find you’ve forgotten all the things you learned in school when the questions start flying: Why is the sky blue? How do clouds change shape? Why is there war? How does the Electoral College work, and who dreamed up that idea? You’ll find yourself learning right along your children.

3. It’s good for families.
Homeschooling allows parents and children to develop stronger, deeper, more meaningful relationships, and it allows siblings to do that as well. You get to hang out together — parents are parents, of course, but the role of taskmaster disappears. Think of all those hours: hours, in a school-based family, spent getting the kids to go to sleep, wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, get to school and back, eat dinner, do homework, and then off to bed again, never mind music lessons, sports teams, and other extracurricular activities. There’s hardly time to just be together without the pressure of some activity hanging over your head. Homeschooling families have all these hours given back to them, without the stress, to do with as they wish. Homeschooling is very flexible — the way a family gets to structure their days, weeks, months and years is their own choice. You can travel off-season, away from the crowds and for lower prices. You can rest and drink tea when you’re sick, not worried about missing deadlines. You can drop what you’re doing to go skiing on a powder day, or go kayaking when the springtime rivers are just right. Being freed from the iron fist of daily structure brings families together and allows parents, children, and siblings to know each other as people — and as family.

4. It’s good for community.
Homeschoolers, by and large, participate actively in their communities. The myth of the cloistered, anti-social homeschooling family is just that — a myth. True, conservative homeschoolers may not volunteer at Democratic Party headquarters, but they are actively involved with their community — whether it be a church, a play group or choir, or a pick-up sports team. Homeschoolers of all kinds usually volunteer in some capacity in their community — parents and children — delivering meals to seniors, playing music at a nursing home, lobbying the legislature, working for a political candidate, filling bags at the food shelf or throwing a birthday party for the kids at the homeless shelter. Homeschoolers are generally more polite and cooperative, and have a wider range of friends — in age and interests. The myth that homeschoolers don’t develop social skills is another myth worth debunking. We remember a birthday party at our house where the honoree invited fifty of his closest friends, ranging in age from two to eighty. You won’t see that at the usual ten-year-old’s birthday party!

5. It’s good for society.
Homeschoolers, as a group, are more well-informed about current events and world geography than schooled kids. They have a deeper understanding of how the world works, and how cultures are different, oftentimes because they’ve had the opportunity to experience the world first-hand through travel or volunteer work. They understand about cooperation among different kinds of people. They are able to take an idea and run with it — often changing the world. Even if they don’t do something that compelling as young children, they may be better equipped to move forward in the larger world as adults. They have the self-confidence and skills to investigate, learn, and share their knowledge and passions with others. Unschooling has been happening as long as humans have been on the earth — notable inventions such as the wheel and the taming of fire did not happen in school. We wonder what wonderful things will be discovered by people who truly understand the rhythms of life, and the importance of cooperation and inderdependence.

And in light of the ruling by the California court, we say that you should consider homeschooling as a radical act of independence and a place from which to build a new society. David C. Korten, in his book The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, suggests that there are four institutions that can be easily changed from the ground up: family, education, media, and religion. The homeschooling community is definitely helping to reshape the vision of family and education. Perhaps you’d like to join us — it’s long past time to move from Empire to Earth Community!

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About Common Sense
Common Sense is written by Jane Dwinell and Dana Dwinell-Yardley, a mother-daughter blog team. They live on an urban homestead in Montpelier. Send them your questions and comments about food, fuel, family, or financial independence! Write to mountaingirl at vtlink dot net. You can also check out some of their other writings at their website: www.spiritoflifepublishing.com.