A couple of years ago, former education director-general Tan Sri
Murad Mohd Nor, commenting on a review on the national education system
said the country needed "a national system, in which students in
religious, private or national schools learnt the same things and
shared the same philosophy."

Recently, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi in voicing his
rejection to license more Chinese medium schools (and other vernacular
schools) said that "...such schools where students share a
curriculum and facilities, that students of different races will learn
to bond with each other. This experience will benefit them tremendously
and strengthen the bonds and unity the Government has been trying so
hard to improve."

Obviously not much has changed as far as education policies go. But
there is certainly one thing that standardised mandatory public
education will do: it will make our kids compliant conformists and
therefore, more easily manipulated. If it seems like a moot point
today, ask Hitler what he thought way back in 1933 when he seized
kindergartens and schools, rewrote textbooks to emphasise Germanism Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil) and made membership in Hitler Youth compulsory:

"When an opponent says, I will not come over to your
side. I calmly say, 'Your child belongs to us already'. What are you?
You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp.
In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community."

How chillingly prescient theologian J. Gresham Machen was when in 1925 he wrote in Reforming the Government Schools that, uniformity in education should be avoided as one of the 'very greatest calamities into which any nation can fall.'

I am not convinced when politicians tell us they have only the best
intentions in mind. I appreciate that running a country is difficult
business involving complex and sensitive political realities. That is
why governments around the world are easily seduced by the ideology of sameness.

But we should all be for more educational access, more diverse
schooling choice, and not just improved (least of all, standardised)
curriculum for all. Since that won't come any time soon, count me out
of the system. I'm taking ownership of my children's education, and
their future. Right now, my vote's on homeschool.

ABCs for the New Year

We do not all enter the New Year in the same fashion. For a new
homeschooler it will be a year of transition, a new way of doing
things, a new routine even. For older homeschoolers, it's usually a new
resolve to improve their performance. The more regimented among us
would have a mission statement spelled out, all purpose-driven and
milestone appointed. But whether by force of habit or compelled by
circumstances, many others will be stumbling into the new calendar
while they are busy doing other things.

Ten years ago, we burnt our bridges and boldly went where few had trod (at least in Malaysia).
We had decided to keep our two children at home (now 15 and 13), believing it was the
best thing to do. You can imagine the mixed feelings we had, like the
ones that overwhelm when you are leaving home for the first time. You
quickly realise that all the stories you hear from friends and
relatives or books you've read, never quite become the script you
rehearse in anticipation of the life you've chosen.

This is not to say that homeschool is not all it's made out to be.
It's just that we are all different and we are shaped as much by the
choices we make as by the circumstances we're placed in. Through the years,  we
have evaluated the course we've taken, and I dare say it's like the
ABCs: the alphabet is the same, but the letters are forming new words
enriching our collective vocabulary.

Here are a few useful words we've learnt:

ACCEPTANCE
Whether
you're new to homeschool or not, the first thing you need to do is to
accept one another. The heroes of the homeschooling community and the
achievers we read about are great motivational stuff. It is right to be
challenged and encouraged to achieve similar feats, but beware the
tyranny of false expectations.

The very reason why we homeschool is to
break out from the rigidity of artificially imposed standards. So we
ought not do the same and presume our children will learn in the same
way, at the same pace, and in words unspoken, do us parents proud as if
to prove homeschool right.

For instance, not every child must or will read at 3 or 4 years, or
become a music prodigy. In the early ages, all a child needs are active
play and a supportive parent-child relationship. There is something to
be said about what we think our child needs as opposed to what he or
she is ready for. Learning readiness (as well as learning styles)
differs from person to person. Of course, the right attitudes towards learning must be
nurtured, but we need to be clear about whose milestones our child is
measured against, and for whose pleasure we desire what we are pursuing.

Bear in mind also that we parents have our limits too. Your spouse is not the
fount of all knowledge, and neither are you. I cannot speak for all
parents, but I know I am not Father of the Year material, and I should
not expect my wife to be Super Mom of the Year. Share the load, engage
tutors even if necessary.

Although by homeschooling we reduce the number of variables, it does
not mean we now have enough time to do everything in a home. Not many
of us will have the luxury to do all things well, but by God's grace we
can decide to pay attention to the few that matter.

BALANCE
Second, we should always aim at balance in our homeschool. By this I
mean a healthy approach to building mind, body and soul. In the words
of social theorist Neil Postman, true education must include, "the art
and science
of question-asking." This will come from wide reading and deep
conversations. We must aim at becoming as familiar as Paul himself was
(with Greek writings), and as the early Church Fathers (like Augustine)
were with secular classics and philosophies of their day.

Nevertheless, it would not do to develop external skills, head
knowledge and competence without equally building our child's interior
life. Granted, this cannot be artificially induced. But the seeds must
be planted early so that God can breathe life into them in his time so
the child resonates with the disciplines and passions of a person who
knows Jesus personally.

Balance also means giving a child an acceptable level of social
interaction. Church friends and activities are good, but we also need
to ask how else to expand our circle beyond the holy huddle. I remember
what Luis Palau once said, that when manure is spread out, it fertilises. Pile them in one place and it does nothing but stink.
Ministry and community service help us to look away from
self-indulgence and protection of our comfort zones.

CONVICTION
Finally, hold on to your convictions. I have observed that the less
clear a parent is regarding homeschool concepts, the more frazzled he
or she is likely to be. Social pressures (from non-homeschooling
parents, friends or church leaders) will shake your confidence if you
do not know what you are doing. Differing ideas between Mom and Dad
also puts a strain on how to homeschool or discipline a child. In that
unhappy state, a child is not going to find an environment that is
conducive to learning and spiritual formation.

It's not uncommon to hear people say they homeschool because the
present education system is 'bad.' That's a reason – up to a point
–  but
is this all? Because that would mean scraping home education if a new
school opens next door promising everything you ever dreamed about to
help your child achieve his 'full potential' (endorsed by 'experts' no
less!). Go ahead and enroll your child if it works for you, but in
the meantime it's going to have a bearing on your attitudes and the way
you educate your child at home.

A tentative "I-wish-I-didn't-have-to-homeschool-but-I've-got-no-choice"
position will make homeschool unbearable for yourself and your child.
If you should take your child out of conventional schooling, you must
be clear what you are putting him into as a substitute, for how long,
and to what end. The bewilderment over curriculum or methodology can  usually be traced to misunderstanding of means and ends, but mainly to unarticulated convictions.

You need to be clear too that homeschool comes packaged with some
'risks', the way conventional schooling has its own. Let me qualify
that: we are all pioneers making things up as we go along, living with
less than our ideals demand while we work to make things better for
ourselves, and especially for the ones who will come after us.
Homeschool IS viable  and
practical, but it will ask a lot out of you and your spouse. Like
parenting, what it asks is, what are you prepared to pay to make it
work?

Let me say that if we have to live our lives all over again, we would make the
same decision to educate our boys at home. Homeschool has been a real blessing
in more ways than one. We experienced the faithfulness of God to make us equal
to the challenges that came. We learnt what it meant to obey God one day at a
time, and then to leave the consequences to him. As you go along, I have no
doubt you'll learn the same.

[Originally posted on Homefrontier Online]

An online homeschool convention? Hmm, that's a new one. But it looks like it's going to fly....

The Convention Opens at 9 AM (EST)

Visit Spunky here.
I asked to be linked and submitted a piece about the ABCs of
Homeschooling. Don't forget to check out  Spunky's online
convention!
See ya!

Recently, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in voicing his rejection to license more Chinese-medium schools (and other vernacular schools) said that "… in such schools where students share a curriculum and facilities, that students of different races will learn to bond with each other," he said. "This experience will benefit them tremendously and strengthen the bonds and unity the Government has been trying so hard to improve."

I wish the prognosis for national unity is that simple, but the above statement explains why homeschool isn't going to find favour with the MOE anytime soon.

It is noteworthy that our PM's views are shared by many other officials who exert influence on education in the country. National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng was reported as saying that school is the best place to inculcate good values among children as they spend six hours there daily. SUHAKAM commissioner Datuk N Siva Subramaniam (also the previous Sec-Gen of NUTP) agrees that the school is perfect for "educating children on ethics, unity, patience and tolerance."

In another development, Higher Education parliamentary-secretary Dr Adham Baba announced that Malaysian students wishing to study abroad would now require a 'non-objection certificate' before leaving the country. Needless to say, his proposal triggered loud rounds of protests. It appears the Government wants to have a say on who qualifies for studies abroad. "We will advise them from going abroad if their academic records are not so good and we won't issue the certificate," he said. 

The politicization of education in the country ensures that the dictates of national agenda such as race, language, religion, and integration will supersede other considerations. Like real education. So if you are homeschooling, know that education in the country lies at the intersection of vested interests and officials who have enough power to change its shape and form at a mere keystroke.

What this means is, nothing is ever certain. Questions we're often asked about legality of homeschooling and transition to college are at best qualified answers. Yes, there are ways to get around the hurdles if you want to homeschool; and sure, many homeschoolers have indeed found their way into private colleges, thank God.

Yet parents who choose to educate their child at home truly walk by faith, that internal conviction (often acted out in reckless trust) without which the letter writer to the Hebrews says it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). We may never have enough knowledge to fill in the blanks or anticipate things to come, but we surely have enough understanding to press on, by God's grace. The truth is, it's about walking by faith and not by sight.

In times like this I draw encouragement from Scripture that our God remains sovereign over all, both the seen and unseen. Even the hearts of kings rest in God's hand, as Proverbs 21:1 says, and He "directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases."

In the meantime, I'll be doing alot of watching and praying.