The proposed Amendment expressly sets forth the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children. The United States Supreme Court has in the past ruled that there is implied in the Constitution such a right. However, there are justices on the current Supreme Court who would likely overturn those decisions if given the chance. Additionally, "international law" may one day intefere with our parental rights and duties. For instance, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified by just about every country but ours. Courts in other countries have used this treaty to prevent parents from directing the upbringing of their children. A number of the current presidential candidates likely support this treaty. The proposed Amendment would prevent the treaty, if the United States ever ratifies it, from trumping our parental rights and duties.
This amendment will help protect your parental rights whether you send your children to public school or private school or if you homeschool. For instance, there are circuit court of appeals opinions that have held that once you drop your children off at the school house door, the school has absolute control over what your children are taught.
If you are interested in supporting this constitutional amendment, you can sign up to join ParentalRights.org (the dues are $25). Or, you can sign up to be a citizen co-sponsor of the amendment for free, here .
An audience member asked Michael Farris which presidential candidates supported the Parental Rights Amendment. He said that Mike Huckabee and Sam Brownback were strongly leaning toward supporting it. No other candidate had made a commitment.
New Covenant notes that our children need to learn more than fun technology, but useful technology. Specifically, useful software applications.
The Imperfect Homeschooler informs us that home schooling allows us to raise children who are not peer-dependent and who thus do not become peer-dependent adults, using the amusing story of parents concerned about one-upping each other for their kids' birthday parties.
January 17, 2007
Before I had children, I admired parents who home schooled their children. It is something that I wanted to do for my (eventual, at the time) children, but did not know if we would be able. Once Hannah was born on April 8, 2004, home schooling her and our future children weighed more and more on our minds. In time, my wife and I became convinced together that home schooling was the right choice for us. That my wife and I had the same conviction was essential. As the primary teacher, my wife had to be dedicated to the decision. At the same time, my wife's dedication would undoubtedly waver if I did not provide the necessary support.
Originally published in 1995 and updated in 2000, Home Schooling is less a defense of home schooling than it is an argument for why you, too, should home school. In one of his speeches at the NICHE conference, Klicka made the point that the most important job we have as parents is to raise our children to know and love Jesus. In Home Schooling , Klicka makes the point that we cannot expect our children to think and act like Christians if they spend their whole day, five days a week, in an environment that teaches them to think and act like a secular humanist.
Home Schooling begins with an indictment of public schools, underscoring its propositional rather than defensive nature. Public schools, in general, are failing our children academically, morally, and philosophically. Particularly enlightening is chapter 3's recitation of the express goals of the founders of state education and of the professors at education colleges and the subsequent manifestation of those goals.
But all of that is just why you should avoid public schools. In Parts II and III, Klicka affirmatively addresses why you should home school. Klicka notes the Biblical principles supporting home schooling, the benefits of home schooling, and the large number of influential Americans who were home schooled. He also sets forth practical steps to successful home schooling--providing the encouragement you need to realize that you can do it--as well as the success home schoolers have in college.
Home Schooling goes on to recite the victories won against those with an interest in a public school monopoly. The victories have come in both the legislative and judicial branches. Klicka has firsthand knowledge of many of them and some of them have been truly miraculous. Included in these sections is a thorough, but easy to understand recitation of home schoolers' rights.
The book also includes a number of helpful appendices, including "The Difference Between Christian Education and Humanistic Education," "Fifteen Reasons to Home School Your Teenagers," and "The Social Worker Skit: How to Handle a Visit From a Social Worker."
Throughout the book, Klicka effectively refutes each of the criticisms directed toward home schooling. Given the documented success of home schoolers versus their public and private schooled peers, no one can legitimately claim academic deficiencies as a basis for opposing home schooling. What about socialization? The question is too simple. What kind of socialization is preferable? As a wise person once told me, proper socialization comes from modeling adults, not other children. The public school environment is an artificial one where our children only interact with, save their teacher, other kids their age. No other setting in society is like that.
The one criticism of the book that I can muster is Klicka's reliance on substantive due process arguments for the constitutional right to home school. "Substantive" due process (an oxymoron) is the underpinning of the U.S. Supreme Court's created right to abortion. Clearly, as an attorney in a court of law defending home schoolers, Klicka should latch onto anything the Supreme Court has given him, but in a book dealing with home schooling history and long-term strategies going forward, substantive due process is not something to rely on. It was made up out of thin air and could vanish just as easily, or could be applied arbitrarily.
In any event, Home Schooling is the perfect book for people already home schooling who will be encouraged that they have made the right decision and will gain a greater appreciation of the sacrifices those who started home schooling in the 1980s made, for people thinking about home schooling but are not sure they can do it, and for people trying to understand why their friends and family are home schooling rather than doing what just about everyone else does. It will remain a valuable part of my library.
Life in a Shoe discusses the benefit of schooling year round, with smaller breaks, instead of one large break during the summer.
Fire in Mine Ears , a recent homeschool graduate, discusses "The Question." "Where did you go to school?" I enjoyed this post in part because this particular homeschooled student writes better than most students in grad school.
Dow Blog discusses socialization : "I'm not exactly clear how tossing a child into a group of his peers all day long is the best way to bring out his potential. Ultimately, parents have the responsibility to raise children to honor and glorify of God." As a wise person once told me, proper socialization comes from modeling responsible adults, not other children.