If your child needed surgery, you would want the very best, someone with letters after their name. Years in the operating room. A specialty in the exact procedure your child needs. Peer review. Protocols. A proven track record and a plan. Right? There’s an old Jeff Foxworthy joke about how a Southern drawl can instantly erode credibility, because the last thing you want from a brain surgeon is someone saying, “Alright, what we’re gonna do is saw off the top of your head and root around in there with a stick…”
But when it comes to education, arguably the foundation upon which everything else in a child’s life is built, we are increasingly comfortable with the Foxworthy… winging it.
I’m a certified teacher, so biased I may be, but this measure being brought to the ballot (SB6261) that would require homeschool families to submit a plan for their child’s education should be a bare minimum request not the cause for the outrage I’m seeing online.
Let the rant begin.
Children have a right to an education, and yes, I’d argue a right to free higher education too. Given the political response that tends to provoke, I’ll save that debate for another time. At a basic level, an educational plan is a safeguard against randomness/laziness. It protects children from an education built on whatever activity happened to look cute on Pinterest that morning.
I support interest based learning. But meaningful interest based learning is hard to do well. It’s something trained educators spend years learning to master and built out. It’s not, “Here’s a polar bear craft I found Pinterest.” It’s:
How do I weave grammar standards into a writing prompt connected to this activity?
Can I find on-level nonfiction texts about polar bears to build reading and comprehension skills?
Can I design a STEM extension, maybe a simple robotics project where the polar bear moves or opens its mouth?
How do I honor a child’s interests while still building the skills they’ll need to function in a complex, changing world?
What I see instead is a collection of disconnected crafts, fun, sure, but calling it education without any coherent goals, progression, or accountability. Structure doesn’t kill creativity; it prevents neglect disguised as unschooling. A plan isn’t control. It’s evidence that the adult in charge is actually doing the job they loudly insist they’re more qualified to do than trained educators. (I sometimes wonder if this level of confidence is uniquely American, or if other countries are also ignoring doctors in favor of healing bowls and mallets with “vibration medicine.”)
Think about all the things we consider important enough to plan out pretty damn carefully. I know women who spend years planning the perfect wedding: the flowers, the dress, the seating chart, the playlist, the lighting, the exact shade of “porcelain.” Spreadsheets. Fancy wedding planners. Pinterest boards with 487 pins.
We plan vacations the same way. We book flights months in advance to save money. We compare hotels and ammenities. We read reviews. We make dinner reservations. We map out tourist activities. We research local coffee shops.
We plan for what matters.
Except, apparently, education.
“We’ll figure it out as we go.”
“They’ll learn to read naturally.”
“Meighson doesn’t like the math, so we skipped it.”
Let’s be brave enough to say our kids deserve more. There isn’t a redo. This isn’t Donkey Kong, there are no extra lives, or a reset button. And when parents and/or educators get it wrong, they aren’t the ones who pay the price.
The children are.
Ah, but what the hell. It’s only education.
What could possibly go wrong?
Vote YES on SB6261
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