True Fact

In 1683, in Pennsylvania, parents were ordered to teach their children! Yes, it was a long time ago, but what a fabulous command.

Here’s the excerpt from a book on the history of Pennsylvania:

"The Assembly in 1683 ordered all parents to teach their children 'to read the Scriptures and to write by the time they attain twelve years of age.”

I was surprised by the "ordered" but relieved to learn that no fines were enforced, and that the order was mainly to encourage the parents to take action.

Though age twelve could seem a bit late, note how all parents were encouraged to teach their children to read. Homeschooling was clearly the norm. Not only that, but no one doubted whether or not the parents were qualified to teach their children.

Why have we bought into this lie that an “accredited” teacher is the only one who should teach our kids?

Rubbish! We begin teaching our children from the day they are born. Imagine if parents were commanded to teach their children today, for sure we’d have less mental health issues and higher rates of literacy in our country.

As John Taylor Gatto said, schools are dangerous places for kids, and he didn’t mean physically, though even physical safety is a concern now.

The Organic Schools

Back in the days of old, when children did learn outside of the home, a group of neighborhood families would work together to hire a teacher and the children would study in one of the neighborhood homes.

If they outgrew the house, the parents would work together to establish a one-room schoolhouse. Children were taught individually in classes with a variety of ages, and they did not advance in their studies until they had learned the current lessons, thoroughly.

Following the same principles, the same kind of schools still work today, if moms are willing to teach their children or can afford to hire someone to teach them. 

The challenge will not be in running the school, but in finding parents who can agree on the principles of raising and educating a child. With so much confusion around both subjects, it isn’t always possible to do, as a student of mine once discovered.

She tried to get some other families on board with the idea, but no one could agree on how and what to teach the kids, so that was the end of that.

What a Schoolhouse Teacher Might Know

Here's another gem from the book that might surprise you:

"Immigrants who were educated in Europe often became private schoolmasters, advertising in the newspapers that they would teach algebra, geometry, trigonometry, surveying, navigation, french, Latin, Greek, rhetoric, English, belles lettres, logic, philosophy, and other subjects."

Most people this learned are usually not found teaching children. Which is a shame because they are exactly the kind of people who will inspire a child to get excited about learning.

When thinking about education for our own children, it's prudent to base our standards on what children used to learn when our literacy rates were at their highest during the time of the one-room schoolhouses, rather than by what public schools teach today.

Compared to then, our standards have fallen so low that the phrase “dumbed down” sums up the state of public, and most private schools, best.

Their Greatest Priority Was Not Education!

Furthermore, while they did so well at both, the parents of old prioritized the character development of the child and considered it their most important duty.

I cringe when I think how far we've strayed from this concern!

The book goes on to say:

"During the pre-industrial era, the schools generally taught the beliefs of the local church about God and man, sought to arouse a sense of man's responsibility to his Creator, and tried to establish moral guidelines for personal behavior."

Enter the Industrial Revolution and schools quickly became the domain of the state. I want to believe, knowing how Pennsylvanians love independence, that they put up some sort of a fight before handing their schools over. 

What About Our Children?

Our children are not getting an education in school.

We need to assume responsibility for our children's education and work together to homeschool or to build schools that are in line with how children develop and learn best. This is the right thing to do for our kids, because they deserve to be raised and educated well.

A good education shouldn't be something for the privileged few; it isn't a sound education if it is. A sound education doesn’t neglect character development. It has to include learning to become aware of and concerned for the rest of humanity, not just for oneself. 

We each have the freedom to govern ourselves. If we choose to act according to moral principles, which are the foundation of a good life, or we choose to ignore them; at the very least, a sound education should teach us to know the difference.

When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Liz will share her 6-step framework, so you can raise children of higher intelligence, critical thinking, and of good character.

As a homeschooler, you will never have to worry about failing your children, because working with Liz, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated; as she guides you to train your children’s minds and nurture their characters.

Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.

Teach your child to read before sending him to school! Learn more about Elizabeth's unique course, How to Teach Your Child to Read and Raise a Child Who Loves to Read.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s singular online course, Raise Your Child to Thrive in Life and Excel in Learning.

Elizabeth Y. Hanson is a homeschooling thought-leader and the founder of Smart Homeschooler.

As an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach, she has 21+ years of experience working in education.

Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, based on tradition and modern research, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

"I know Elizabeth Y. Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”

—John Taylor Gatto Distinguished educator, public speaker, and best-selling author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling