Alternative Education: Homeschooling Our Children
Earth Talk:
Alternative Education: Homeschooling Our Children
“The one who educates you becomes the one who owns you.”
Prophet Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig
Americans are losing faith in the American public school system. More and more parents are turning to alternative methods of education. Even while public-school advocates argue that test scores and graduation rates are on the recent incline, more and more privately run charter schools are sprouting up around the United States. But, the trend of charter schools are a slippery slope as they represent the shift from not-for-profit schools to corporate run schools needing to ensure profit margins even at the expense of what is best for children. Many parents are realizing that their best option is to take the responsibility of educating their child into their own hands: homeschooling.
If education represents the channel through with a society transmits its cultural identity (knowledge, customs, values, laws, arts, skills, language and institutions) from one generation to another, public school education represents the national enculturation of society’s youth. Parents in America must first ask themselves what is the culture of America? An honest look leads us to the history of America and how it has chosen to educate its youth which we did in the previous article of this column. To put our finger on a culture of America would be hard because politicians are always open to changing American identity and values to ensure the maintenance of power and wealth. American “culture” may better be defined as politics, and more specifically, the politics of capitalism. An identity that has evolved out of the biggest tragedies of human history (see Earth Talk volume 68 & 69).
Many parents do not wish to pass these destructive values of America’s legacy onto their children, but are unsure which values to pass. America, as with all other colonial systems maintains its power by breaking the connection between its members and their Ancestral, cultural identity. In hopes of financial success many men and women have willingly turned away from their native tongues, names, and customs and purposefully educated and groomed their children to look as “American” (European) as possible so as to secure a financial future and a place in the American workforce.
This breeding of cultureless-ness leaves many parents feeling overwhelmed about where to start in the homeschooling process or what it is they can offer their children different than the ruling system. Assessing what’s involved is important. Where does your family stands in regards to education? Where have you and your family been and where do you wish to go? Education must keep in mind the goal. One of the biggest problem with public school today cannot really be seen as a problem of the system. The problem is on the side of the American public that has become consumers and usher their children through a system of training and indoctrination but are unclear on the goal. While others are realizing that their chosen goal for their children doesn’t match the goal the government and school board have. In a capitalistic system, lower income parents are realizing that the goal of schooling is dependent on the income of the parent and the schools of their community funnel their child into a certain bracket of society.
Modern History & Methods of Homeschooling
The recent popularity of the homeschool movement started in 1970 with John Holt who urged parents to remove their children from a school system with an oppressive environment and a goal no bigger than creating compliant employees. He and his partner, Raymond Moore argued that early childhood education was even detrimental and children should be educated at home in order to build a strong foundation for learning until age 9. American Christians who were dissatisfied that the Christian doctrine and its values were outlawed in school and replaced with the scientific doctrine and values joined the movement in the 80s. Africans in America joined the movement because of European dominated curriculum and the fact that any education on their cultural identity was relegated to a month of the school year. According to the National Center for Education Statistics’ latest Digest of Education Statistics, the number of children home schooled in the United States increased by 61.8 percent between 2003 and 2012.
Today there are various teaching methods that have grown out of the recent homeschooling boom and education reform of the past century or so:
Traditional Method - In this method parents use the “traditional” American curriculum and grading system used in public school. They just take the task into their own hands ensuring their children receive the attention and care they require.
Classical Method - This method is based on a three-part process. The Grammar (memorization) stage which is focused on absorbing information. A child stays in this stage until the fifth grade age. The Logic stage when a child starts to ask “why?” and think through the facts they have been indoctrinated with in the memorization stage. And the Rhetoric stage which can be equated to the high school age when a child begins to apply the knowledge of the first two stages and express it in their own unique way.
Charlotte Mason - This method’s philsoophy is respecting each child as a capable human being and therefore exposing them to wide array of educative material and letting them digest what is appropriate for them. This method is based on three tenets: Atmosphere - that the child is picking up a third of its education from its present environment and therefore the teacher should use their environment to educate the child. Discipline - That the teacher must cultivate good habits and build character in the child. This is done mainly through repetition of desired habits and values. Life teaching -
Montessori Method - This method is a natural self-directed process. It is child-led allowing the child to go towards what interests him/her with the idea that when the child enjoys learning they retain it. This method is based on mixed age groups, individual choice of research and work and uninterrupted concentration.
Unschooling Method - This method was campaigned by John Holt and is child-led and experience based. Allowing the child to learn naturally about what interests them. Current interests dictate study and the teacher incorporates traditional subjects as you go.
Unit Studies Method - In this method teachers apply all needed subjects to a focused theme. While moving from theme to theme teacher will incorporate all subjects.
Eclectic Method - In this method teachers pick and choose from all above methods to make their own style of teaching and learning.
Navigating the Choices
Choices of subjects, curriculums, teaching methods, activities, etc. can become overwhelming. Our perception of choices up until a certain point tends to feed our illusion of personal power and independence. Perhaps it is our modern “progress” that grants us so many options at how to educate our children. Just as our modern “progress” gives us numerous options in how to live, pray and what and where to eat in our new societies. Today, we’re told that we can even choose what gender we want to be. However, we must be honest with ourselves and notice that at a certain point the number of options we are presented with becomes less like a privilege and more like a prison. How can we choose? With so many options to clutter our field of vision, it seems that all but one are really just illusory distractions, keeping us from our best survival choice.
A human being can’t choose to live as a bird or a fish. Nature has made this choice simple for us. If we jump from the roof in hopes of flying our friends will quickly realize as they scrape up our lifeless body from the ground that choice wasn’t ours; the same will happen when we try to live as fish and our friends are forced to fish our drowned bodies from the sea. We all know that we are human. Before the greed of some of us allowed more modern ideas to be grafted onto that identity it meant something.
Our Ancestors said a human being without education is no different than an animal. We can add to that, a human being trained to be a compliant employee is no different than a tool. An enslaved human being trained by his enslaver will only learn how to be a better slave. We can look back to our Ancestral cultures and see that before the dominant culture of politics and finance a human being was educated to be successful in life itself. We each celebrated our human identity in a way that fit harmoniously with the world around us rather than putting us at odds with it. With that enculturation we did not think to investigate nuclear technology or modern weaponry. With that enculturation we did not think of murdering or enslaving other human beings who did not look like us or worship the same Divinity we worshipped.
The educational philosophies of our Ancestral cultures are alive today. They appear diverse because until the modern system of deculturation humanity celebrated diversity. The diverse ecosystems of our planet provided for diverse cultural expressions. However, if we investigate further, we will see that there are much more similarities than we would think and those similarities meet at our common root culture in Kemet.
Kemetic Education
In Kemet, education is about learning how to live. It is inseparable with life. Education is about exposure and so there is no time that a child’s education stops because they’re always receiving that exposure or imprint on their consciousness, not only in their youth but also into their adulthood and old age. Education is a life-long journey. Life is seen as an initiation into death and the goal for education must prepare one for what happens after death. The goal of Kemetic education, like Kemetic life is to approach Divinity: embodying Divine qualities, copying the Divine Model and purifying ourselves to come closer to and be able to interact with the Neteru (Gods). Our exposures or education lead us towards this aim. The exposure of a child is important because children represent the future and survival of our communities.
The value of a child starts from conception. The importance of the institution of marriage is about the children we bring forth and the responsibilities we (the two families) have towards them rather than one man and woman’s sentiment for one another or their child. From pregnancy, parents begin to educate their children. During pregnancy, a mother follows strict dietary and lifestyle taboos and her behavior affects the development and life of the child. (See Harmonious Healing Post-partum series for more information). A child is first exposed to their parents so any solid education must be taught by example, and that example starts even while the child is in the womb.
The role of education after birth incorporates the physical, mental and intellectual growth and development of the child as well as the spiritual, social, cultural and character development. It’s progression is based in large part on the trend of Earth Energies available to a developing human being in the different stages of life.
Our Ancestors have explained that each birth is the reincarnation of an ancestor, and a birth into our world is a death from the World of the Dead. Within the first seven years of a child’s life their energies are still being grounded on Earth as their spirit is in between the world of the living and the world of the Ancestors. In this stage, education rests heavily on the mother. She must ensure that her child is secure, healthy and socialized into the community according to her cultural traditions. The Earth Energies fed to children’s bodies are focused towards its physical development and so children have a need to move around, throw things and kick. They are not forced into a classroom. On the contrary, their education must incorporate their physical development. They learn how to walk, crawl, run, and jump. Activities like racing, climbing, balancing, swimming, acrobatic dances, drumming, etc. are used to teach them how to use their bodies in different circumstances and for different purposes. Intellectual learning can also be incorporated with physical activities to better suit the natural energetic trend. One cannot overlook the harmony between body and mind especially in the developmental phase.
They are taught through their everyday life to appreciate intelligence and wisdom. In Kemetic society they are taught early the Seventy-seven commandments. Community living is key so that they are exposed to many personalities and age groups and socialized into correct behavior accordingly. They learn the norms and expectations of society, learning how to interact with others. They inevitably build tolerance, patience and compassion and are exposed to how the community solves its own problems.
They are taught to respect their elders as elders are the most experienced in solving life’s riddles. Elders share proverbs, stories and wise sayings that are stored in their traditions and they pass these down, helping the youth to understand them. Children are taught to respect the wise, and honor those who use their intelligence for the good of humankind.
A child is educated on history, geography, botany, zoology, agriculture, astronomy, medicine and biology as they move through the natural world. They are exposed to many things and they turn to their community and parents for guidance and learned experience on these things. Education is carried through language, so much attention is given to language training. Children often start with their mother’s tongue since they are, in most cases, under the primary care of their mother. However, they often pick up multiple languages at a young age, rather it is due to a different father’s tongue or through neighboring communities, colonial languages, etc. In cultures of written language they often learn and memorize by copying important cultural texts and stories. Language is extremely important for building a developing brain and it trains a child to respect and contextualize differing worldviews and cultures.
Through spiritual ceremonies a child will be exposed to rites and knowledge that often goes beyond the explainable. They will learn much through observation before it is time for them to be initiated into the technical aspects of spirituality. Their early exposure however will give them a reverence for higher dimensions of existence and a reverence for the origins of their life force: their Ancestry. They will often learn family history through song and story sung and told to them by family members.
Their family and community will play a huge role in their education even taking it over from parents who show neglect or are an incapability to properly caring for their child due to emotional attachments. Among some cultures like the Tem, children are often raised by another member of the mother’s family to avoid spoiling the education of the child due to emotions. In the Fulani, the first born of a couple is taken from the couple and raised by the grandparents for similar reasons. Character development is extremely important and it is built within the family circle, then the local group and then the whole tribe or society. An undisciplined child brings shame on each level of the community so precautions are taken to ensure that each child is disciplined thoroughly to be an effective and useful member of society. Disciplining a child can serve many additional purposes like physical training or completion of various tasks. Many families discipline younger children through older children and by doing so teach older children responsibility and accountability.
An emphasis will be placed on the values that are honored in society: moderation, solidarity, respect for the truth, willingness to work, respect for authority, honesty, integrity, tolerance, modesty, rectitude, respect for life, consideration for neighbor and other values defined by the limitations of the Divine Ordinances and exhibited in the perfect model. Many of these are learned through community living and social interaction and cooperation.
Around the age of seven, children are separated by genders and boys begin spending more time with their fathers or male elders. Each will follow their elders around learning aspects of their work through assignments and more responsibility. In addition they will continue to play games with other boys and girls their age. Throughout childhood, it is important for them to exist in a world of others their age. Learning to solve problems in that world without the constant intervention of adults is key to raising self-sufficient and confident human beings. In some tribes, around age 7 to 8 the youth will enter initiations that are often very physical while imparting cultural and spiritual education.
Around the age of twelve they are introduced to the lives of men and women. They are urged to accomplish adult responsibilities and acquire a spirit of independence and self-reliance. They attend various public functions to witness for themselves life problems and how they are dealt with. They begin more vocational training and may enter more intensive initiations in order to take their place in society.
A Necessary Paradigm Shift
It is important to address a few concepts that are really more foreign to the Kemetic social system. The concept of “adult” and a coming of age at eighteen years is a European concept. In Kemet, the stage of brain development that occurs at age twelve is important and at that level the brain has developed to a place where it can function as it will in “adulthood” but the exposure and experience is still, in most cases, small in comparison to others in society.
The idea of a “child” is dependent on parents, so in Kemetic society one is considered a child in front of their parents no matter their age. It is only after being forced by European colonial governments that Kemetic societies chose an age of “adulthood” and even then they chose the age of thirty-two. If we keep this relative perspective that one is a child as long as they have older living generations in their family, we must respect an order and hierarchy in the family that gives respect to the more experienced. Through the more experienced members of our community, we can continue our education indefinitely. As expressed by Amadou Hampate Ba, “Whenever an elder dies, a library burns down.”
The word for child in many languages of Western Meritah is “big” which comes from the word “bik” or “bak” in the Medu Re-N-Kemet (hieroglphs) which means servant. In Kemet, children become servants to the worldview of their parents. That is the benefit of having children. Students become servants to their teachers. Teachers are addressed as masters to make it perfectly clear the impact a teacher has on a pupil. The one who controls your exposure, controls your life and can determine your future actions. A the Prophet Ptahhotep explained, If you do not educate someone you leave them a chance to harm you. This is why the initiatic temples and schools of the Hapi (Nile) River Valley were open to all who came. This is also why it is so important for colonial systems to educate more and more people around the world.
The truth is homeschooling is not new. Before the inception of public schools run and monitored by state governments, child education was always a focused responsibility starting from the home: parents, clan, tribe, etc. Today, while modern society maintains the illusion that we are better off under our political systems that are destroying our planet and human identity, more and more individuals are being spurred to research the advanced knowledge of cultures deemed “ancient” by popular education. We often fail to realize that the knowledge of these cultures was a product of home-based childhood education and initiatic cultures with no public schooling or modern university education. We also often fail to realize that “ancient” should only be used on something that has been lost to the past. Today, Kemetic culture survives even as it watches its diverse descendant cultures vanishing behind individuals led by their desires for well-paying jobs and modern luxuries. Indigenous people who fear their children will be left behind in a “developing” world.
One major shift resulting from colonial education is that our identity as human beings is based on what we can achieve and do. For humanity’s ancestors our identity was defined by what we will not allow ourselves to do under any circumstances. The importance of this concept is tremendous for the modern individual. Any competent person can be trained to do anything, so that is a nominal aspect of our identity. One’s values and human quality will be based on the discipline one has to control himself/herself and protect the surrounding world from his/her evil. Today, we will have to determine if a system that has built its wealth from two millennia of pillage, murder, theft and destruction, offers us enough incentive to continue investing in its development rather than putting our energies into the institutions that educated humanity on living as a functioning member of this planet.
In this stage of human history, we have become primarily motivated by our fears and desires. This should remind us of a hunter and his prey. It is these same forces of fear and desire that always lead the prey into the trap of the hunter. So, what is hunting us?
Before it is too late, we must ask ourselves “What is our goal?” or else we will find ourselves panic-stricken and wandering aimlessly. And as our Kemetic elders have warned,..
“It is always the wandering guinea fowl that catches the stray bullet of the hunter.”
