The Seven Lessons That Schools Currently Teach Through Invisible Curriculum By John Taylor Gatto 1. Confusion Virtually nothing selected by schools as basic really is basic. Virtually none of the school sequences is logically defensible; sane people seek meaning not disconnected facts. Schools teach the unrelating of everything. 2. Class Position Schools teach that children are born into a class and must stay in the class to which they have been assigned. It is an Egyptian view of life strongly contradicting the natural genius of the United States, violating its historical covenants. 3. Indifference By bells and other means, I teach that nothing is worth finishing and hence nothing worth starting -- except as a way to escape the intimidation of authority. 4. Emotional Dependency By a skillful use of rewards and punishments, carrots and sticks, schools teach that free will, even in matters as basic as urination, must be subordinated to the whim of an authority figure. 5. Intellectual Dependency In school, teachers tell you what to think about, how long to think about it, in what order to think about it, and what evaluation should be placed on ideas and their management. 6. Self-Alienation By breaking children away from families, cultures, religions, and neighborhoods -- private sources of strength, and by the practices described in 1 thru 5 above, schools teach that you must not trust yourself, you must wait for techers to tell you not only what to do, but whether what you have done is good or bad. William Torrey Harris, U.S. Commissioner of Education, 1889-1906, urged that schools deliberately teach self-alienation as the way to pedagogical success. 7. You Are Watched Schools teach that you can't hide, that there is no sanctuary from the oversight of the State father. Each action produces a numerically coded report, the accumulation of these numbers and other, anecdotal, personal histories produces a profile of behavior which tells the child and others who he is. __________________ PATHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ATTENDING GOVERNMENT COMPULSION SCHOOLING 1. Indifference to the adult world and its announced standards. 2. The elimination of curiosity and concentration 3. Difficulty connecting present to future. 4. Difficulty connecting present and future to past. 5. A taste for cruelty; moral numbness. 6. Uneasiness with intimacy and candor; disloyalty to families and friends. 7. Obsessively materialistic. 8. Dependent, passive and timid in the face of new situations. Article written by John Taylor Gatto Mr. Gatto is available for keynote speeches, talks, and workshops for fee plus travel expenses. Write to him at 235 West 76th St., NY, NY 10023 or FAX (212) 721-6124

Do YOU Have What it Takes to Homeschool? By Carol Wickwire One of the most difficult aspects of homeschooling is the ability to take the leap of faith that YOU are most capable of teaching your child. Most parents are products of the public school system, and have not been taught that they are capable. Government schools have brainwashed children for the last century into believing that only teachers can teach, and that they must look to others to be told what to do. When our children graduate, very few are equipped to become entrepreneurs, inventors or explorers. They are trained  to find an hourly paying job with a boss who will tell them what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. This is partially the result of social engineering through the public school system, which was advanced at the turn of the last century. At the beginning of the industrial revolution, the industrial giants of the day foresaw a need for a large, pliable workforce to work in the  mills and factories. They needed worker bees who could take orders, be able to sit for long hours and do repetitive labor for small sums of money. Thus, the public schools eventually became the training grounds for a workforce which brought us through the industrial revolution, and into what is now a technological revolution. The need for this kind of menial labor has been replaced by a need for technically proficient young people, with solid academic backgrounds, who are able to specialize in the field of their interest. Detractors of homeschooling claim that our children will have learning gaps. This is so true, I'm afraid. Unfortunately, what they won't tell you is that everyone has learning gaps. It is simply an impossibility, given human nature, for everyone to know all there is to know about everything. So quite without meaning to, I'm sure, these naysayers have really pointed out a human failure rather than an academic failure. Even great physicians have their own areas of expertise, and would hardly treat a patient with a problem in another specialty field - they would consult a specialist in that area. Would you fault your family doctor for consulting a cardiologist when you are having heart problems? So, rather than considering these areas of little or no knowledge as “learning gaps“ we will instead refer to areas of interest and accomplishment as “specialties“. Thirty years ago, obtaining a college degree was the hallmark of success. Today it will get you a minimum-wage job. The key to success today is specialization; whether that be in computers, engineering, or cabinetry - or as an athlete, entrepreneur, or author. A four-year liberal arts degree will give you an interesting knowledge base on which to springboard into your chosen field, but in and of itself, is practically useless. Today's young people can find success outside of the typical four year college program by utilizing apprenticeships, vocational programs or by participating in missionary work or a family business. So I encourage you as parents who care about how your children are educated; how your children are influenced; how your children are treated; and how your children are spiritually developing, to take that great leap of faith, and bring your children home to school. You simply cannot, as caring, loving parents who are committed to your child's development, do worse than the public schools.