Okay I just want to rant about homeschooling for a moment. Specifically the ways in which we judge families as 'worthy'of homeschooling. Because I think it's immoral and completely wrong, but I also think there's a better way. So. Right now, there are standardized tests that students need to take every year. I think this is completely unnecessary and stupid, for reasons I might go into later in the rant. We'll see where it goes. Anyway, the only state exempt from these rules is (you guessed it) Wyoming, which is a big reason why my family moved there. The standardized tests assume that children aren't neurodivergent, that they don't have special needs, and that they are willing to be taught according to the letter of the test. They teach families to shoot for the minimum viable product (oh just gotta pass the test or else they'll take my kids away for 8+ hours per day) and they don't actually encourage learning - in fact they prove to be a barrier for learning, as the child must be forced to learn whatever the heck the standardized tests demand. This is unethical, as children should be free to explore their identities and their realities as they will. I believe, instead, that the parent should be tested. I think if you want to homeschool your kid you should be able to show proficiency in the tasks that a child must know - if you don't have similar proficiency to a teacher, then what's the point of homeschooling? I also believe that these tests should be regular and should reflect the things that the child is currently going through - no sense asking a parent of a 6 year old how to do trigonometry, as that skill is not useful to the parent at the moment and will simply distract from learning the things that the parent should be learning - like theory on how humans learn to read, how communication works, how to get your kid moving and active throughout the day (very important in a world of smartphones) and other such things that a 6 year old would need to know. I also believe there should be wandering busses that take kids (and only kids) around to various museums. I think that they could operate in a city for a month or two each year, bringing all the homeschool kids together for a couple months of road trips where they visit every single museum and state park and other such recreational venues that would be conducive to their learning. They could even have days where they shadow professionals at places like hospitals or universities. Essentially trying to get them excited about learning. And I know what you're thinking - 'oh won't the kids run rampant and make it hard to manage - you'll need tons of chaperones and blah blah' yeah that's public school thinking. Homeschool kids are almost always incredibly well behaved, because they're low key kinda TERRIFIED of the novelty of EACH and EVERY moment. Children are natural ruffians - put them in a box for 8 hours every day and they'll burst through it's seams. Unless of course you oppress them sufficiently... When you're homeschooled you have so much more freedom. You can do whatever you want, and that gives breath to new manners of expression and personality. I also think there should be busses that travel between cities as well, so that they can see new places. These will have to be closely monitored by chaperones and teachers, so it would be an extension of the public school system. Once in the new city the kids would join the kids from public school, so they can see what they're missing. Since the parents won't be present they won't be able to prevent the kid from expressing their true feelings, and if they believe in their heart of hearts that they want to go to public school instead... Well, that's perfect because they'll have an opportunity to tell someone outside of their family. I think a lot of the problems with homeschooling are due to the fact that the kids never have the opportunity to advocate for themselves. Who would they tell, their parents? Their potential abusers? Their taskmasters and oppressors and enforcers and discipliners? No, there's no reason to expect that all families will not be like that. Some are going to be bad and abusive, and if we give the opportunity to children to tell people who can help them then they can be liberated from their oppression, insofar as much as they will be allowed to go to school. I don't think the parents should be examined by CPS or anything, I'm not saying their children have to be taken away from them, but the kid should be allowed to take possession of their life and define it in a way that suits them. They are humans and to deprive them of their right to liberty is unethical. If the kid wants to be homeschooled, they must be given a personalized tutor. Whether that be the parent (as most families do) or a substitute teacher that was randomly assigned. (it must be randomly assigned btw or else the rich will have an advantage. The kid didn't earn the money that would be spent on them, so why should they have a greater chance of success than everyone else? Solves most of Cam's reasons against it btw) Anyway. I think by providing resources to parents and access to society to children, I think we can create a new class of human - one who is liberated and free from the weight carried from the past. We can move beyond our savage nature and develop into something bigger and grander, something far stronger and not susceptible to despair and aggression. We can forge a bright future for our children and their children's children, a future so far from the past that it feels alien to them. Something our oppressors (whoever they may be) would be strictly opposed to. I guess what I'm saying is this: there are barriers in place to prevent homeschooled kids from success. It's why homeschooling has such a bad reputation, because these kids grow up to be unfit for society. But honestly... I'd argue that society is unfit for humanity. I think it's something that protected us as hunter-gatherers, and it allowed us to build vast kingdoms to protect our selves. But it paved the way for greed to manifest, and in it's collective form into nationalism and religious fervor. Our hatred of 'others' is derived from our intense need to trust the pack and the family - or is it the other way around? It doesn't matter because the end result is the same - we, as humans, are who we are. We have our traits and our flaws. We have great passions and love fiercely. We strive forward with ambition, and we one day will drive forward into the stars. Our future deserves to be nourished, as do the trees that shade our lawn. For all of posterity, we've languished in misery, to build on our backs the shoulders of giants. I guess what I'm saying is this: these barriers are contrived of the consequences of the past. The result of every human action led to where we are, and the school system is no different. So we should try and repair it and protect it from harm. The wounds of society bleed forth to posterity, but slowly and ever-so-slowly do they heal. Look at our space - we have (as far as we know) the whole solar system, at least! That's more than enough for humanity. If we had the technology to go forward we would, but we just don't. We can't figure it out. We're working on it, but it's still a long ways off. So we need to do what we can while we're here, and pray that something comes about before we consume all our resources and burn out. We've tracked the progress of the past and we've realized that we've come upon a junction - do we leap forward and conquer the stars? Or do we relax into our form and exist and enforce the norm. It's entirely a question of what we're willing to sacrifice to get there, which isn't a burden I'd like the choice to make. I don't have any answers, but I believe there are answers. Perhaps it's just me for which it's suddenly learned? I mean really, is it so out of the ordinary that a person could learn differently than others of their age? For example, for me, I learn things in fits and in bursts - conquering one subject after another, and incorporating it into my knowledge banks. I make notes to myself, and I frequently can't recall what I've learned. Because it's not built for repetition, it's not designed to be labored in force. Instead it's for wisdom, for knowing when to use which tool in what way. It's for knowing where to look, how to know what you know, and conceiving of futures far more imaginative for it. AKA PROBLEM SOLVING. I can't work a job, at least not an entry level one, because every moment is a gesture of will. Eventually, I run out, I burn out, and I burn. The ashes of who I once was give life to a new beginning, and forth from the soil grows my new form. I am a phoenix, I burn brightly and then smolder, then burst forth in a cacophony of pure form. That's just how I do, you know it to be true, and I believe it was a product of homeschooling. Most people cannot conceptualize of it. They see it as simply repeating the motions they knew from their public schooling deception. But that's not what it can be, that's not what it should be, and that's not how I'd like it to be. Growing up I spent long afternoons at the library. The morning was spent with taking care of myself, my family, and the farm - sometimes my duties would rotate, sometimes they'd stay the same. Then, afterwards, I'd go to the library with my family. There we'd stay all day, until eventually we grew tired of using our brains. Then we'd often go to the chinese restaurant in town, where my family could eat for free. After that, home, and perhaps we'd eat icecream and watch a family movie together. Then off to bed, and in the morning we'd take care of ourselves, our selves, and the farm. We loved one another, and we could never dream of harming our daughter, but somehow it happened and look where we are. Alas, she was a fine young lass, if only she'd spoken in the past. I came out when I was almost twenty, and a whole lifetime had passed me by. Now my puberty is just beginning, and I watch as my family goes past. They don't want me to change, but they know it'll never be the same, so why try and fight for an illusion? Oh well. Good news is there's always tomorrow, and together we can face any challenges. If only we were still together. Bah, what do I know? What am I even saying? There's at least four things wrong with me, and I'm a mess financially. I have like, 600$ to my name and I don't have a job. What, am I insane? I'm not built for society. I'm built for humanity, and I'm 29 years old.