The Mandatory Preschool Push

I am a regular listener of the Albert Mohler Radio Program. It's a great show for getting a Chistian worldview on the major news stories as well as some stories that don't show up in the major newspapers. Last week he did a show on the problem of manditory preschool and I just wanted to share a little of what I heard because this is a topic that matters a lot to me as a mom and a former preschool teacher in the public schools.

We homeschool our children, but this does not mean we see no value in the public schools, nor does it mean we will never use the schools for our own family. I taught a lot of children who seemed to benefit greatly by being in school because their home life was not so great. I'm not denying that there is a place for public schools in our world. The problem is when politicians look at those very few difficult family and homelife situations and make laws that apply to all of us. There is a big push among many politicians to make school mandatory at age four, possibly even age three. As the mother of a two year old, this really annoys me.

What bugs me is the word "mandatory." In a culture that loves the word "choice," it is frustrating that some people want to take choices away from parents. They want to take our little ones out of our homes and put them in schools in these formative years - for what? So our nation will have higher overall math scores? Really? I'm sorry...I believe in the value of early education, but there is no better learning environment for a three or four year old than at home where she is loved and held and read to and played with. And there is research out there that suggests there is no benefit in this early schooling for long term success anyway. If someone else chooses to send their child to preschool, I think that is great. We actually sent Rachel to preschool two mornings a week when she was three. I have no problem with it as long as the parents made that choice. But we have chosen something else, and that is okay too.

A really big problem with this mandatory preschool push (and Dr. Mohler commented on it as well) is that it sends the message to parents that the government knows best when it comes to children. If you have a problem, look to the government. We have gotten so used to more and more people sending their children away at earlier and earlier ages, that this seems normal. I think that is sad. I used to read a blog called Spunky Homeschool and she had a great article on outsourcing parenthood. She made the point that what used to be normal and expected of moms and dads has been outsourced to the government, primarily through the schools. Mandatory preschool programs seem to be an extension of that.

On a personal note, my daughter will be home with me. Even if there were some law passed at lightening speed before her third of fourth birthday, we will file whatever paper declares her to be a homeschooler...because home is what she needs. She spent the first 11 months of her life in a government institution called an orphanage. We are in no hurry to put her in a different government institution just yet.