Last week I had the opportunity to share my vision for what the future of education should look like in a workshop titled, "Be the CEO, Not the Grunt of Your Child's Education" at the 2019 CAPE-NM Homeschool Convention.  

For those who attended here is a copy of the slides and the bibliography with links to the video talks I referenced:

I went on to explain how the school model which permeates our society and our thinking places parents in the grunt role contrary to God's design.  The school model can even be present in our homeschools when we adopt curriculum based on standards established by someone far removed from the student and then we become a slave to that curriculum.  

The major barrier for us as parents to overcome in order to take on the CEO role, is that this school model is not only codified in law, it is embedded into our culture and thinking as most of us were raised within this model.  However, a better model is available to us today if only we have the courage to abandon the old way of thinking,  a model I call the Network Model of Education. ​

This week in Santa Fe I watched the political machinations of what many called the "most extreme" abortion bill in the nation[1].  I read the bill[2], I read the existing law that the bill is repealing[3], I read the other abortion law that remains on the books[4], and I read the New Mexico Supreme Court ruling that grants a woman a right to a “medically necessary” abortion under the Equal Protection Clause of the New Mexico constitution[5].

I saw the TeenPact participants reaction to this bill and the mobilizing of people to oppose the bill.  I read the rhetoric on both sides (all inaccurate and inflammatory). I spent 20 minutes in the Governor’s office listening to the secretary answer continuous calls opposing the bill. I received urgent messages via group text and Facebook to act to oppose this bill.  I emailed and spoke to my representative.  I discussed the issue with other moms.  I saw the polarization of the people around this issue.  And I prayed.  And I really felt that God was telling me – “don’t waste your energy, this is not the battle I'm calling you to fight”. 

My heart was heavy on this issue but I could not get over the feeling that it’s too late – this battle has already been lost but God was calling me focus on the battle ahead and not to become distracted or lose hope because I'm still needed to fight the battle He has called me to.  In a society and culture where a large portion of the population supports abortion, where organizations and millions of dollars are mobilized to support abortion legislation and in a state where the party most likely to support abortion controls both houses and the executive, opposing this legislation is not the battle I'm called to fight.  Instead this was meant to spur me, to solidify my resolve, to focus my energies on the battle he is calling me to:  the battle for the hearts and minds and souls of people (especially young people).

​This week I witnessed seventy or more young people who presented themselves well, were articulate, kind and unafraid.  They were excited to learn about the Biblical role of government and to grow in their relationship with Christ.  They had the courage to speak out on issues among their peers and the courtesy to listen to each other.  They were undaunted by asking questions of legislators and strangers in the Roundhouse. They were enthusiastic, excited and full of energy. I was encouraged and awed and challenged by them.  And I saw how the abortion bill broke their hearts and how they could not understand the culture, society, and political atmosphere that my generation is preparing to hand over to them.  What the world needs most is more of them.  We cannot legislate morality or beauty or truth, it has to be cultivated, and grown, and taught, and shared.

[1] Read them yourself to determine if you agree.
[2] HB51 
[3] Law being repealed 30-5-1, 30-5-2, 30-5-3
​[4] New Mexico Partial-birth Ban 30-5A-3, 30-5A-5
[5] Naral v. Johnson , Summary
Note: Both Roe v. Wade and Naral v. Johnson supersede parts of the law being repealed

To search current New Mexico Law visit New Mexico Compilation Commission

​Izzy, 6 years old, painted this for Mother’s Day. Her older sister did one with a turquoise door. The initial “M" in the wrought iron railing is for Mom.

Perhaps the best way to evaluate whether a class has a reasonable cost is to establish some kind of comparison.  For example, what do you pay your babysitter for an hour?  $7.50/hour?  $8.50/hour?  $10/hour?  Indeed.com reports that the average babysitter in Albuquerque gets paid $14.28/hour but the most commonly reported is $7.25/hour.  Isn't a class with a dynamic and experienced teacher that can impart new ways of learning in a loving environment worth more than that? How should you evaluate a class with an instructor who is passionate and knowledgeable and who will invest in our children and offer opportunities you can not - such as opportunities to learn from another adult, opportunities to interact with other students, opportunities to utilize materials, supplies, tools that may not be available to us, and opportunities to learn from a different perspective. Many people think public school is 'affordable' but perhaps that is only because someone else is paying for it.  

Perhaps we should compare it to time spent in a homeschool co-op.  Let's assume a typical homeschool co-op meets for 2 hours twice a month for a total of 28 hours in a semester.  That means that a parent has to invest 28 hours of time to teach in that co-op.  If we assume your time is worth minimum wage (again a conservative estimate because we know loving and teaching children is worth much more than minimum wage) of $8.95/hour, then you are 'investing' i.e. paying $250.60 per semester not including any co-op fees to be a part of the co-op. This is obviously a very affordable option for families with multiple students who can all participate for that one cost.  Economists measure the value of your time in terms of 'opportunity cost'.  That is, what could you earn during that 28 hours if you did something else or what is and hour or two of free time worth to you?  Using the 'opportunity cost' method, the cost of investing in a co-op may be much higher for you.   It was for me.  There are limits to co-ops as well, such as, what if the class offerings don't fit your needs?  Or what if you don't have 28 hours to invest?  Then paying for an independent class might be a good alternative, especially if it costs any where near $8.95/hour.  After all, how much might you value an hour of free time for yourself?

How do independent classes advertised by PLANT, Inc. compare? 

Of course, there are factors besides price to consider when evaluating an independent class.  These factors include:
 

• level of expertise of the instructor
• difficulty of subject matter
• whether teaching the class yourself or outsourcing makes more sense
• the amount of supplies or special materials needed for the class
• class size
• benefits of learning among other students

 
These additional factors are attributable to those classes that are more that $8.95/hour.   For example, Apologia Biology is a high school lab science class taught by an experienced teacher, which requires a number of supplies (such as dissection supplies) and might be something you would rather someone else teach.   The Robotics class makes use of a Lego Mindstorm robot.  The Nature Study course is taught by a PhD in Biology who will assist the students to actually participate in scientific discovery.  Spanish is taught by a native Spanish speaker from Mexico.  STEAM requires a number of supplies.  Fine Art makes use of professional art supplies, is taught by a Fine Artist, and has very small class sizes to ensure individual attention.
 
How do these classes compare to other available classes in Albuquerque?
 
Using a similar methodology by taking the advertised price of a class, calculating the total number of hours and determining the hourly rate for the class, here's how various classes compare.  Any registration fees or membership fees have not been included nor have any eligible discounts been considered.

​The world is a constantly changing place.  The pace of change is rapidly increasing.  'Structure' is being replaced with 'interconnectedness'.  Just like the large supercomputer has given way to the worldwide web, the basic unit of the economy, the organization (or corporation), is transitioning into an inter-organizational network.  

​Our education system is failing because it is failing to change in the right way.  While there maybe subtle changes that occur in what is taught or how things are taught, the overall structure of education has not changed.  Our education system is an 'institution'.'  It is designed to train people for an economy based on organizations, hierarchy, management structures, and limited (closed) participation.  It is bureaucratic not fluid.  It is based on compliance, submission, rule-following, time-punching.  It trained workers well for manufacturing jobs and factories in which organizations where the primary structures in the economy.  But while the structure of our economy is changing rapidly, moving away from the individual institution, the institution of education has remained largely unchanged for over 100 years.  Worse, recent efforts to improve education have meant greater federal involvement moving toward a more centralized education system.  Research has shown that more centralized education systems consistently produce a homogeneous, and well-trained work force advantageous for sophisticated manufacturing or services, while more decentralized systems create a talent base for creative industries.  In other words, our educational structure is moving backwards relative to our economy.

​This is not only bad news for our children; it is bad news for our economy as well and our future.  Education is one of the building blocks of the economy.   As our economy is moving in the direction of decentralization and network interconnectedness, our education system is moving in the opposite direction becoming less fluid, more bureaucratic.  The failure of our educational model to change structurally to match our economy is not only hurting our children it will eventually prevent our economy from thriving.  

​In economic terms progress occurs when obsolete industries are allowed to die.  As painful as it may be for the workers involved in, for example, the telegraph industry where those who lost their jobs had to be retrained or take lower paying jobs, the death of the telegraph industry made the growth of other industries possible.  Government intervention to save the telegraph industry would have been detrimental to progress.  In the same way, the educational institution needs to be allowed to die.   We need to stop training our children for manufacturing or service jobs that take place in an organizational hierarchy and start thinking in terms of interconnectedness and multi-hubbed networks that strive toward coherence and are system focused with loosely controlled participation.  

​What would an interconnected network model of education look like?  It would look like a complex web of intersecting and linking resources that are not confined to closed structures like schools or governments.  It would mean each student has a unique relationship to a vast number of different types of resources that are linked together to form a system that ultimately provides a greater opportunity for learning than any single institution can provide.  It would mean that through the web of connections the student could gain skills, information and knowledge much more quickly, efficiently and to a greater degree than currently possible within the institutional structure.  Instead of a giant super computer housed in single location, taking up an entire building of space, it would look like the internet with multiple smaller nodules connected together so that the computer power of all is harnessed together and computer capacity far outstrips the supercomputer and information is drawn from vastly greater variety and it is all done with less cost and less space.

​More importantly, it would mean our children would be gaining creative, productive skills suited for the information age rather than the industrial age.  It would mean they could fit into an ever changing economy that is interconnected and fluid; that they would succeed in loosely controlled economic exchanges; that they would carry us into the future with skill and knowledge and creativity, not try to fit into dying industries of the past.  

As many of you have noted when you went to notify this year, the PED has chosen to continue to use their interpretation of the law and require that homeschool families not only read their interpretation but check an acknowledgement check box to indicate that we agree with their terms and conditions. They have also chosen to use what many of you, and the CAPE Board, believe to be an aggressive tone by bolding words such as “obligated,” “required,” “must,” etc. We also believe that they have chosen to use a law specifically meant for students attending public school and place the burden of a certain amount of hours of educational instruction time on homeschool parents. Not only are we concerned about them using this section of that law, but we are concerned that in the future they may choose to use other sections of the law and apply them to homeschool families, as well, particularly Section B of 22-2-8.1. With this same requirement of educational instruction time, they state that we are NOT required to log these hours, nor will they request or require us to provide such logs. It seems confusing to us that they ask us to sign that we understand that these hours of educational instruction are our responsibility, but they will not require it of us.

All this to share that at this point in time, CAPE would like to make the following suggestion to families that have waited diligently to send in their notification form for the 2018/19 school year:

1) We encourage everyone to send in a paper registration form rather than the online form. The online form WILL require you to sign that you have read and understand their interpretation of the law. This is the link to the paper registration form. 
https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Home-School-Registration-Form-Updated.pdf

2) When you send in the paper form, if you feel comfortable, only send in the 3rd page, or the page titled “Notification and Establishment of a Home School.”

3) We encourage everyone to send the notification form via USPS Certified mail. Using this method requires the PED to sign for your notification form so that you have proof that it was received.

4) We encourage everyone to send these notifications in as close to July 4th, as you feel comfortable, to exercise our independence as a group.

5) HSLDA has recommended that we include a statement in the notification:

“I have enclosed my Notification and Establishment of a Home School form in accordance with Section 22-1-2.1(A) NMSA 1978. However, the Statements of Understanding of Home School Parent/Family is not required by New Mexico law. In addition, I object to the attempt to force me to confirm the 11 “statements of understanding” as I do not agree with all of the interpretations of New Mexico law that are contained in this document. I cannot in good conscience sign the Statement of Understanding of Home School Parent/Family document and it is not included.”

We understand that every family needs to do what they feel comfortable doing, and we have included the New Mexico laws pertaining to homeschooling for you to read as you make your decision. We feel that, working together, we can place pressure on the PED to simply reside within the law (send in a Homeschool Registration Form) without the added necessity of signing that we understand, and essentially agree to, their interpretation of the law. However, we ask that you act in a way that your conscience allows you to proceed.
If you are not a member of CAPE or HSLDA, we would encourage you to join soon. It is not a necessity, but in order to continue fighting this battle, we need support from Homeschool Families across the state. HSLDA is dedicated to fight for your rights as homeschool parents. You can find more information at www.cape-nm.orgor www.hslda.org .

Finally, please continue to be in prayer with CAPE and homeschool families across the state. CAPE’s mission has and always will be to “protect parents’ rights, informing, encouraging, and supporting homeschool families in New Mexico.” We are grateful to serve you and thank you for joining with us!


In HIM,
​
The CAPE Board
New Mexico Laws specific to Homeschool
22-1-2.1. Home school; requirements. (2014)
Any person operating or intending to operate a home school shall:
A. submit a home school registration form made available by the department and posted on the department’s web site to notify the department within thirty days of the establishment of
the home school and to notify the department on or before August 1 of each subsequent year of operation of the home school;
B. maintain records of student disease immunization or a waiver of that requirement; and
C. provide instruction by a person possessing at least a high school diploma or its equivalent.
22-12-2. Compulsory school attendance; responsibility. (2015)
A. Except as otherwise provided, a school-age person shall attend public school, private school, home school or a state institution until the school-age person is at least eighteen years of age unless that person has graduated from high school or received a high school equivalency credential. A parent may give written, signed permission for the school-age person to leave school in case of hardship approved by the local superintendent.
B. A school-age person subject to the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law shall attend school for at least the length of time of the school year that is established in the school district in which the person is a resident or the state-chartered charter school in which the person is enrolled and the school district or state-chartered charter school shall not excuse a student from attending school except as provided in that law or for parent-authorized medical reasons.
C. Any parent of a school-age person subject to the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law is responsible for the school attendance of that person.
D. Each local school board and each governing body of a charter school or private school shall enforce the provisions of the Compulsory School Attendance Law for students enrolled in their respective schools.
New Mexico law that we feel is wrongly being applied to homeschool students:
22-2-8.1. School year; length of school day; minimum.
A. Except as otherwise provided in this section, regular students shall be in school-directed programs, exclusive of lunch, for a minimum of the following:
(1) kindergarten, for half-day programs, two and one-half hours per day or four hundred fifty hours per year or, for full-day programs, five and one-half hours per day or nine hundred ninety hours per year;
(2) grades one through six, five and one-half hours per day or nine hundred ninety hours per year; and
(3) grades seven through twelve, six hours per day or one thousand eighty hours per year.
B. Up to thirty-three hours of the full-day kindergarten program may be used for home visits by the teacher or for parent-teacher conferences. Up to twenty-two hours of grades one through six programs may be used for home visits by the teacher or for parent-teacher conferences. Up to twelve hours of grades seven through twelve programs may be used to consult with parents to develop next step plans for students and for parent-teacher conferences.
C. Nothing in this section precludes a local school board from setting a school year or the length of school days in excess of the minimum requirements established by Subsection A of this section.
D. The secretary may waive the minimum length of school days in those school districts where such minimums would create undue hardships as defined by the department as long as the school year is adjusted to ensure that students in those school districts receive the same total instructional time as other students in the state.
E. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, provided that instruction occurs simultaneously, time when breakfast is served or consumed pursuant to a state or federal program shall be deemed to be time in a school-directed program and is part of the instructional day.

​We have done a little of the catch up here and there, and I always plan to get to those extra subjects, but the summers fly by with the express speed of all good things, and although we have a great time and create wonderful memories, we don’t get much homeschooling done.  After all these years, my wife still does the homeschooling, and thank God she’s good at it, and I work.

​But you know, I’ve found that for me, the homeschooling I’m mostly involved in is the informal stuff, and I guess some of the less formal stuff.  The best part of each day is often the family reading time before bed.  The books we read together, and the discussions and commentaries by all three of us, are I think an important part of my daughter's education (and, incidentally, of mine and my wife's as well).  Our family church time, when we read scripture or theology or listen to a podcast, and discuss theological and spiritual points and viewpoints, is a great learning and spiritual growing time for all of us.  Our kickball games we do with PLANT, in which my wife and I coach and ref, are a wonderful social environment for my daughter and her friends, and she has made some good new friends there.  I get to be a part of that, and it has been a treasure for me.

​This is all, you might say, just fathering, not homeschooling.  And you might be right.  But it is what I can do, and how things worked out, and maybe that’s the hand of God at work.  Life is, after all, very short, and children grow so fast, and, it is said, Men plan, and God laughs.  One thing I hope I’ve learned in life is to accept things, and go with the flow.  Maybe 'just fathering' is a critical part of homeschooling, and it is a gift we should cherish.

​I often hear homeschool moms anxiously questioning whether their homeschool record keeping is adequate.  The State of New Mexico requires homeschoolers to track the number of days of school and keep records of immunizations.  I have a pile of yearly lesson planners where I have diligently recorded everything we did for 180 days each year.  However, these records never inform my homeschool.  In fact, I have never looked back on them (until now).  It really doesn't help me to know that on October 29, 2013 we did: Daily Paragraph Editing, read 2 pages of Astronomy, wrote a paragraph on Harriet Tubman, practiced multiplication tables with playing cards, did pages 50,51 in Singapore 5A math curriculum, memorized AWANA scriptures, watched chapter 3 of Latin for Children DVD and had a violin lesson.  While this may be what the state requires I submit to you that this is not the only kind of recordkeeping we should be doing.  We didn't start home educating to please the state so we should develop recordkeeping systems that are consistent with why we are home educating:  a desire to raise a kind, generous, thinking person.  

​By looking back through the yearbooks we can see how much we actually do in a year (a lot!).  It's encouraging.  I can also see how she has grown and matured.  I see how her understanding of the world is maturing through her art and models.  I can evaluate her progress in English by comparing penmanship, spelling and grammar in her notes and writing.  I can witness her being kind and loving or excited and proud of her accomplishments. 

The other important record I like to keep is videos.  Videos can capture even more than pictures.  For example you will be able to see how your child's motor skills are progressing, how oral communication skills are improving, how knowledge is being processed and assimilated.  You can store your videos by year on a thumb drive - they are harder to get out to show friends but still useful for informing your homeschool and enjoyable to watch.  You can retain videos similar to the list of still-life pictures.  Especially important is to have the student narrate their science experiments, capture their performances to see how they have grown over time, require memorization and recitation of poems, scripture, or speeches.  Capture their sports achievements but also informal interactions with friends, which reveal the kind of person, they are becoming.

​My biggest regret with this aspect of my homeschool recordkeeping is that I have not been as intentional about it as I have about the list of school days I keep for the state.  I wish I had more pictures of the everyday (those are my favorites).  I wish had I a better system of organizing homeschool pictures as I take them (something as simple as putting all homeschool related pictures into a folder weekly) so that putting together the books at the end of the year would be easier.  

Captions within the yearbook can be helpful to summarize all that you have accomplished in the year.  For example, you can include a list of books read or projects completed with picture proof!  So while we may need to keep our list of lesson books for the state, I encourage you not to stop there but to be intentional about recording the joys and sorrows, the highs and lows, the growth in wisdom and stature that your home education is achieving.  And I pray, that doing so will be an encouragement that this hard thing called homeschooling is a worthy endeavor.