🔦 Community Spotlight

1. Your child can't think critically or bounce back from challenges without play and emotional learning first. Academic skills alone won't prepare them for real life. (link)

2. The system pushes our daughters toward college debt, then makes it nearly impossible for them to afford staying home with their own kids later. You shouldn't have to choose between motherhood and financial survival. (link)

3. Your child learns calculus but loses their creativity. Schools treat college as the only path to success, ignoring the unique gifts and dreams your kid actually has. (link)
   

4. Screen-raised kids are actually starving for real-world freedom. Your child needs unsupervised play and face-to-face time with friends—not another hour online. (link)

🛠️ Tools & Resources

Great American Heroes
Bring history alive for your child with inspiring heroes, faith-filled lessons, and unforgettable stories.

Homeschool Piano
Fun, step-by-step piano lessons for every level—start free today!

Readability Tutor
An AI tutor that listens as your child reads and boosts focus instantly.

International Virtual Learning Academy
Accredited K–12 online school with teachers, mentors, and flexible learning.

Little Monsters Universe 
Your young child falls in love with science through experiments they can actually touch and do. (From Pre-K to Grade 2.)

When Students Can't Decide for Themselves

A few months ago, I met a young woman at a family gathering. She was about to start university, and when I asked her about her plans, her answer caught me off guard.

"I'm so stressed," she said. "I don't know what degree to choose. I just... I don't know what I want to do."

I asked her what interested her, what she was passionate about.

She looked at me with tears welling up in her eyes.

"That's the problem," she said. "I don't know what I want. All my life, my teachers and parents told me what to do, which subjects to take, which direction to go. Now that I'm on my own, I can't make a decision. I just want someone to tell me what to do."

This conversation has haunted me ever since.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Here's something most of us don't want to admit: our education system is creating a generation of people who can't make decisions for themselves.

Think about it.

From the moment a child enters school, we tell them what to do.

When to sit. When to stand. What to study.

How to think about a problem. What the "right" answer is.

We reward obedience and punish independent thinking.

We praise students who wait quietly for instructions and label those who question or explore on their own as "difficult" or "distracted."

John Taylor Gatto, a veteran teacher who spent decades in the classroom, put it brilliantly: "Good students wait for a teacher to tell them what to do. This is the most important lesson of them all: we must wait for other people, better trained than ourselves, to make the meanings of our lives."

Read that again. Let it sink in.

We're teaching children that someone else should make the important decisions in their lives.

That they're not capable.

That they need to wait for an expert, an authority figure, someone "better trained" to tell them what matters, what to pursue, what to become.

Is this really what we want for our kids?

The Cost of Compliance

Remember your own school days.

Remember how it felt when you were genuinely curious about something, but the teacher said, "That's not in the syllabus."

Remember when you wanted to explore an idea further, but you had to move on because the bell rang.

Remember when you had to memorize information you didn't care about for a test you'd forget the day after.

How did that make you feel?

Now imagine living like that for 12-16 years of your life. Every single day. Being told what to do, what to think, what matters. Never having the space to figure out who you are or what you want.

Then suddenly, you graduate. You're 18 or 22 years old, and everyone expects you to know exactly what you want to do with your life. Choose a career. Make big decisions. Know yourself.

But how can you know yourself when you've spent your entire life following someone else's instructions?

This is the crisis we're not talking about.

Students who get straight A's but have no idea what they're passionate about. Young adults who can solve complex equations but can't decide what they want for breakfast.

People who are academically brilliant but emotionally and mentally paralyzed when faced with choices.

The girl I met at that gathering wasn't weak or indecisive by nature.

The system made her that way.

It trained her, year after year, to outsource her decision-making to authority figures.

And now, when she needed that skill the most, it simply wasn't there.

The Power of Early Decision-Making

Here's what research and common sense both tell us: children who are allowed to make age-appropriate decisions from an early age grow into confident, self-aware adults.

When a five-year-old chooses between two shirts to wear, they're not just picking clothes.

They're learning to understand their preferences.

They're practicing decision-making.

They're building confidence in their own judgment.

When a ten-year-old decides how to spend their afternoon—whether to read, play outside, or build something—they're discovering what brings them joy.

They're learning to listen to their inner voice.

When a teenager chooses what to study based on genuine interest rather than what looks good on a college application, they're developing intrinsic motivation.

They're learning that their interests matter.

That they matter.

These might seem like small things, but they're not.

They're the building blocks of a well-developed sense of self.

They're how humans learn to trust themselves, understand their values, and navigate life with confidence.

Children who make decisions learn from the consequences.

They learn that some choices work out and others don't—and that's okay.

They learn resilience.

They learn to adjust and try again. They learn that they're capable.

Where Homeschooling Fits In

This is where homeschooling, done right, can be transformative.

I'm not talking about recreating traditional school at the kitchen table.

I'm talking about a fundamentally different approach—one that puts the child at the center of their own learning journey.

In a well-designed homeschool environment, children can:

• Pursue their interests deeply, not just skim the surface because the curriculum moves on

• Learn at their own pace, spending more time on what challenges them and moving quickly through what comes easily

• Make real choices about what to study, how to study it, and when

• Experience natural consequences of their decisions in a safe, supportive environment

• Develop critical thinking by questioning, exploring, and discovering rather than memorizing

• Build a strong sense of self because they're not constantly comparing themselves to 30 other kids

The key phrase here is "done right." Homeschooling isn't magic.

It requires parents who can step back from control and step into guidance.

It requires creating space for children to explore, fail, learn, and grow.

It requires trusting that children are naturally curious and capable.

What We Can Do Differently

Whether you homeschool or not, there are ways to help children develop their decision-making muscles:

Start young. Let your five-year-old choose between two healthy snacks. Let your eight-year-old plan a family activity. Let your twelve-year-old decide how to organize their study time.

Ask questions instead of giving answers. When your child asks you something, sometimes respond with, "What do you think?" or "How could you find out?"

Create space for boredom and free play.

Some of the best decision-making practice happens when children have unstructured time to figure out what to do with themselves.

Respect their choices, even when they're different from what you'd choose.

Your child's favorite color doesn't have to be your favorite color.

Their interests don't have to match yours.

Let them experience consequences.

If they choose not to study for a test, let them face the grade.

If they decide to spend all their allowance at once, they'll learn about budgeting the hard way—which is often the best way.

The Bottom Line

That young woman I met at the family gathering deserved better. She deserved an education that taught her to know herself, trust herself, and make confident decisions. Instead, she got training in compliance.

Your children deserve better too.

The world needs adults who can think critically, make decisions confidently, and navigate uncertainty with resilience. It needs people who know who they are and what they stand for. People who don't just wait for someone to tell them what to do.

We can give them that—but only if we're willing to let go of control and give them practice, starting now.

Because if we don't teach our children to make decisions for themselves, we're not actually educating them. We're just training them to follow instructions.

And that's not the same thing at all.

✨ PS: What decisions did you make for yourself as a child? How did those experiences shape who you are today? I'd love to hear your thoughts—reply and let me know.