SOVEREIGN PARENTAL INSTRUCTION OF CHILDREN

v.

QUASI-GOVERNMENTAL “HOME SCHOOLING”

According to Black’s Law Dictionary – “sovereign” means, “A person, body, or state in which independent and supreme authority is vested…”

Sovereign parental instruction is the instruction of children by their parents in whom independent and supreme authority for that instruction is vested.

It means parental instruction of children in freedom, autonomously, without government interference.

That is what was vested in parents at the inception of the colonies of the United States. Most recently, the popular term for this was “home schooling”. Unfortunately, the term, “home schooling” may not always mean the sovereign ability of parents to instruct their own children unfettered by government interference.

NHELD is committed to the concept and to the tradition of sovereign parental instruction and to the reduction and eventual elimination of government interference.

Government interferes with the sovereign authority of parental instruction by implementing and enforcing regulations and statutes.

When government regulates, government essentially claims supreme authority over what once was the supreme authority of parents. Once government dictates that it has that authority, it then determines how much of that authority it will exercise. In some states, the government exercises very little authority over parental instruction, perhaps only requiring parents to send “notices” to local boards of education or to the state department of education. In other states, the government exercises quite a lot of authority, perhaps requiring parents to utilize certain approved curricula or requiring the children to undergo evaluations.

Depending on the amount of authority government exercises, parents who believe they are “home schooling”, that is, instructing their own children in freedom, in reality may be only undertaking government schooling at home.

QUASI-GOVERNMENTAL “HOME SCHOOLING”

What is the difference between: “virtual school” and “home school”?

What is the difference between: buying a government approved packaged curriculum and home schooling?

It all depends on the definition of “home school.”

What does “home school” mean in your state?

Does it mean that parents are free to instruct their children, without government approval or oversight, choosing the curriculum and materials they believe will be best suited to meet the needs of the child?

Or, does it mean that parents must seek permission before “home schooling”, must seek approval of the curriculum and materials they use, must have their children’s progress evaluated, and must submit to corrective measures if their children’s evaluation show insufficient progress?

In some states, local boards of education are purchasing pre-packaged “home school” curricular materials from newly established companies marketing to the “home school” community, and then “allowing” parents to “home school” their children through the public school system. In other words, the local boards of education may offer parents an incentive of a “free” computer, for example, and the pre-packaged curriculum telling the parents that they may instruct their children at home using these materials. Of course, the local boards of education retain oversight authority and approval of the child’s progress through evaluations, grades, and diplomas. The parents in these states may believe that they are “home schooling”, and in fact the “schooling” does take place “at home”, however, this form of “home schooling” is not sovereign parental instruction.

Some parents may want to choose the pre-packaged government virtual school at home. Others may not.

Each family must make its own choice.

It is most crucial, however, before any choice is made that the family is fully knowledgeable about the type of “home school” that is available from which to choose.

If there is no true distinction between “government school at home” and “home school”, then there is no choice at all; there is no freedom to educate; there is only government school.

Whatever the choice of parents, we must make sure parents have a choice to make.

Only with knowledge can parents retain their freedom.

Join us in our efforts to retain the ability to choose to instruct in freedom.