Education Is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life

It has taken a global pandemic for many parents to begin questioning the educational system as we know it; however, the problem began long before our world was turned upside down. The trouble started when we lost sight of the true aim of education—when political agendas, teacher performance metrics, and test scores steadily took priority over presenting children with ideas filled with truth, beauty, and goodness.

Now more than ever, parents are asking hard questions about the real value of public education: What are children actually learning? How much time is wasted on unworthy endeavors? Is the content truly being delivered with our children's best interests in mind? Is it really possible for parents to offer a better education than a credentialed teacher? These questions are fueling an unrest that simmers just beneath the surface of an already uncertain and unprecedented moment in our world's history.

As a former teacher turned stay-at-home educator, I urge parents and teachers alike to thoughtfully and courageously question the educational status quo—one that has been yielding less-than-mediocre outcomes for far too long.

The Core Problem

Even if we set aside political propaganda and the social agendas children encounter in public classrooms, much of what is considered purely academic content lacks practical value. Yet the problem runs deeper still. At its core lies the way children are viewed: as cogs in a machine, blank slates to be written upon, jars to be filled. Whatever the metaphor, children are often reduced to utilitarian objects from their earliest years.

Today's children have all but lost their childhood. From overscheduled extracurriculars to being pushed into formal academics long before it is developmentally appropriate, young children everywhere are bearing the consequences of overzealous systems that promise to give them a "head start"—but to what end?

The "Sooner Is Better" Myth

As a culture, we have embraced the idea that sooner is better. The sooner a child reads, the more opportunities he will have. The sooner he can sit still and hold a pencil, the greater his academic edge. Resistance, frustration, even tears are dismissed in the name of progress—because surely this must be what is best. But is it? Would children not be better served by learning how to live life by actually living it, rather than through synthetic environments that bear little resemblance to real life—namely, the classroom?

Children learn far more by working alongside parents in real, meaningful tasks than they ever will by sitting in a classroom for hours on end. Especially in the early years, the focus should not be on formal academics but on cultivating virtuous character through service to the family. Traits such as orderliness, cleanliness, courtesy, and selflessness are developed through genuine contribution. Once these diligent habits are firmly established, academic learning comes with far less resistance and frustration.

Character Before Academics

Few would argue that subtraction should take precedence over integrity, or that learning to read is more important than cultivating gratitude. Yet our educational priorities—both in classrooms and increasingly in homes before children are even school-aged—often elevate academic rigor above character formation. What does this reveal about our culture and what we truly value?

Sadly, even the academic outcomes themselves often fall short of parental expectations. The belief that the ability to regurgitate facts, dates, and isolated bits of information constitutes a meaningful education is, quite frankly, disheartening. Many students graduate with high GPAs, but can they honestly say they have learned how to think? This stems from a system that removes responsibility for learning from the student. Information is delivered, memorized for a test, and quickly forgotten. Students are profoundly underestimated in their ability to grapple with ideas, form connections, and make meaning for themselves.

Beyond the Formula

Education has become overly formulaic—but human beings, and life itself, are far too complex to be reduced to a tidy system.

The notion that a child's education can be confined to a checklist of standards or objectives is absurd. Who decides which pieces of history, literature, or art will ignite curiosity or inspire deeper exploration into the nature of humanity? While children must be presented with ideas, those ideas should not be constrained by narrow curricula or measured solely by letter grades derived from a handful of tests.

Teachers, too, should not be viewed as omniscient authorities or entertainers of information. Most teachers enter the profession with sincere intentions and a desire to inspire the next generation. However, they are often constrained by district mandates, rigid curriculum guides, and layers of bureaucracy that stifle meaningful teaching.

A Call for Change

So where does that leave us? Our system is broken. Our priorities are misaligned. Change is necessary.

We must raise children who can think for themselves—children who are not trained to passively absorb information, but who can evaluate ideas, discern truth, and make meaningful connections. They need less moralistic twaddle and more substantial ideas to wrestle with. Children are fully human, and their capacity to recognize truth and beauty in the world is astonishing.

It is time to stop focusing on the wrong metrics: test scores, standards, facts, and even grades. Instead, we must focus on the quality of ideas presented and on how we view children and education as a whole.

As Charlotte Mason so eloquently stated, "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life."