Are You Maximizing Your Child's Natural Genius?
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Throughout history, there are stories of the influence of a mother in the life of an accomplished figure.
Thomas Edison was one of them, as your child may be too. His mother, Nancy, pulled him out of school after he was labeled "addled" by his teacher. Mrs. Edison was told that her son could not think clearly. He was only eight years old.
What an unjust misdiagnosis for an eight-year-old who had entered school for the first time. Fortunately, his mother ignored the teacher's assessment, and Thomas would grow up to be known for inventing many things, including the incandescent light bulb.
When he died, he would leave behind over 1000 patents to his name!
Fast forward to today, where many mothers are allowing the medical industry to medicate their children and label them with "learning disorders" because of similar complaints.
A friend told me something awful happened in his apartment building. A tenant committed suicide, and the odor of a rotting body was permeating the hallway, but it took a week for anyone to call the police department.
It's the decision not to act sooner that struck me because it is a strange phenomenon amongst us mortals. We know something is wrong, but we don't want to face it because it feels too overwhelming.
Or maybe we think people will laugh at us for thinking that there "may" be a dead body in one of the apartments. Or maybe we just don’t want to get involved.
Yet, this person told me the residents that week were unusually quiet about the stench; no one mentioned it, but they all suspected the worst.
For many parents, questioning our institutions feels overwhelming. Who are we to know better than a doctor or a teacher? We ignore the stench of over-medicating and dumbing down our children, and we bank on everything turning out fine.
But Gen Z tells a different story. Gen Z, according to neuroscientist and educator Dr. Jared Cooney, is the first generation to under perform in modern history. Gen Z under performs previous generations of the same age on every "cognitive measure."
These measures include basic attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive functioning, and general IQ. In other words, Gen Z is a medicated and dumbed-down generation.
What contributes to higher cognitive measures? An ability to sustain focus and attention, strong memories, competence in reading, writing, and speaking, emotional maturity, and numeracy.
These measures are things children no longer develop and learn in school or at home, unless they are true homeschoolers.
How many Edisons were lost to a system that dumbs down our children, and what does this mean for the individual, our families, and our future?
Dr. Cooney goes on to say that the decline in cognitive development is due to the ed-tech industry, and he is absolutely correct. We know online learning does not work, but still the ed-tech companies and the US government promote it as a viable means of education.
If we know anything about how the US government works, it is that corporate greed pulls the strings. The Covid epidemic conveniently forced the majority of US schoolchildren into virtual schools, and homeschoolers, for some odd reason, jumped on board too.
Parents have their children sitting in front of computers instead of reading real books and having real-life experiences. Online learning is not homeschooling; it's virtual schooling, which is why your child is registered as a "public" school student.
We can name things anything we want, but it doesn't change their reality.
How would Thomas Edison have fared if his mother had signed him up for the K-12 online education? He would have been doing online busywork in the name of an education, and then he probably would have spent his afternoon playing video games.
One thing is for certain: Edison would have had no time left to think about the complexities of inventing a light bulb. He probably wouldn't have had the creative bandwidth either.
But the tech industry is not the only one to blame. There is a lot of money being made by convincing mothers that "having a life" means going back to work and paying exorbitant fees to enroll their children in early education centers of "learning."
Nancy Edison said no to school, and she homeschooled her son. No early education centers, no online learning, just real books and real life.
Each child is a potentially budding genius. Some children learn some things faster than others, but all healthy children have the potential to develop their minds to a very high degree.
Much of it depends upon the parents and the kind of choices they make for their children during their childhood and educative years.
As parents, we can change our future's trajectory if we stop medicating our children and putting them into daycare, early education centers, and government-funded educational programs (schools, virtual schools, charter schools).
Even with homeschooling, not everyone will become a Thomas Edison; however, a generation of true homeschoolers would turn the tide on the dumbing down of America's children.
Not sure what kind of books to buy your children? Get Liz’s list of 10 Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read: CLICK HERE.
Get a copy of Liz’s “could not live without” book, Education’s Not the Point: How Schools Fail to Train Children’s Minds and Nurture Their Characters with gripping essays by John Taylor Gatto and Dorothy Sayers.
About Elizabeth Y. Hanson
Liz helps parents raise and educate , creative, resourceful, and respectful children by combining timeless wisdoms with modern research.
As an educator, writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach, she specializes in guiding families through their children’s early years and homeschooling journey.
Liz is a homeschooling thought-leader, as well as the creator of three unique online courses:
Whether you're navigating early childhood, considering homeschooling, or wanting to nurture a genuine love of learning in your child, Liz offers practical guidance rooted in proven principles.
She is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.
"I know Elizabeth Y. Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”
