Why Reclaim Your Child’s Education?

According to experts, educating today’s child is a more complex undertaking than it has ever been before. There is less time nowadays, they say, but more to know and more to learn. Advancements in technology have rendered the delivery of instruction impossible without training by qualified professionals, and if children are not exposed to this training from a young age, they will undoubtedly fall behind.

This is untrue.

Here at BEFK, we do not profess to maintain an anti-education or even anti-school stance. Both terms have different meanings which we will explore over time, but it is important to note today that modern children are biologically the same as yesterday’s children, and need all the same things. In fact, an argument could be made that more skills were needed in the past, when children did not just need knowledge of basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also required practical skills such as farming, animal care, horseback riding, wilderness knowledge, carpentry, masonry, reading maps, nighttime navigation, making clothes, cooking, hunting, foraging, crafting weapons, and even fighting, to name a few.

There have been rapid advancements in knowledge and today’s children have access to continually evolving technologies, but an argument can be made that this has been the case throughout history. The old ways of doing have invariably given way to the new, and all generations have been forced to adjust to some extent.

But what has not changed to any degree is human nature. Based on very old physical and social considerations that arise from ancient physiological needs, children are still born helpless and still require nurture from a close-knit family and community groups. They need time to sleep, eat, grow, play, learn, be alone with their thoughts and together with their peers. They need time to ask questions, reflect, and learn how to navigate the world they must survive in. Today, as in ages past, children need adults who can impart the skills they will need with patience, careful modeling, and faith in their ability to become competent adults who will in turn pass knowledge on to the next generation.

It is true that today’s kids are being forced to navigate a landscape that never stops competing for their attention. Because of this however they may need more time, not less, in order to negotiate complexity. Failure to acknowledge this may not only result in shallow citizens who misuse the advancements they are given, but (possibly worse) a population that has lost the ability to question the common narrative.

Academics matter, but so do kindness, acuity, and courage. Here at BEFK we have committed ourselves to the education of the whole human, compiling a growing list of resources that enhance natural learning. We look forward to growing with you over time, and providing the support necessary to help parents and teachers create independent, lifelong learners.