Do I Have To Be A Scholar?

We home school our kids.  This does not make me a brainiac or scholar.  Education is more than passing on information, its character development, knowledge that changes a way people think, or at least enhances thoughts we already have.  It is experiencing people and life in general.  I am not of the opinion that it takes millions of dollars and a pristine football field to properly educate a child.  What does it take?  Desire, ambition, drive, willingness.  These things can not be bought, they are priceless.   My daughter watches youtube to learn gymnastics, my son used to watch tutorials to learn some advanced guitar playing methods.  We go to the library, take field trips, talk to people, especially older people who pass on real history (because they lived through it).  If we look and see we can take the power of education back into our own hands, institutions do not have to be the necessity they have become.   Everything has its place, I'm not saying throw out schools altogether, what I am saying is let it be one of many choices, not the dominant choice.

The Torah is important, is meant for all people to read and gain wisdom from.   If something as important as Torah is attainable for even the layman than do not short change yourself and think you can't teach basic living and basic academics to your kids?
If we can't do it ourselves we can join a co-op or get a tutor for certain subjects, or even have an older sibling help teach the younger one.  I believe we are ultimately supposed to work together to get things done vs. rely on a system as the primary educator.   Notice the word "primary."
If you truly can't or really don't feel the desire to homeschool your kids yet you see the benefit of it, rest assured, if you send your kids to school you do not have to lose control of their education, you can be as involved as you want to be, and you, being the parent, will still be the primary example for your child.

Here is an interesting example of that.  A friend was over the other day and we got to talking about different religions.  She said she watched a Mormon church go up in a day while she was working in her office across the street.  The foundation gets poured the week before, and then car loads of people come in shifts taking turns to get the structure done.  Wow.  How amazing is that?  Anyone that has had a house built or had an addition put on their home knows the struggles and length of time involved.  But this is the point.  Everyone had a skill, a skill different from the next person, and put them together and a whole project is complete.

While leadership is important and institutions have a role somewhere for some people, I think we would be better off if we take back our families and our lives and all work together.