Reclaiming Influence: Why Parents Should Be at the Center of Their Child’s Education

For the majority of human history, parents were their children’s primary influence emotionally, morally, socially, and intellectually. Learning happened in homes, communities, and through hands-on experiences guided by family values.

But around the early 1900s, that changed. When the modern public school system took root, it reshaped childhood itself. Suddenly, children were in classrooms five days a week, seven hours a day and when you add homework, travel, and after-school activities, that time stretches to nearly 11 hours a day dedicated to school-related work.

For the first time in history, parents were no longer their child’s main influence. The school system became the central voice shaping how students think, believe, and behave.

🧭 The Shift: From Parental Influence to Institutional Control

Over the decades, the school system has gradually replaced the values once passed down from parents with its own institutional version of morality, social norms, and intellectual standards.

Morality

Traditional family-based ethics rooted in personal conviction, respect, and responsibility have been replaced with a system-defined version of morality: one that often preaches “tolerance of all things” rather than teaching discernment, accountability, and truth.

When a child expresses an opinion outside of the system’s boundaries, they risk reprimand not for cruelty or disrespect, but for being “intolerant.”

Social Influence

In addition to controlling curriculum, the system also becomes children’s primary social environment.

If their peers are experimenting with harmful behaviors substance use, disrespect, or unhealthy relationships those become normalized.

Without daily parental guidance, students are heavily shaped by the social microcosm of school rather than by family, mentors, or real-world communities.

Intellectual Influence

Finally, the system dictates how children think.

Rather than fostering critical thinking, creativity, or independent reasoning, schools emphasize memorization, repetition, and compliance.

Students learn to outsource their thinking to authority figures teachers, administrators, or government approved curricula instead of developing confidence in their own ideas.

💡 A Better Way: Returning to the Pre-1903 Model of Education

More and more parents are realizing what was lost and they’re reclaiming it.

They’re returning to a modernized version of the pre-1903 education model, one that prioritizes family influence, hands-on learning, and real-world readiness.

At Creative STEAM Academy, we’ve built a bridge between the heart of traditional learning and the innovation of today.

We believe parents should remain active partners in their child’s education not spectators. Our approach keeps families deeply connected to the learning process while ensuring students receive an academically rigorous, well-rounded education.

🧠 What We Do Differently at Creative STEAM

We teach students to think for themselves — not just remember what they’re told.

Through project-based, cross-curricular learning, students explore science, technology, engineering, art, and math in ways that build curiosity, critical thinking, and confidence.

Our curriculum goes beyond the classroom to include:

• Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship – preparing students for real-world decision-making.

• Ethics & Leadership – guiding students to build integrity and character, not just compliance.

• Social-Emotional Learning – helping students manage emotions, show empathy, and build meaningful relationships.

• Inquiry-Based Science – encouraging students to ask questions, design experiments, and discover answers through exploration.

And because we believe in teaching to the whole child, we help families nurture both academic excellence and emotional intelligence not one at the expense of the other.

❤️ The Power of Parental Partnership

At Creative STEAM, we partner with families to ensure parents remain their children’s primary influence.

Our small class sizes and flexible schedules create space for families to connect, talk, and grow together.

We see ourselves not as a replacement for the home, but as an extension of it.

Because when parents and educators work together, students don’t just memorize, they master.

They don’t just follow rules, they lead.

And they don’t just graduate, they grow into capable, compassionate, independent adults.

🌱 Final Thoughts

The traditional school system has, over time, shifted influence away from parents replacing family values with institutional standards, community learning with conformity, and critical thinking with memorization.

But it doesn’t have to stay that way. Parents can take back the reins. By choosing homeschooling or hybrid learning centers like Creative STEAM, families can raise children who are not just educated but empowered.

Children who grow up guided by their parents’ values, encouraged by curiosity, and prepared for the real world.

Because education shouldn’t replace family influence it should strengthen it.