The Rise of Homeschooling: Latasha Fields

SPEAKER 01 : 0:03

Welcome to Restoring Education in America with Priscilla Ron. She’s a master educator and author leading the conversation to restore the American mind through wisdom, virtue, and truth.

SPEAKER 03 : 0:16

well hello everybody welcome to another episode of restoring education in america i’m your host priscilla ron and i am so thrilled that you’ve decided to join the conversation today something really exciting that’s happening this fall there is a new private school that’s opening it’s called excalibur classical academy And their mission and vision is restoring America’s heritage by developing servant leaders who are keepers and defenders of the principles of freedom for which our founding fathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. So if you’re a young parent who’s looking for a great school for your child, they’re opening kindergarten through third grade. Please go to their website for more information on enrollment at ExcaliburClassicalAcademy.org. Or if you’re interested in teaching, they are looking for amazing teachers. Please go to their website and submit your application. Well, I’m really excited right now because it is school choice time happening all over America. Parents are looking for great educational opportunities everywhere. And one of those amazing choices is homeschooling. Yes, you can be a homeschool mom. And I’m going to bring a master Uber homeschool mom to the stage. Welcome, Evangelist Latasha Fields. Hi. Hi. Hi, Priscilla. How are you? I’m great. I am so excited to have this conversation with you. You have been at the forefront of this whole conversation of education choice and homeschooling. But before we get into the conversation, I’m going to share just a little bit of your bio with our listeners. Evangelist Latasha Fields is a home educator and a nationally recognized advocate for parental rights, educational freedom, and biblical values. Alongside her husband of 20 years, she co-founded Our Report Ministries and Publications, an evangelistic outreach serving families in Chicago. Latasha is the co-founder of Christian Home Educator Support System, a homeschool co-op and K-12 micro school. and Empowering Parents, Igniting Communities, a parental rights organization. Latasha shared her personal testimony with the U.S. Congressional House Budget Committee during a hearing called Poverty in America, Economic Realities of Struggling Families. Her opinion piece entitled God, Parents, and the 1619 Project was published in the Wall Street Journal. Additionally, she has appeared on Fox News, Fox & Friends, Newsmax, C-SPAN, and many other platforms. LaTosha has a degree in business administration from Trinity Christian College. She’s currently in law school and has over 14 years of experience in real estate and nonprofit housing. But her most courageous and important job is mom to her four children. Way to go, mom! How are you doing it all? Please tell us your secret.

SPEAKER 02 : 3:27

Seriously, Christ, like, you know, on cliche, you know, we know the Lord gives us strength to do it. So I give all glory to him for it. Yeah. And my husband. No doubt. I have an amazing husband. Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER 03 : 3:43

Well, that is beautiful that you’re giving honor to your husband. And I totally believe in that. Like if we as wives could really elevate our husbands, that would bring so many things back into order so that our families would be back into order. So we’ve got to kind of change the narrative a little bit around husbands. And we can still be that Proverbs 31 wife and that power changer and provider for our families and doing all the wonderful things while still honoring and uplifting awesome husbands. So talking about your husband, Latasha, you and your husband have grounded your work in a biblical mandate that parents are the primary authority in a child’s life. So how did scripture change and shape your life and your convictions about education and parenting?

SPEAKER 02 : 4:30

I like to share with people that, you know, my husband and I, in short, we didn’t have what we’re giving our children. And so my my passion and my heart and even understanding scriptures and absolutely advocating and understanding God given parental rights. It’s through the eyes of my children. So it’s like through their lenses, if you will. I see what I mean to them. Me and my husband, we see what we mean to our children. And that’s why we fight, you know. And it’s such a beautiful thing. And, you know, and I tell them all the time, you know, what you guys haven’t even had. And so I fight and I advocate because I love my children, right? And I tell people I don’t fight from an organizational perspective. right that that’s not why we’re doing it we really believe that i’ve got to get important to write you know and again i think it comes from a place when you don’t have a mother and a father you know and god bless you with this opportunity um to be an authority figure and a steward in someone else’s life is something it’s an honor you know so i’m honored to be their mom you know i’m honored to um to fight for them and to protect them. And my husband and I say all the time, we’re going to fight for them to the life of us, to the death of us, if you will. So that’s what scripture means to me. We understand Deuteronomy 6. You know, I understand that more now over the last 20 years, what that really means. And one point, like you said, the restoration of the family, it is something I would say seemingly very miraculous when you homeschool, you know, how God began to restore the family and build the family. And yes, our husbands play a big part. I tell people, I wouldn’t probably be able to do what I do if it wasn’t for my husband. He is my biggest champion. He affords our lifestyle so that I can be at home. and teach his babies, you know, and raise our kids.

SPEAKER 03 : 6:27

So it’s such a blessing. You know, if someone goes to your website, they’ll see this big banner of your family. And I was like, look at this beautiful family. You’re just like visually, but I could just tell even through a picture how much love there is in your family. But it’s not like it was just an easy road. I mean, it’s a photo, right? It’s like, so… There’s realities we all know. But your story is really compelling. And when you went to Congress, you shared a little bit of your story. Can you share a little bit for my listeners of how you started?

SPEAKER 02 : 7:05

Yes. So, yeah. So my oldest is almost 30 now. So I had my oldest daughter at 17. And I’m originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I’m here in Chicago. My husband and I, we’ve been here for 14 years now for ministry. And so, you know, typical, unfortunate, typical environment. You know, my grandmother raised my sister and I and, you know, just being one of those teenagers. Right. And I got pregnant. And so when I when I went to Planned Parenthood, I didn’t go for an abortion. I didn’t know anything about that. But it was it was introduced to me. And as I testified, and I’m serious, you know, my grandma was old school. I’m from the South. So we she would say it all the time. You make your bed hard. You lie. You know, that was her. And she didn’t say it that nicely. All right. We’re on a show. Right. But she essentially would tell us that. And so that’s all I can. That’s all I was hearing in that room as this was being proposed to me. And, and I, and I knew that, that that’s not a, um, that wasn’t a decision that I wanted to live with for the rest of my life. And so, you know, keeping my daughter, it was hard, you know, the first eight years I was a single mom and it was not easy. It was not easy, but, but I, I, I persevered. I endeavored through a lot. You know, I shared, I’ve been on food stamps. I’ve been down that journey, you know, and, um, I thank God by his grace that I did not want to be, as I say, I didn’t want to be a statistics. And that’s not to be negative. I did not want to be dependent on government. I had dreams. I had aspirations. I had goals. I wanted to be somebody. And I wanted my daughter to be successful. the thing that God did, I gave my life to him. And that’s what turned my life around. There’s nothing else. Education didn’t do it. I was a very good student in school in spite of everything that I went through. My mom was on drugs and out of prison, but I loved learning. So I was a very good student in school, but it wasn’t until I gave my life to Christ that things began to change for me. And so then I found my husband in the church. Amen. And so here we are, you know, you know, but it wasn’t easy, you know, and that’s what I was testifying and sharing with them that, you know, what I learned from my grandmother is hard work. It really is. You know, she taught us that she was a hard working woman. All my life that I can remember, my grandmother always had two, three jobs. I didn’t grow up in an environment where being lazy or irresponsible or reckless was okay. And so I picked up a lot of those virtues from her, those work ethics, those habits from her. And, um, And so I pressed, you know, I went to college and all that good stuff, you know. And so when the Lord called us to homeschool, Oh, the devil was in trouble then, you know.

SPEAKER 03 : 10:03

Well, before you get into that amazing story, like I want people to know, like when you were testifying, you were really vulnerable and transparent about how you work to get yourself off of being dependent on the government and resilient. And I fast forwarded to the end and I saw Congresswoman Ilhan Omar getting really aggressive

SPEAKER 02 : 10:27

um what was your takeaway and your opinion of her response to you initially i didn’t know what she was talking about because it was just like she was she was ranting and it wasn’t matching her response to me wasn’t matching what i was saying so i was just like very puzzled and i was very angry i got very angry One, they didn’t let me speak again, but I got very angry at the things that she was saying. She was trying, one, she was being very critical of the things of God, stating that we can’t pray our problems away. And here I’m testifying that it was through prayer, it was through the grace of God that I was able to rise above the trials and the things that I was in in my life. And then she was trying to insult me saying because I didn’t want to be like the other Black people, the other statistics, as though being government dependent is something to be proud of. And I said it then and I’ve always said it. I’m never advocated to take away those programs, but what I am advocating for, that they should not be perpetual, right? They should not be like an inheritance where we pass it down. If it’s gonna be a system, then it needs to be a system. And so my point to them was, It’s through hard work. It’s through education. And as I told them, none of you are Congress and senators and reps by being on WAFA. Nobody’s sitting up there is on WAFA. You know, so it’s like you’re perpetuating and you’re pushing policies in a program that you yourself don’t even live on, don’t even live up to. And so that was the fight, you know, but we know the agenda. Right. Yeah. So but that that that was the thing. I felt very, very angry that she was, you know, trying to be insulting. But, you know, because of God, it backfired on her.

SPEAKER 03 : 12:16

Yeah. I mean, it was really disrespectful because none of us are saying pray only. We know that faith without works is dead. Right. So we have to put. work behind our prayers. But the most powerful thing, the God of the universe who created everything, are you telling me I can’t go to him to ask him to change my situation, to bring someone in my path that’s going to give me great advice or open an opportunity? That’s the thing that God does through prayer. When we acknowledge him, then he directs our paths. And so you’re 100% right. But what do you expect from someone who’s not God-fearing? They’re going to say anything that’s anti- what we know that the creator of the universe has told us in his words. So good for you, Mama Latasha. I am so proud of you. Okay, so fast forward. You have this beautiful little girl. You meet your husband in the church. You’ve got a godly husband. At what point did you say, I don’t think public school is where I want my children to learn? Yeah, well, I didn’t.

SPEAKER 02 : 13:16

We didn’t know anything about homeschooling. My background is real estate, so I’m in real estate. My husband’s been a barber the whole time. After we got married, God just started dealing with me about youth. He’s always dealt with me about youth. My daughter was in public school a year after my husband and I got married. the 2007, August 2007, he literally just, I took her to school the first day of school, and I tell her a story, because, you know, God got a sense of humor, and, you know, I stopped, you know, later, I said, well, Lord, could you tell more about all the school clothes, the school supplies, you know, like, if you didn’t want this girl to go back to school, you know, and so here, because God always loves to have a powerful testimony, right, and so I take her to school the first day of school, and as I’m leaving the school, I just hear, I hear God very audibly and says, you’re going to homeschool her, go back and get her, And for me, I just pulled over on the side of the road and I began to wail for self. Now, I’ve known years later why, because it’s like everything that we’re encountering as parents in this country. I understand what what I was wailing and crying about the fight that was ahead, because the things that we’re seeing now in the education system, you cannot have phantom 20 years ago. Right. And so anyway, I go back to the school and I’m just crying, crying, crying. And the first thing I think I’m crazy. I don’t know Louisiana’s laws. I don’t know if this is legal, illegal. I’m literally telling the people the Lord said, give me my kid. And they just like, what? You know, and I’m just like, the Lord says, give me my kid. And so they call her out of the, you know, out of her classroom. And of course, you see me crying. So she started crying and I’m just hugging and crying and saying, mommy, go home school. I don’t know what I’m talking about. So the people let me drop it and let me leave. I call my husband, then I get in the car and I call my husband. I tell him, he literally say, all right, let’s do it. We had no background, no, I didn’t know anything about homeschool, no anything. And so when I got home, After I calmed down and I’m scared to death because I don’t know what’s about that. I don’t know. I just don’t know what is about that. I took this girl out of public school. And so I began to research and Priscilla, to my surprise, what a world, what a world that homeschooling was. And so long story short, it was just a blessing. And because I was in real estate, she was able to travel with me. I mean, to her, it was just a huge field trip every day, all day, right? And so real quick, at the end of her first year of being homeschooled, that’s when the Lord began to deal with me about the evangelistic work that he was adding to my husband and I, to our ministry and helping other families. And so no, I homeschooled her in 2006, and then we opened up the school in 2007. And so then we opened up our school, August 2007, because the Lord just began to deposit. I mean, he just began to deposit. And I just literally overnight became an advocate. I just went crazy. You know, I was just all in our state capitol. I was just, I’m very calm now. I was when I first started, but I just thought everybody can homeschool. It was just like, get your kids out of public schools. You know, and so that’s how I began. So overnight, God just carved this path for me. And I just became an advocate for God given parental rights. And then my stance was just take your kids out because they weren’t getting a Christian education because it’s about discipleship. And one thing I tell people, I’m not homeschooling because of academics. You know, you can get two plus two anywhere. This is not over here. I tell people, I don’t know what you’re doing over there, but over here, this is not about academics. This is about discipleship because I tell people when Christ come back, he’s not looking for valedictorians. He’s not looking for 4.0 students. He’s looking for faith. And so we just believe over here that if we build that foundation of Christ and our children, that they can literally do all things in Christ. And so we are seeing the fruit of that. Yes, we teach our children. Yes, I have a curriculum, but that’s not our motive. That’s not our drive. We want them to know the Lord. And when they know the Lord, they understand the responsibility of learning. They understand that they have to go forth in craftsmanship and workmanship and be entrepreneurs with the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. So that comes when you build the right foundation and they understand that if a man don’t work, he can’t eat. So we understand that, but we got to make sure that they’re disciples of Christ.

SPEAKER 03 : 17:44

If you’re just tuning in, my special guest today is fellow Project 21 ambassador, evangelist Latasha Fields. She is a Uber homeschool mom and founder of Christian Home Educators. So Latasha, in those early days when you’re like, I don’t know what I’m doing, where did you find your curriculum? How did you decide like what content and where you were going to find some of those books and things to teach your children?

SPEAKER 02 : 18:10

Well, first I started asking my daughter. What are they using at school? What they’re doing, you know, but we went to like the school aid store. I don’t got the name of what it was in Baton Rouge, but we would just go there and we would just buy books, you know. And so we did that, you know, like her first year. And unfortunately, I began to see that the public school had been kind of lying to us, too, about her academics, you know. So my baby was really struggling in a lot of areas, you know, simple things. So, again, I was the typical parent. Obviously, I wasn’t doing my due diligence either while she was in public school because I met the awards program. I’m like, yay. But when I get her home and we started working on certain things. She was not up to par, per se. And so that’s what we did the first year. We just bought books and used the library. We used the library a lot. And printing stuff, things like that. Of course, the internet wasn’t the way it is now. It’s just an overwhelming amount of stuff online now. And so that summer is when I was introduced to the curriculum that I still currently use. Our church had a conference. And so one of the ministries introduced me to a curriculum that we use now, accelerated Christian education. So that’s my core. I use many other things now, but that’s the course I’ve been using that curriculum for 18 years now. And so that that’s how we did it. And so I’m kind of old school. I don’t I don’t you know, it’s not broke. I don’t try to fix it. I don’t. You know, and I’ve learned, you know, one thing about homeschoolers, sometimes they will spend a lot of money on stuff because it’s a very it can be a very commercialized industry. People are making a lot of money off of curriculum and things like that. So I try to encourage parents. Don’t break the bank. You know, you can homeschool your kids on a shoestring budget. It doesn’t take a lot to homeschool. You know, there’s there’s a lot of free stuff that you can use. You don’t have to spend all that money. But that’s what we did. That’s how we started it in terms of homeschooling. And then when we opened up our school again, we had the curriculum.

SPEAKER 03 : 20:13

Latasha, that was so smart. And you were just so resourceful. And it sounds like it started out when grandma taught you how to be resourceful and not dependent, and you just figured it out. And I think that level of tenacity and grit is something that’s missing from a lot of our young children to learn that the struggle and that’s okay, you’re smart enough. My dad used to tell me, Priscilla, you’re smart, you can figure it out. And I was like, Oh, I guess maybe I am. It finally clicked. It’s like I can actually go figure out for every problem. There’s a solution. And you did it. And now look at you. You’ve got four beautiful children, two I know are adults. OK, so let’s talk about your Wall Street Journal piece. on the 1619 Project, which has caused a lot of us in the Black community, who are conservatives, some heartburn. Because it’s like, I just want the truth. And I don’t want part of the truth. I want the whole truth. And I want to hear the other side. Because when you and I were growing up, it was like, oh, we’re just going to learn about slavery. Slavery, slavery. You’re a descendant of slaves. You’re a descendant of slaves. And I was like, that’s my history, right? Until I figured out, wait a minute, I am a descendant of enslaved ancestors. My ancestors were doctors, lawyers, tribal leaders, creators, educators. They weren’t slaves. They were enslaved. And there’s a difference between these and that language. But you argue that slavery should not define America or Black identity. Latasha, why do you believe this narrative is especially harmful for children today?

SPEAKER 02 : 21:58

Yeah, because what it does, it teaches them a victimized mentality, you know, and I tell my children all the time and the children that I teach, we’re not victims. You know, we are victorious, you know, so we have to change to be up, right? We’re very victorious and we’re very resilient people. That’s the thing that God has been having in my spirit for years. And I literally teach them Black history, which better say it, American history, because there is no There’s no American history without Black history and vice versa. And so we look at it through the lenses of Proverbs 6 through the ant. When God says, consider the ways of the ant, you slugger. Who doesn’t need a guide or ruler? They know how to build. They know how to prepare. And so that’s what we teach our children. That’s how we teach them what has happened to us and to our ancestors through the lenses of the ant, through the lenses of being resilient. Because everything that the enemy has tried to do, we have been resilient to that perspective. And so that’s how we try, at least through biblical lens, to combat our children having hatred in their hearts for what has been done. And so that’s what we teach them more important, that they’re not victims. Absolutely not. And I say, I’m not a victim. My kids are not victims. We’re overcomers, right? And so that’s why it’s very important for believers to teach history through the lenses of scripture, because we want to make sure that our children’s hearts are not anti-Christ, neither being anti-patriotic to the country as well. So we want to make sure that we combat that narrative and that they sincerely love their neighbors themselves. And so that’s how we posture Black history. And we teach the miseducation of a Negro. We teach it all. And these kids are fine.

SPEAKER 03 : 23:41

Well, I think being able to show young children that they’re more than just the color of their skin is really critical. Because if we don’t speak like that to them, they’ll always be looking at people, judging them by the way they look and do they like me or not? Are they treating me this way simply because of the color of my skin? Or maybe they’re just… not a nice person, you know, or maybe they are a great person and they don’t have an agenda. You know, it’s just like, we’ve got to see people the way God sees us. If we can get to that point. And I don’t think it’s pie in the sky. I think it’s how God created us. He created us to see other people the way he sees us. And, You know, I think that’s wonderful that you’re leading from a biblical perspective and you’re taking charge as the first educator of your children, because we still have parents who think it’s the government’s role to educate their children. OK, have you heard this saying that education is a civil right? Have you heard this? I have.

SPEAKER 02 : 24:43

And I think I used to agree with that. I started homeschooling. And no, education is a parent’s right. And so I get what happened, you know, until, instead of getting started with civil rights, you know, We’re running out of time. You better make it quick. Listen, I thank God for what happened, of course, during civil rights, but I’m going to be honest with you. I’m of the mind now, we should have never won anything. I’m going to be honest. I’m a Booker T. Washington girl, right? I’m a one-room schoolhouse. I believe we should have stayed separate. I’m with his quote. We could be as one as the hand and separate as the fingers. So I believe we should have never been somewhat forced to go in because we didn’t integrate, we assimilated. And it’s okay to be separated because I’m learning through my micro school for over almost 20 years that it is something to our children, understanding our plight from us, right? Because a lot of us are not even out of the fight, right? So I’m still in the thicket of with my people. I’m still in the environment. And so there is a sense of understanding what our children are going through. And then I’m going to say this point, I see for real spiritually, when Black children come out of public schools, because I can go off on a rant about public school. But when Black children come out of the public school system, because that system was designed and set up by our oppressors, and I’m not going to deny that, okay? So when we are not forcing our oppressors to teach us and we And we take back our authority and we begin to educate our children. We see deliverance. We see these children change. I’ve been seeing it for years from Louisiana to Illinois. It is something spiritual when you remove those babies from under that oppressive system. It just is. And so I’m big on exit to protect your kid, get your kid out of the public school system. I have no love for the public school system at all because it was not designed to educate us. I believe we survived. A lot of us thrived. A lot of us survived. But it is best. Number one, it is best for us to either homeschool or build our own schools. We have to take up the torch from Booker T. Washington and build our own schools.

SPEAKER 03 : 27:01

Well, Latasha, we’ve got to land our plane. We’ll have to do another time together. So to my listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. Catch me next time. And remember, educating the mind without the heart is no education. So seek wisdom, cultivate virtue, and speak truth.

SPEAKER 01 : 27:21

Thanks for tuning in to Restoring Education in America with Priscilla Ron. Visit PriscillaRon.com to connect or learn how you can sponsor future episodes to keep this message of faith, freedom, and education on the air.