Leigh Bortins Classical Conversations

Nakita Kolov, the Russian nightmare.

No, the devil's nightmare here. From it's time to man up. Challenging men to step into their true manhood. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it.

Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. Another program powered by the Truth Network.

Thank you so much, Stu. It was really fun to be on this morning. It was tremendous. And I was so glad that, you know, the national news, they showcase a lot of things. They showcase a lot of bad things. And there's so many bad things.

Sadly, the sexualization of our children in the public schools and other things. And to see someone like you doing what you're doing, showcasing a national platform got me excited. Tell everybody a little bit, I want you to tell everyone what you're up to with this amazing decoration project that you're doing.

Before that, tell everyone a little bit about yourself. Who is Leigh Bortlin in this whole classical conversations curriculum of yours that's kind of taken the homeschool world by storm? Yeah, I mean, I'm very fortunate person. My husband and I have four sons, and we've been homeschooling for 40 years. And I've been like a freedom maximalist since I was a 12 year old. And so when we started having children, we were like, there's no way we're handing them over to the government. And we had not heard of homeschooling. And then we stumbled on it and we're like, this is for us. And so in 1997, we started organizing once a week, what we call communities of classical education around where we lived. And it was not a drop off program.

The parents came because homeschooling classically as a Christian through the high school years is difficult. And so none of us knew what we were doing. And by having this weekly meeting, we were able to figure it out.

So that was in 1997. We started with 11 students from six families, and now we have 130,000 students from 50,000 families. And we're also in 15 countries. And I think their success is because of two things. One, I believe in mothers and fathers like nobody else. I believe if God gave you that baby, he will equip you to do well by that child. And I also believe in the body of Christ, because there's times when you will not be able to do well and you will need help.

And that's what we're here for. Not the government, the mind of the child, the soul of the child. It's too important to hand over to somebody that doesn't have your values. And now after 100 years of compulsory public education, we are seeing the success of public schools, because they were designed to inculcate Marxism. If you think about it, we're like lying to people when we say you can go to school and we'll teach you capitalism. But we'll do it through a system that is funded through a distribution of welfare and distribution of wealth.

The form matters. And now after 100 years, we see what's going on. So they succeeded. And now parents' eyes are open, and they're clamoring for help. And there is, praise God, not just me, but hundreds of homeschool organizations, private school organizations, micro schools, weekend schools, there's even a forest school now that's part time where kids just go to the woods with their parents and learn things. There's so many opportunities for every income level, every belief system, every parent who cares can find a way to get their kids out of the government schools.

Well, we love what you're doing. And it is sad, you know, all these politicians run, I don't even know why they mention education when they run, because they run for office. They say we're going to help education, but then it gets worse. And kids don't learn and kids are failing and kids can't read. Kids are graduating without any math skills or they're illiterate.

But again, this Marxist philosophy that exalts the government. But why does it seem like the more money we put in education in the DEA, the Department of Education, Lee, the worse off our kids are, and the more crime there is. And now kids aren't even going to school. Tell us why this deep problem and what the solution is that you're trying to bring about with your entire curriculum and your ministry.

Yeah, sure. So basically what's happening is the public school system is bleeding now and everybody has a Band-Aid to put on it, but they're not discussing the root cause. And generally the Band-Aid is more of it and more money towards it, instead of saying that maybe the school itself is what's sick and we need to just start over again. You know, if you read Pilgrim's Progress, you learn that it's not progress if you stay on the same road and it's in the wrong direction.

You have to back up and go back down the right road. So what I'm trying to do through the Declaration is harken back to the laws of nature and nature's God, our Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the things that all parents knew and families knew before the 1920s when compulsory education came into being. We need to go back to classical education. We need to go back to the sacred bond between husband and wife and their family as being the basic building block of civilization and start over again instead of trying to fix what we know is unfixable. And it's not that it's unfixable in the sense of people who support government education and think that's a good idea. They're getting exactly what they want.

But for those of us who would prefer to have scriptural education and or just plain old virtuous education, even if you aren't a Christian, there's parents that aren't Christians that love their kids and they can offer so much to them without their values being undermined. Wow. That is so cool. And you have an initiative underway right now. You're doing something about this that people can go online and sign. And this is one of the things that landed you on being on Fox News, their big channel, an international audience. Tell everyone a little bit about this website and how they can actually do something right now and sign something to be a part of the change and make a real difference.

Yeah. So if you go to educationalindependence.net, you'll see an introductory, a few sentences explaining what we're doing and then a list of co-signers. And these are the people who helped me to write this as well as some close friends who wanted to get in on it right from the beginning. And then you can read through the declaration and at the bottom you can sign it. And just to avoid confusion, if you sign it, it will be anonymous.

The people that are on the website were the original folks on it. So, but we're trying to get a million signatures by Christmas if we can, because I'm really hoping that the Republican politicians, the conservatives who keep offering these government schemes will stop. But they don't believe that there's enough people on the side of freedom and liberty and they feel like, you know, we still have to bribe people to get their votes. So we're trying to show them that that's one, not true. And then to the people who are close to an agreement with us, but maybe not quite, the declaration gives them some words and ideas to think about. And I've been getting responses from young folks in their 20s saying, Lee, we're getting together and having dinner and discussing this declaration with our friends. We've never known how to explain freedom to them before. Because it speaks to the heart of everybody.

It alludes to scripture, but for people who aren't familiar with scripture, the ideas are also familiar to them. And so if people could just put it out on their social media, say what they hate about it, what they love about it, what they're going to change or not change in their own life, I just want to get a conversation going. Just like in 1776 and before when the colonies were discussing what's the responsibility of freedom thanks to this Declaration of Independence, we need to say what's the responsibility of educating ourselves and being responsible for that. Okay, wow. And we're going to get some more tough medicine that's going to help you, parents, help you educate her when we come back. We've got a special guest, Lee Bortons, with classical conversations in her amazing new Declaration of Education Independence that she's pushing more on Truth Talk. Hang on right after this.

Okay, we're doing segment number two here, Christian and Carmen. Here we go. You've heard of the Declaration of Independence. What if there was a Declaration of Education Independence?

Now why would we need that? Has our education system gotten so bad that we have to have a declaration that a woman of God, that the Lord has raised up? And I love the fact that she's in North Carolina, that's kind of cool. Lee Bortons, who started Classic Conversations, she's been homeschooling for 40 years, has four sons and her and her husband are committed to this and so many people just praise her for what she's done to bring godly, principled education to them and to their families and even schools, private Christian schools use her curriculum. But Lee, this Declaration of Education Independence, now people listening out there, devil's advocates might say, why are we doing that? We have a Declaration of Independence going way back to the 1700s. Why do we need a Declaration of Education Independence?

Give us the background if you would real quick, especially for those that may not have heard that first segment. Yeah, so basically a bunch of us who are free market lovers of education and have been successful in the realm of whether homeschooling, private schooling, offering services that are privately funded, the number of us offer scholarships for people who don't have the economic influence to have private education. A bunch of us got together and were just really sad at the response after COVID when the schools closed and then when they were such a clamor to open them again and right at that moment there was an expansion of public money into the private system. And our individual businesses were being influenced by that and so we wanted folks to know that we didn't want the money. It's hard to go to a government official and say, I don't want your money.

They don't believe you. So we thought, alright, we've got to get together and write something brief that explains our position on this because that is stunning to a legislator when you go to them and say, could you just leave us alone? Most people clamor for, you know, we want help from you. But those of us who sign it believe that with the shekels come the shackles and most of us who sign it have been around in the private education movement for 20 years or more, as well as you have a number of legislators, media folks, people whose names, if you go to the declaration, you'll recognize the names of thought leaders that are signing on to this. Unlike our original declaration, it's short and not nearly as flowery because the literacy rates have plummeted in 250 years. And so we had to do something that anybody could read and understand what we were talking about. So it provides clarity for a conversation about what is free market education, what is virtuous education, and what's the role of the family.

That's very, very helpful. Let me ask you, Lee, let's talk about this amazing growth in homeschooling. There's record numbers of parents homeschooling their kids. And these homeschool kids are sharp. I mean, some of them are now actually working on Capitol Hill, running banks, running companies. I just, I'm real impressed with, I've had some wonderful Truth Warrior interns who, you know, who grew up in the homeschool movement.

What would you attribute to this just growth? I mean, you've been kind of right in the middle of it, so I'd say you're a good person to ask. Yeah. So, you know, before COVID, I was still crazy. People just thought, yeah, that's for you.

That's, you know, out of whack. And then when everyone's, all the parents' eyes were open when the kids were home and they were seeing how little and what low quality schooling they were getting from their, you know, the enormous public school system, people started saying, I don't want this. And as the schools reopened, we went from about four to five percent of the population homeschooling to 11 percent.

So we doubled. People just said, I don't want to go back to that. And it's just made us a plethora of businesses and services to help all income levels and all interests and all needs of education. So there's help for anybody who wants to do it now. I love it.

It's never been easier. And you're making it that way with your classical conversations. Tell us a little bit about that and that movement in your curriculum. Like, give us the kind of the 411 on what all your ministry is doing specifically in the curriculum you provide and how folks can want to learn more about it and get involved with it. Thank you, Sue.

That's nice. So if they go to classicalconversations.com, they can click on a button that says, find a community. And I have across the United States, 15,000 men and women trained to help people with classical Christian home education. So you click the button, you put in your zip code, and somebody will email you that lives near you, because we're all over the United States. We have almost 3,000 locations where our communities meet, and they're almost all sponsored by churches.

And someone will go to email you and say, hey, I saw you click the button. Are you interested in CC? Are you just interested in homeschooling? Do you want to know where to get curriculum? And of course, we hope that you'll join classical conversations, but mostly we hope you'll just get your children out of the government schools. So that's what we do as far as the philosophy and the help. For those who do join classical conversations, it is not a drop-off program.

It is not an online program. We believe children need a pat on the back and a touch in order to learn. And we believe that the parents are the most important people, and so our communities include the parents. We kind of describe it as a one-day-a-week PTA meeting, so parents can get together with other parents and figure out, what are we going to do for the rest of the week, and how can I possibly educate my child on something I never studied well? And so we help one another. The main thing isn't the information, Stu.

The main thing is the confidence to try. And that's why it's important for parents to meet weekly with each other. And we only do it for half the year. As a homeschooler, I don't want someone telling me what to do all the time. I love delight-directed education. I love the autonomy of having my family do what they want to do. But for half the year, we commit to the body of Christ, and we don't do everything exactly like we want to do it, because we know the community needs us to work together.

But that other half of the year, I can work on the things my kids love or the things they're struggling with. Wow. That's the voice of Lee Morton. She's the founder and administrator of Classical Conversations. Lee, the website one more time for the people that want to sign this Declaration of Independence from Education, which is just a fascinating concept.

It's a movement that's taking a lot of momentum. You've been on national TV now. You've been promoting it for some time. What's the website again?

EducationalIndependence.net. And if you go to the bottom of it, you can sign it anonymously and or you can also add your affiliation if you want us to be aware of what organization you're with. And we really encourage people to tell someone else. Well, one of your fans, when I told Dwight Gullien that I met you, he was just like, wow, you met her? She's like at the top of our order in the whole school world.

She's like legend. And it was so cool. And of course, we've known you and your family for some time and we're fellow North Carolinians and we're so just excited about what you're doing. You've really been a trailblazer in this area. But Dwight has a very large Christian bookstore in North Carolina, and he loves what you're doing. And he facilitates your curriculum. He gets tons of people that specifically ask for that by name as he has a big homeschool operation.

They're helping families get into this more. But Dwight made a comment one time. He said to me, he said, Stu, he said, every child is homeschooled. That's right. And I thought, wow. So I wanted to throw that out at you and just give us some good color commentary on how important that is. That statement. And take us home.

We only have about 30, 40 seconds left. Lee Bortons, it's been a treat to visit with you. But take us home on why everyone listening needs it. Maybe you don't have your own biological kids, but you've got nieces, nephews, grandkids. Maybe you've got a spiritual person you're mentoring. You're fathering or mothering those in the faith. But can you talk about how every child is ultimately homeschooled and how important it is that we see this and we see Christ in all this?

That's right. You know, every single parent will, I believe, answer to the Lord on the Bema Seat for their life. I won't answer for you and your children, but I will answer for my children. And I want him to say well done more than I want to hear anything else in this whole world. And so we know that this is an eternal operation that we're part of. And for folks that don't have that mindset, I just really encourage them to get their Bibles and to read it. And go visit Dwight if you're in North Carolina.

He was one of our early supporters, so I appreciate you mentioning him. But everybody should be a lifelong learner. There should be no graduations. It should be just keep on. I love it.

I love it. And you know the beauty of that, and I love what Paul said in 2 Timothy 2. He said, Hey, the things you've learned of me, teach others who will then teach others. And there's this, we're here today because someone taught us about Christ. And now we're to be advancing that and like the great little phrase, three words in Deuteronomy 6 on the word of God and how important it is, mentioned only by bread alone comes from Deuteronomy 6, but the other little phrase, teach them diligently. Be actively, intentionally teaching your children. They're, you drop them off at school. Well, what are you doing in those hours when they're not at that school?

And what are you doing in those minutes, those key moments, strategic moments in the car? And Lee Bortons, you have inspired us through your ministry at Classical Conversations to be actively teaching our kids. And you have given so many tools. What's the website, by the way, for your, for Classical Conversations?

So folks can go look at that, too. I know it's also at the website you mentioned for the Declaration as well. Yeah, classicalconversations.com. God bless you, Lee. Thanks for being on Truth Talk. OK, thanks, Stu. Bye.

Thanks so much. Hey, we'll see you soon. Hey, say hey to the fam out there.

You're going to love hanging out with them. And I still want to talk to you at some point, and we're done with the interview. This won't be on here, but I want to talk to you at some point about how we need to have some radio conversations and how it could be, now that you've done it and you're well into this ministry and the career, there could be like a radio show that could really rally homeschooling, you know, nationwide or worldwide. And that's what we do in our space. So let's pray about how to further explore something like that, because you, this is such so important. OK, Stu, that's very honorable of you. I'm so happy to talk to you again, and we'll get together. OK, God bless you. Have fun out in Phoenix. OK, bye. Another program powered by the Truth Network.