Today (September 12th) is H.L. Mencken’s birthday. The “Sage of Baltimore” (pictured above) was born in 1880 and is regarded by many as one of the most influential American journalists, essayists, and writers of the early 20th century. To recognize the great political writer on his birthday, here are 12 of my favorite Mencken quotes: Continue reading
First, let me explain my qualifications for answering this question. I am a fully certified teacher in two states. I have credentials for teaching K-6 general education and K-12 special education. I have a BA in special education and a Master’s in Learning and Technology. I am currently a 6th-grade teacher in a public charter school and teach leadership and STEM. But my most important qualification for answering this question is that I homeschooled my own children for 24 years. (I did not teach outside of that during those years, but I did start a private cottage school and ran that for 7 of those years). You want to know why your grandson gets finished with assignments in such a short amount of time. It does not take as long in homeschool with 1 on 1 learning. There is no better learning situation than 1 on 1. You do not have interruptions like you do in a classroom. We were always finished with our core academic schoolwork at home in about 1.5 – 3 hours depending on the subject. Keep in mind, I have twins with autism as well (which is why I had the cottage school) and my other two sons had/have dyslexia. Continue reading
I’m not a teacher, but I may be able to offer an opinion. Every time the government gets involved in anything, they screw it up. In this case, it’s because the public school system is required to keep kids working at the same rate. (I think the current fiasco is common core, which was preceded by No Child Left Behind.) These programs do more to hold back most students than they do to help less advanced students keep up. The kids who suffer the most are the ones who should be allowed to work far ahead, but that doesn’t fit into the system’s agenda, and teachers are already swamped with kids who need much more help. ~ Joyce the Trucker
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Franklin was queried as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation. In the notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of Maryland’s delegates to the Convention, a lady asked Dr. Franklin “Well Doctor what have we got, a republic or a monarchy.” Franklin replied, “A republic . . . if you can keep it.”
Our Constitution created a limited representative republic. A republic is different from a democracy. In a democracy, the majority can directly make laws, while in a republic, elected representatives make laws. Basically, in a pure democracy, the majority has unlimited power, whereas in a republic, a written constitution limits the majority and provides safeguards for the individual and minorities. Continue reading
For most parents, the 2019-20 school year was turned completely upside down and inside out thanks to the coronavirus-induced closure of school buildings. Millions of parents who were suddenly out of work themselves gained the added experience of shepherding their children through weeks of virtual school, with teachers doing their best to educate via computer. For some students, it was a welcome distraction they could handle, but for others it detracted from the hands-on classroom experience. Continue reading
There is a reason for what is going on today in America. And it is each and every one of our faults because we’ve done nothing for the past 50 years.
The blame falls at our feet. Where do these people learn all of this America hating crap from? They learn it in our public school system. Here’s a dirty little secret no one wants to notice. The public schools are controlled by the government. Why? Because it is the government funding them. You pay school taxes to the government to have the government indoctrinate your children. Continue reading
It would be virtually impossible to find a better example of socialism here in the United States than the public schooling systems that exist in every U.S. state. Ironically, it is this socialist system that is primarily responsible for the widespread belief among non-libertarians that “the United States has never been a socialist country,” as New York Times columnist Timothy Egan stated in a recent NYT op-ed. (See my two recent articles “A Life of the Lie on Socialism” and “Socialism in America, 31 Years Ago.”)
It is worth noting that public schooling is a core feature of the educational systems in Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam, all three of which are widely known as socialist countries. That’s because public schooling is a socialist system. Continue reading
On July 17th, 2020, the Russian Ministry of Health published recommendations to schools to ban the use of Wi-Fi and cell phones in elementary schools. The Medical Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, prepared the recommendations together with the Russian Ministry of Health. Continue reading
Ronald Reagan once famously said, “I think you all know that I’ve always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”
That baseball team of words should continue to terrify us.
When we look at government failures in the last 50 years, the list goes on and on. Remember the war on drugs? How’d we do on that one? Or consider child support for unwed mothers. Has that policy enhanced family life or damaged it across the board? The U.S. Department of Education is surely helpful. Yet are our children better educated today than they were in 1980? Continue reading
This will be the first of a number of Homeschooling videos for this day – and THIS one brings up some of the most important reasons for Homeschooling, which sets the ground for the balance of today’s videos.
We will also return to our regular scheduled postings, but we feel that it is MOST important to get parents and grandparents to begin looking in New Directions. ~ Ed.
I have home schooled my grandchildren now for 4 years. We are going into out 5th year. We pulled her out because we realized at the end of 4th grade she could not multiply or divide very well. She knew how to do it but when I asked her what 2×2 was it took her literally 5 minutes to figure it out. On top of that my daughter went in before Christmas break to make sure she was doing OK. Teacher told her she was doing great. After Christmas break report cards came out and she failed social studies.
Yeah, yeah – we know – school has already begun for the year – but we are reading of more and more examples of teachers spying on children at home through Zoom. It seems to make more sense to remove the children from the “system” and educate them at home.
“WHAT? But, just ho is going to do that? I mean, I have to work.” Well – it seems to me that you made another choice at one time in your life – to have and raise children… then WHY do you allow someone ELSE to raise that child?
This weekend was a busy one… but no – nothing outdoors, as it is still too damned hot. I have spent hours moving my office and studio around to a degree, getting caught up on long-ignored files, and then less than an hour ago I was reviewing some old broadcasts and landed upon one which I had never re-aired nor re-listened to – and was totally shocked.
I no longer broadcast with the network which I shared this commentary on, but this recording goes back to April of 2009. I hope that each of the Groups on Facebook who I am proud to belong to will appreciate OUR history… and yes – even though I was born just North of the Land of Lincoln – I KNEW from an early age – the TRUTH – and it is MY history as well! Continue reading