In the vibrant tapestry of human expression, art stands out as a medium that transcends words, allowing souls to communicate in colors, shapes, and movements. For children with learning disabilities, delving into the arts unlocks a universe of possibilities, providing them with a medium to express themselves and a bridge to connect, grow, and redefine their potential. Continue reading
Education entrepreneurs are finding joy in launching their own innovative learning programs and are spreading that joy to their learners.
Jennifer Hunt works with students at Salt + Light Academy in Kansas. Photo: Kerry McDonald
I spent much of last week in the greater Kansas City area visiting microschools and learning pods, and talking to founders, ahead of the Heartland Hybrid & Microschools Summit, hosted by Kansas Policy Institute.
All of the seven learning environments I visited in Kansas and Missouri were founded within the past three years and all of the founders are former public school teachers who quit and created these alternative programs. They all expressed greater levels of personal and professional fulfillment. Continue reading
If you thought charter schools received anywhere near the same amount of funding as traditional public schools, then think again.
A new, massive study from the University of Arkansas finds that “On average, charter schools across 18 cities in 16 states (…) receive about 30 percent or $7,147 (2020 dollars) less funding per pupil than traditional public schools.” Over the past two decades, this funding disparity has remained relatively stable. Continue reading
An illustration from Dickens’s novel The Pickwick Papers. Dickens’s most vivid personalities are celebrated in the Guardian’s resource Charles Dickens’s Characters in Pictures.
Charles Dickens’s Characters in Pictures is a guide to some of the most vivid personalities in Dickens’s novels. Created by the Guardian, the resource contains illustrations of characters including the Artful Dodger and Ebenezer Scrooge, along with extracts about them from Dickens’s work. It provides inspiration for activities including role play, descriptive writing and costume design.
What the Dickens? is a website for students and teachers containing creative-writing lesson plans, activity sheets and an outline for a Dickens-themed assembly. There are also short videos from children’s authors celebrating the work of Dickens and an interactive story-writing competition open to 9- to 14-year-olds. Continue reading
More and more, children are being left by the parents for the teachers to do all of the preschool and academic training for their children. Parents and grandparents can do a tremendous amount of brain skills learning, especially at very young age and it is a great benefit for the children. If they are prepared for preschool when they are 5, then they are far ahead of the group, and experts say that these ready pre-taught children usually stay ahead of the class all the way through school. ~ M. Loudon
There is no better lifetime achievement than to teach your children or grandchildren to be curious. One of the greatest examples ever written is in the biography of Albert Einstein.
Albert Einstein’s parents understood the importance of teaching their children to be curious. They began to encourage Albert by getting him enrolled in the greatest math and physics schools in Europe. But another event at the age of 10 years also had a lot of influence on Albert when his father gave him a compass. Albert was fascinated with the compass and very curious about how the needles moved and what force was moving the needles. Curiosity about the movement of the needles never left Albert and was a great inspiration in his mind for learning everything about the compass. Continue reading
The Republican-led House voted to pass its Parents’ Bill of Rights on Friday with zero Democrat votes after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called it ‘fascist.’ The controversial bill, which gives parents a stronger role in what’s taught in public schools, is not expected to be taken up by the Democratic-majority Senate.
Critics denounce the legislation saying it has led to book bans, restrictions aimed at transgender students and unhinged board meetings nationwide. Continue reading
Now is often the time of year when parents begin looking into other learning options and schooling alternatives for their kids. The new school year has been in session for several weeks and some parents may be finding that bubbling issues may have reached a boiling point.
Perhaps their child isn’t a good match with his or her assigned teacher. Perhaps parent-child battles over homework have emerged. Perhaps parents see certain elements of their child’s curriculum that they dislike, or hear about various classroom practices that they find unsettling. Perhaps their child is bored or withdrawn, frustrated or irritable, anxious or depressed. Perhaps the bullying has started or worsened. Continue reading
Last week, students at small Christian college in Kentucky gathered for their regular Wednesday chapel service. Ten days later, it has not ended. People from around the country and the world continue to join in. No matter your religion or lack thereof, THIS is an exceptional happening. More exceptional even, is that this spirit has spread to other colleges and universities. Continue reading
It is very important that parents, grandparents, and teachers teach discipline, thinking skills, and motivation, plus help children get good grades in school. Today, we will continue on this very important critical motivation, learning skills, and educational journey. Continue reading
Dear Mr. Bennett,
I am wishing you and all your family, a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving. May the holidays bring good health too. Continue reading
It’s every teacher’s dream to implement a lesson plan that makes their students truly excited to learn. But in the busy life of an educator, it isn’t always easy to come up with fresh ideas that both engage and educate. If you feel like you’re in a teaching rut, you’re not alone. Here are a few ideas for shaking up your curriculum.
TAKE IT OUTSIDE
When kids are stuck inside for hours on end, just about everything gets to feel monotonous. Give them a different change of pace by taking your classroom outside. You can choose a lesson plan devoted to the outdoors, or simply adapt an existing lesson. For example if you’re an English teacher, have an outdoor reading session. In addition to the book you’re studying, students can practice reading aloud and learn to project their voices. Alternatively, science teachers can take students out during a windy day to discuss and experiment with the way sound travels, and how it can be affected by outside factors. Continue reading
After two years of lockdowns, masking, and related wrongs, many parents are awakening to the prospect of school choice.
It’s that time of year again… as families return from vacations, they start thinking about sending their kids back to school (if they’re not back already). But in the post-pandemic era, there’s an increasing likelihood that some parents aren’t sending their children back to the same school. In particular, data suggest that many parents have had enough with public school education altogether.
“In the past two years, a mass exodus of over 1.2 million students has left the public school system as parents seek alternative education routes, such as public charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling,” writes Marjorie Jackson at The Daily Signal. Jackson adds that some parents “believed the school’s handling of the pandemic was unsatisfactory, due to lockdowns, which inconvenienced many families, as well as masking and vaccination policies. Others were unhappy after taking a closer look at their local public school curriculum and wanted more say in what their children were learning.” Continue reading
Parents, Grandparents, and teachers should do everything they can to inspire and teach children to exercise their brains and get good grades in school. There are many reasons why children need help and inspiration to be taught thinking exercises, creativity, curiosity, and learning. There is an increasing need to face the increasing obstacles that will need to be overcome as they get older. Many parents, grandparents, and schools are lacking in preparing children for the many thinking and learning skills that create a curious and mentally active mind. A big challenge awaits them as they face technology and political problems as they got older.
The U.S. is not keeping up with the learning knowledge of other nations. Education is the key to motivation, learning skills, and technology which creates a higher education and greater paths that they can choose from in their future. Continue reading
…there’s a CHANGE a’ comin’ Don’t need no baggage – ya’ just get on board – and it is FINALLY happenin’!For the past year and a half, Kettle Moraine Ltd. has been suffering under the worst web-site and Domain hosts, but I won’t even mention their name. Just over this past month we have been fighting these people who only seem to have representatives in Formosa – or some other foreign land. Oh sure – once in a great while i could reach someone who was helpful – but the rest of them were worthless idiots. All of this began to change on August 16 when 3 of our websites were shall we say – “brought back Home”. At this point – Le Metropolis Café is the most complete and we are so happy.
The Federal Observer seems to have cleared up it’s issues and is working just fine. Sierra Madre Precious Metals also seems to be in good shape at present, but we are watching closely. We do ask you to be patient with Dr Kelley’s VICTORY OVER CANCER, as our soon to be former host is delaying the complete transfer for reasons unknown – especially due to the fact that we made it quite clear that we expected to be transferred FIRST.
As for Le Metropolis Café – Well – it’s time to get it on – and GET YOUR KIDS OUT OF THE PUBLIC FOOL System – and hey – if you have any questions to ask or have comments to share with us – we FINALLY have a brand new updated email at Metropolis.Café – and we invite you to contact us at your leisure. You can email us at: Edu@Metropolis.Café
Most people remember elementary school fondly. Playing in the playground with your friends, dominating at kickball, or gossiping and giggling on the monkey bars are all memories we cherish. Some children attend school to study and develop new skills, and others are content to daydream through class until the beautiful bell tolls to signal their sweet departure. In any case, everyone who has gone through 12 years of school is sure to learn something.
Because their exam answers are so far out there, these youngsters must have had some intriguing instructors! One thing is sure: These kids have a great sense of humor. Whatever the case may be, the professors who created these assessments could not have anticipated such responses, and we are thrilled at such brilliancy.
NOTE: What you have just seen and read is the first of 76 entries on this post. You might be offended by some of them – but in some respects – many of the posts contained in this lengthy post – will show you the insanity of the education system in America today – BUT – some examples will show you that there are students who are much brighter than their teachers. Do enjoy… ~ Editor Continue reading
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be.
Keep them at home…
The AP seems to have had to acknowledge a fact they would rather have buried. According to The New American.com for April 19th there has been a dramatic increase in the number of home schooling families since the Covid outbreak. That planned pandemic was not, however, the only problem parents had with public schools. Continue reading
There was an informative article in the “New American” magazine for March 28th entitled The Mass Exodus From Indoctrination to Freedom. It was written by Annalisa Pesek and dealt with a new film about families that have escaped those indoctrination centers we refer to as public schools. Continue reading
Collectivist thinking will not go away on its own. If we want the next generation to see each other as individuals rather than tribe members, we need to teach them a better way.
As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to unfold, the rhetoric surrounding the war seems to get stronger by the day.
Just when you think the politicians have exhausted their supply of condemnations, they come back with more for our consumption. The remarks are, in many cases, deserved. Putin’s actions are deeply immoral, and they ought to be named as such.
But, as so often happens in war, the target of these verbal assaults has quickly become blurry. Some days “Putin” is the problem. Other days it’s “the Russian aggressors” or simply “the Russians”.
Unfortunately, this blurriness has not been confined to rhetoric. Around the world, Russian products are being removed from stores, not because they have anything to do with the war, but simply because they come from a certain country. “Russia must be punished,” we are told, “because of its egregious acts.” Continue reading
Why not? Whether you’re experienced or inexperienced, whatever your situation, you already know why you want to homeschool your kids through high school. Now, what about how?
We have been homeschooling our three sons since the eldest, now a sophomore at a neighboring state university, was in the seventh grade. So you can see that most of our experience is with the adolescent years. We have a ninth and an eleventh grader still at home.
First of all, relax. Teenagers are just young people. Continue reading