A Founding Father’s vision for American education included a strong foundation of religious and moral instruction.
As a grade school student, one of my favorite field trips was spending a day attending the one-room school at a local historical site. My friends and I would pack our noontime meal in lunch buckets, dress in aprons and bonnets, and participate in a spelling bee at the close of the day.
But our lessons in the classroom covered more than just the three Rs. Continue reading
It’s no secret that academic outputs in schools across the nation are pretty abysmal. In fact, things have grown so bad that now it seems we’re praising schools that manage to achieve roughly 50% proficiency. Continue reading
Everybody loves Mike Rowe. His matter-of-fact sense of humor, his humility, and his willingness to get involved in the many work sites featured on his “Dirty Jobs” show make him an endearing figure.
But Rowe is also very intelligent. He has his finger on the pulse and problems of America in a way that many others often don’t recognize. Take the recent interview he did with Nick Gillespie of Reason in which he discussed how the missteps of the education system produced a generation of entitled young people who turn up their noses at blue collar or low-paying work. Continue reading
George Washington, it’s famously said, was “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Such firsts undoubtedly contributed to his other great achievements, including his election as president of both the Constitutional Convention and the United States.
In other words, Washington was not an average man. But his above-average nature didn’t happen overnight. At age 14, he copied out more than 100 maxims of good behavior in his school book, likely intending to implement them in his own life. Many of these are still applicable today. Following them can help modern men be true gentlemen who stand head and shoulders above the crowd in both character and conduct. Continue reading
NOTE: What you are about to read will sicken you. Joe Buy Deng and his crew have opened the Borders of this country to the largest number of future Demon-Cratic voters, but do NOTHING to protect those who have come to this country and conducted themselves as loving, caring, contributing human beings. ~ Editor
If you’re like most parents, you want the best for your children, especially when it comes to education.
But to what lengths would you go to achieve that best? Would you be willing to risk arrest by the government in order to choose the best education for your child? Continue reading
Books offer countless benefits for every period in one’s life. (Biba Kayewich)
A few years ago, another bookshelf made its way into my bedroom. As the ample built-in bookshelf that had already graced the area was starting to acquire a sort of double-stacked look, and extra books were finding their way into cupboards and other piles around the room, the purchase definitely qualified as a necessity.
The new bookcase alleviated shelf constraints … for a while. But soon I found myself buying a third bookcase. Unfortunately, the shelves on that latest addition are now rapidly becoming less empty, and it may take some creative thinking to find room for the next bookshelf that’s likely to join my fleet down the road. Continue reading
Between gender wars, deviant sexual education, declining academic achievement, and plain old safety issues, today’s schools have turned into landmines for parents and students.
But while parents are increasingly seeing the problems their children are facing in school, it’s also hard to know how best to deal with them. Parents can take their children out of public schools … but private school or homeschool isn’t always an option. Parents can try to stay in touch with school administration and teachers, making sure to opt their child out of something they believe is inappropriate … but such moves aren’t always viewed kindly by school staff. Continue reading
Author’s note: Research into old curriculum and an unexpected unearthing of a middle school reading list from Edina Public Schools prompted me to write this article back in September 2014. It was published right before the weekend, and to my surprise and delight, was going viral by the time I returned the following work week – something it continued to do in the years following as new individuals would find and share it widely.
The popularity of this piece didn’t stem from the fact that its observations were extraordinary; instead, the interest it generated likely occurred because it touched on something everyone suspected, but could never solidly prove. I present it once again as a testament to the falling education standards today’s students are subjected to. ~ A. Holmquist
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I received a rather frantic email from a friend when school started last fall. Panicking over the number of parents posting first day of preschool pictures, my friend wondered if she had made a mistake by not sending her four-year-old to school. “When did preschool become so popular?” she asked in dismay. Continue reading
If you, like me, were a student who strove to get work in on time and took advantage of extra credit or other academic perks when offered, then you can be glad you’re past school age – especially if you live in Portland, Ore. That’s because schools in that district are beginning to implement “equitable grading practice.” Continue reading
With inflation, prices, and bank failures all on the rise these days, many of us are looking anxiously toward our pocketbooks and wondering what we’ll do when the financial crisis inevitably hits. Will we have to start over with our retirement fund, or will we be impoverished in a matter of months?
There may not be a surefire way to completely shield ourselves from potential ruin, but there are ways to safeguard against it. One of those ways is tucked away in an obscure corner of American founder Noah Webster’s American Spelling Book. Entitled “Domestic Economy Or, the History of Thrifty and Unthrifty,” Webster (1758-1843) spins the tale of two men, the one a financial wizard, the other a financial failure. Continue reading
“I was so worried my son wouldn’t pass his kindergarten entrance exam,” one of my friends recently told me, noting that he hadn’t attended preschool.
“That is my pet peeve!” another friend sputtered at the mention of preschool. She had noticed that many schools today want to make sure kids know their letters before entering kindergarten but that the students can barely read by the time they’re ready for first grade, even when they’ve attended preschool. The kids almost seem burnt out, she observed. In contrast, she had seen firsthand how, without “professional” preschool, her young son was reading quite well by the time he finished kindergarten in their homeschool. Continue reading
It continually amazes me to see the proliferation of good coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly regarding its effects on the education system and the students in it. Yes, the attempt to somehow transfer the traditional classroom to an online environment was a disaster that left many students bored … but another story has emerged showing how a pandemic misfire turned into a pandemic blessing. Continue reading
A recent viral video from the YouTube channel Fleccas Talks showed several man-on-the-street interviews testing young people in New York City on their knowledge of basic facts. Some of the questions focused on American history and civics, while others were simple, numerical-based ones. The results were depressing, as the following samples demonstrate… Continue reading
In the months before COVID hit, a number of my friends began a new phase of motherhood by starting careers as homeschool teachers. They expressed normal trepidation, concerned they would fail, and by extension, their children would.
Then the pandemic hit, homeschooling became the new way of life, and my friends were suddenly homeschool veterans, all settled in and progressing with their curriculum while everyone else scrambled to get their act together. Continue reading
“Our children need to learn more history and civics!” is a regular rallying cry for those who want to see America returned to its moral and common sense roots.
That a greater emphasis on history and civics is needed is evident from The Nation’s Report Card, which finds only 24 percent of American high school seniors proficient in civics, while only 12 percent of them are proficient in American history. Continue reading
It’s been one short year since parents suddenly found themselves the chief overseers of their children’s education due to the pandemic.
“Short” isn’t the word to describe it, I can almost hear many parents retort, relief in their voices as they realize that soon they will be off the hook, for the responsibility of their child’s education will be back in the hands of the experts at school.
But before you rejoice, let me suggest that things have changed in the past year. No longer are parents clueless about what their children are learning, how they are learning it, or what approaches to learning work best for each child. Parents have seen it all, and therefore have little excuse to go back to the autopilot mode of pre-pandemic days. They are now the experts who have even more awareness of what’s best for their children. Continue reading
A smile came to my face as I drove past a school this morning. No longer was it a desolate ghost town; instead, I had to navigate a long line of cars and buses waiting to turn into the parking lot to drop children off.
While it’s good to see kids going back to school, I can’t help but wonder what type of things those little ones will learn as they sit in class. How can parents who faithfully bring their children to school recognize whether a child is being educated and working toward becoming a successful adult, or is simply being steadily propagandized instead? Continue reading
One of my favorite field trips as a child was my annual summer visit to a one-room schoolhouse where I spent the day dressed in an old-fashioned dress and bonnet, scratching away on a slate and learning lessons out of old McGuffey Readers.
At the time, my delight in the McGuffey Readers stemmed from the fact that I was reading something that Laura Ingalls likely read, and the romance of the situation enthralled me. I am still fascinated by McGuffey Readers, but not because of their connection to Laura. Rather, I find them fascinating because of the lessons and values they imparted on generations of American children, lessons in stark contrast to those received in today’s government schools. Continue reading
BARNYARD WITH SHEEP (AMERICAN SCHOOL, EARLY 20TH CENTURY)
By now you’ve probably heard of Harvard Professor Elizabeth Bartholet, whose name catapulted into the public’s view when she called for a “presumtive ban” on homeschooling. Ironically, her call for a homeschooling ban came right when the entire nation was forced to homeschool due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Continue reading