You’re more qualified to teach your kids than you think you are.
Homeschooling parents who learn alongside their children often share their enthusiasm as well. (LightField Studios/Shutterstock)
I had lunch with a friend the other day, and it wasn’t long before our conversation drifted to her role as a homeschool mom. In essence, she was frustrated and overwhelmed, convinced that she was doing a terrible job teaching her children, and desperately wondering if she should put them in a traditional classroom.
“Well, I wouldn’t put them in a public school – on an academics basis alone,” I said, working my way through lunch. Being an education researcher has its perks, because when she asked what I meant, I started citing the proficiency statistics for a public school district near her own. “Did you know that only 23 percent of kids in that district can read proficiently?” I asked. “Think your kids can do better than that?”
“Oh,” came her response, and as a hint of a smile played at her lips, I knew she’d suddenly realized that maybe her kids were doing way better than she thought. Continue reading
While digging through a folder of items belonging to my grandmother during her high school years, I came across several copies of Weekly News Review, a periodical full of news items and current events apparently geared toward young students… 
Several days ago, I was handed a pile of old schoolwork and curriculum found in paperwork and memorabilia from my grandmother. Sifting through the stack, I soon pulled out several booklets labeled “Minnesota State Board Questions Certified.” Yellowed with age and somewhat dog-eared, they appear to be workbooks with which students could prepare for their yearly school exams.
As a student, I was a whiz at memorization, so much so, that I remember basically memorizing two lead roles for different plays – one at age 13 and one at age 16 – after only one serious and focused read-through of the scripts. As an adult, I see myself mirroring my mother’s shock at such a feat, but at the time, such ease in memorization was simply second nature.
Movie music is the subtle cue that tells you how to respond to a certain scene. Happy, sad, afraid, angry – you name the mood and the composer will ensure that the desired emotion is accomplished.
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.
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. 
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.
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.
If you’re like most parents, you want the best for your children, especially when it comes to education.
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.
Author’s note:
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. 
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 
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?
“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.
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. 
A recent viral 