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
When it comes to discussion of public schools, all too often battle lines seem to be drawn between those on the inside and outside of the system: the teachers and the parents. The teachers understandably want to defend the job they do, while the parents want to ensure that their child doesn’t become another dismal statistic.
But every once in a while an individual comes along with credentials to look at the issue of public education from both viewpoints. Such is the case with Erin Brighton, who recently wrote an op-ed for the Huffington Post entitled, “Goodbye, Public School. It’s Not Me, It’s You” Brighton starts out by saying: Continue reading
It’s funny how homeschooling – that once-upon-a-time fringe movement of education – has now become the norm. Everyone’s doing it out of sheer necessity.
For some, it’s going great! What was at first a stressful and uncertain task is now becoming routine. In fact, a recent poll conducted by EdChoice found that over half of respondents hold a more favorable view of homeschooling as a result of the coronavirus. Continue reading
My sixth-grade visit to the Pavek Museum of broadcasting was the most memorable field trip of elementary school. The live radio broadcast my fellow students and I produced while there was probably why.
As part of the broadcast, several students were instructed to write a news bulletin. The gist of it? The governor of Minnesota had decreed that schools would close and everyone would be homeschooled the following week. Parents who couldn’t manage it on their own could send their kids to the governor’s mansion for help. Continue reading
Image Credit: Wordserve Water Cooler
According to new research from the Department of Education, the switch to computer-based writing tests shows a decided decline in the writing ability of fourth–grade students, particularly for low or average performing students. As Jill Barshay from the Hechinger Report explains,
“Last year, more than half of U.S. states gave computer-based writing tests to children as young as third-graders. Some wrote their paragraphs with a pencil and paper; the majority used a computer.
Continue reading
Have you ever wondered how the American Founders were able to spew forth such wisdom and establish a new country at such young ages? I have. The mere fact that 10 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were under the age of 35 blows my mind.
But as I learned recently, these men did not create the Declaration and the Constitution out of the brilliance of their own minds. In fact, their brilliance hinged on one fact: they were imitators. Continue reading
With Civics 101 unfolding before our eyes with the election, Education Secretary John King hit the campaign trail to advocate for more civics education in schools. His idea is a good one, particularly since only 1 in 4 high school seniors are proficient in that area. Continue reading
There are times that bringing a column back to the forefront is worth it – and this is such. ~ Ed.
July 26, 2017 ~ I recently picked up Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court for the first time. Finding the plot rather amusing, I began relaying it to my father over the weekend. Because he had never read the book, I was rather surprised when he began asking informed questions about the story. In no time at all, he was the one schooling me on plot elements I had not yet reached. Continue reading
Editor’s NOTE: The following was written and published during the Christmas season of 2015 and therefore it begins with that reference, but think beyond this… and think of how all of this affects our children in the public school system. Things need to change. ~ Ed.
In addition to being viewed as a season of religious devotion, Christmas has also become a time of family traditions and togetherness.
But will those traditions and togetherness continue if the American family disappears? Continue reading
I’ll admit it. I’ve always had a secret fondness for stories about one-room schools.
Why? Perhaps it’s the simpler time. Perhaps it’s the fact that they seemed to value good education and hard work. Perhaps it’s the family-like structure and community they fostered. Continue reading
Federalist Papers, T. Jefferson’s copy
In order to have a good grasp on the founding of America, it is often said that one should read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Federalist Papers.
It’s easy to see why the Declaration and the Constitution make the list of must-reads, but why the Federalist Papers?
According to Gregory Maggs, law professor at George Washington University Law School, the Federalist Papers should be read because they provide “an extremely important source of evidence of the original meaning of the Constitution.” Maggs goes on to say:
“In the aggregate, academic writers and jurists have cited the Federalist Papers as evidence of the original meaning of the Constitution more than any other historical source except the text of the Constitution itself.”
Continue reading
Last summer (2015), George Washington University announced that it would no longer require students to submit their SAT or ACT scores as incoming freshmen. This move was made because the university “had concerns that students who could be successful at GW felt discouraged from applying if their scores were not as strong as their high school performance.”
Some students, however, did not get off so easy. Homeschoolers, the college noted, would still have to submit their SAT scores before they could be admitted. Continue reading
Several years ago I got into a conversation about classical education in which my conversation partner asked, “Isn’t that the kind of education that all those overachieving homeschoolers are into?”
I had to laugh. Yes, classical education has that reputation.
But the high-achieving nature of classical education hasn’t deterred interest. In fact, classical curricula are proliferating in homeschools, private schools, and charter schools. Continue reading
I was at a public park this weekend when I noticed a family preparing for a photo shoot. This family caught the attention of everyone else in the park as well, namely because of the screams emanating from one of its younger members.
The screams continued for the next quarter of an hour and it became apparent that the child’s parents were not fans of authoritative parenting. Instead, they seemed to be trying the mister-nice-guy approach to resolving their child’s tantrum. Continue reading
Over the weekend, I had an interesting chat with a friend about her daughter’s preschool program. She confessed to me that she couldn’t wait until the school year was over, for the preschool program dominated their lives. The schedule, she explained, interfered with other outside learning opportunities. At the same time, one of the main things her daughter was learning in the program was how to line up – perfect for fostering an environment of compulsion, but not for encouraging creativity or an enthusiasm for learning. Continue reading
It seems like every graduation season has its stories of whiz kids. The kids who are so ambitious and so accomplished that they’re graduating from high school, and even college, before the normal time.
One of the latest is 14-year-old Matthew McKenzie from Georgia, who received his high school diploma and associate degree the same day. And like many other whiz kids, McKenzie was – you guessed it – homeschooled. Matthew’s mother, Monique McCord tells the story:
“We would pull material from different textbooks and different resources so I would pretty much custom create his curriculum.” Continue reading
When it comes to writing, American kids just don’t cut it. Only 27 percent of eighth grade students achieve proficiency in the subject, according to The Nation’s Report Card.
That shouldn’t surprise us given the type of writing instruction which takes place in schools. Today’s writing instruction, a recent op-ed from The Hechinger Report explains, revolves around a child expressing his ideas on paper. Schools seem to believe that students have all the knowledge and inspiration locked up inside them. This knowledge simply needs to be let loose in order to create a written masterpiece. Continue reading
By now, many parents know there is something seriously wrong with the average American school. Time and again, children go into the school system as bright bundles of energy, curious about the surrounding world, and time and again, they stagger through the system frustrated and losing their interest in learning. Unfortunately, parents have firsthand knowledge of what former New York teacher John Taylor Gatto explained in his book, Weapons of Mass Instruction:
“After a long life, and thirty years in the public school trenches, I’ve concluded that genius is as common as dirt. We suppress genius because we haven’t yet figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women. The solution, I think, is simple and glorious. Let them manage themselves.”
That’s easy enough to say, but is it actually possible to do? Continue reading
High school English teacher Paul Barnwell made two interesting observations in July of 2016 in The Atlantic.
The first was that his students have no moral compass. Barnwell discovered this when discussing various ethical issues with his class. His students were, he found, quite oblivious to internationally and historically accepted values of moral living. Continue reading
“My dog ate my homework” has long been the default excuse for students who miss the mark with their school assignments.
But high school students in New Zealand appear to have moved beyond this tired excuse, for instead of blaming the dog, they are turning their own ignorance into an excuse for victimhood.
According to The Guardian, New Zealand students in their last year of high school sat for an important history exam in the middle of November. During the exam, students were asked to write an essay on the Julius Caesar quote, “Events of importance are the result of trivial causes.” Continue reading