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 →

Ethel Kennedy reading…

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled “The Great Gift of Reading Aloud,” in which author Meghan Gurdon reflects on how she implemented family reading time in her household.

Gurdon describes read-aloud time as “one of the great joys of our family life” which has brought extreme benefits to herself, her husband, and her five children.

Some of these benefits include the following: Continue reading →

Although homeschool anecdotes are a dime a dozen, hardcore statistics on this emerging education trend are often few and far between.

But on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education released the latest official numbers on homeschooling in America. Not surprisingly, they continue to rise. Continue reading →

…and that’s showing up in their friendships

I burst out laughing the other day while reading a friend’s Facebook status. He explained that he and his two grade school sons were watching Anne of Green Gables when they came to the part where Anne and Diana have a conversation while standing on a cliff overlooking the sea. The youngest son suddenly blurted out, “Anne better watch out, Diana might push her off the cliff.” Continue reading →

Everyone expects the first week of school to contain some hiccups. Even though we all know that our children are perfect angels and would never give their teachers trouble, the transition to schedules and classmates can also contain behavior problems that mom and dad will eventually hear about.

What most parents don’t expect to hear, however, is that their child got into trouble for good manners. Continue reading →

There’s always something thrilling about the start of a new school year or semester. New clothes to wear. Fresh books to explore. New teachers to meet. It’s all become a part of what we call back-to-school and the education experience.

Of course, many of us will quickly agree that the new books and clothes aren’t really what matter. It is the ideas we learn and the schooling we get that make the real difference both in the present and in the future. Continue reading →

… and Why That Sets Them Up for Failure

By now, it’s a well-known fact that American adults don’t read. Fourteen percent can’t read at all. Thirteen percent can’t read proficiently. And according to Pew, one in four adults didn’t even bother to pick up a book in the last year Flaggers.

But these are adults, right? They’re busy with work and parenting and social responsibilities and don’t have time for things like reading.

High school kids are a different matter. After all, they spend a lot of their time in school. Wouldn’t that fact alone help them get a fair number of books under their belt? Continue reading →

J. R. R. Tolkien is one of the most famous authors of the 20th century. Known for the mythical worlds and creatures he presented in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien is beloved for his way with words and his imaginative genius.

Tolkien’s fame, lovability, and worldwide influence are the types of things most parents dream of seeing flower and bloom in their own children. Unfortunately, there is no set formula that parents can follow to cultivate children who are successful and impactful like Tolkien. However, parents can glean a number of insights from Tolkien’s upbringing in the hopes of awakening some of the same hidden genius in their own offspring. Continue reading →

The way we were…

Laura Ingalls Wilder

How did the Ingalls girls get such a stellar education?

The education received by the characters in the Little House on the Prairie books has long amazed readers. How in the world did the Ingalls girls manage to get such a stellar education in the midst of primitive surroundings and a transitory lifestyle in the 19th century?

In honor of Laura’s 151st birthday on February 7th (2018), here are five key educational practices that may have contributed to her success: Continue reading →

Last fall we shared a new bit of preschool research conducted by the Peabody Research Institute at Vanderbilt University. The research found that Tennessee’s state-funded Voluntary Prekindergarten program made little difference in giving children a head start in learning. In fact, the time in preschool actually seemed to make children fall behind their peers who had not attended. Continue reading →

In 2013, the Nation’s Report Card showed that only 38% of high school seniors were proficient in reading. With scores like that, the U.S. isn’t likely to earn the “most literate country” award any time soon.

So what is America’s international literacy ranking? Continue reading →

In the last several years, Americans have been sensing that something is seriously wrong with the current crop of young people. True, they are likely to have the most education credentials any generation has ever received. They also are technically-savvy, and as such, have a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips.

But in spite of these factors, today’s students seem to exhibit a character that is high in sensitivity and low in knowledge. What gives? Why are our students turning out like this? Continue reading →

We understood, more than 100 years ago, how to teach children so that they would become successful, well educated adults. Did we forget how to teach, or was a decision made to change curriculum to deliberately degrade the educational system? Take over your school boards. Change the curriculum back to what has been proven to work. These people are your employees. Demand results. To save America we must save one child at a time. ~ Rosemary Stein, MD

I recently spent an evening with a group of college students. Like most young people their age, they were engaged in their studies and eager to share about semesters spent abroad and future plans.

But then the topic changed. Instead of talking about pop culture or other common subjects, these young people started discussing… their favorite Shakespeare plays. And not just Romeo and Juliet, either. We’re talking lesser-known ones like Henry IV (part one and two) Julius Caesar, and others. Clearly, these students had received a well-rounded education, not only in college, but in high school as well. Continue reading →

Image Credit: Leigh A. Murrell (cropped)

It’s a commonly accepted fact that reading offers far more cognitive benefits than watching television. This is largely because television is a more “passive” activity, while reading goes deeper, encouraging greater thought and fostering verbal communication.

But a recent study out of Kensington University in London suggests that the advantage of choosing reading over television can have more than cognitive benefits; it can have behavioral benefits as well. Continue reading →

The average American is inundated with hundreds of voices every day. Politicians. Talking heads. Entertainment stars. Teachers. Students. The list could go on.

But while there are multiple voices, many of the big ones seem to give a similar message concerning politics, culture, and education. Especially education.

Just what is this education message? It often includes suggestions of more money, more hours in a school day, and the incorporation of children into the school system at ever earlier ages, largely through Pre-K education. Continue reading →

The story is over a year old, but the consequences will last a lifetime. ~ Ed.

Image Credit: Dean Jarvey bit.ly/1ryPA8o

Should teachers be able to pass a basic literacy test before they set foot in a classroom?

One would think that the answer to that question would be a solid yes. After all, it seems obvious that the ability to understand and communicate through reading and writing is essential to any teacher regardless of the subject in which he teaches. Continue reading →

Image Credit: bradburyjason bit.ly/1iowB8m

In a recent Washington Post article, author Sarah Hamaker described how many young adults no longer know how to do simple, basic skills:

Colleges and employers alike are reporting that young people can’t do life’s most basic tasks. With all of our emphasis on academics and what it takes to get into college, essential life skills, such as how to do laundry, balance a checking account or cook a meal, have been overlooked.
Continue reading →