The Teacher

NOTE: I found this on Facebook this morning and although I have read it before – I do not know how old this story is – or even if it is real, but I would like to believe that it is, fore I could also tell my own story – about a teacher who came to believe in me. ~ Ed.

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Continue reading

Original draft of the Declaration of Independence

This is a scan of the original draft of the Declaration of Independence in Thomas Jefferson’s actual handwriting that now sits in Jefferson’s papers in the Library of Congress. There is a word seen here in Jefferson’s original draft that was removed from the official version inscribed by Timothy Matlack. The removal of that word radically changed the course of American history. Do you see what that word is? ~ Ed.

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Born on the Tenth of January

If Tom Cruise was Born on the Fourth of July, then he can thank Thomas Paine, who it can be said was born on January 10, 1776 with the publication of his incendiary essay, Common Sense, that argued for independence from England. He priced it cheaply (two shillings), argued passionately, and wrote in a direct style so that readers could understand him. Continue reading

Why We Desperately Need To Bring Back Vocational Training In Schools

Even more appropriate today than when first published. ~ Ed.

Instructor helps a student participating in a woodworking manufacturing training program

September 1, 2015 ~ Throughout most of U.S. history, American high school students were routinely taught vocational and job-ready skills along with the three Rs: reading, writing and arithmetic. Indeed readers of a certain age are likely to have fond memories of huddling over wooden workbenches learning a craft such as woodwork or maybe metal work, or any one of the hands-on projects that characterized the once-ubiquitous shop class.

But in the 1950s, a different philosophy emerged: the theory that students should follow separate educational tracks according to ability. The idea was that the college-bound would take traditional academic courses (Latin, creative writing, science, math) and received no vocational training. Those students not headed for college would take basic academic courses, along with vocational training, or “shop.” Continue reading

Ten Headlines That Should Terrify Parents About K-12 Public Schooling

…apparently NOT!

Following the events in the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, many schools pushed out advice that talking about both sides was no longer an option. One guidance that circulated among educators was titled “There’s Nothing Virtuous About Finding Common Ground.” Translation of this document amounts to the fact that open debate, pros and cons lists, and anything else that exposes impressionable minds to anything other than prevailing orthodoxy is prohibited in many public schools. At least they’re finally admitting that the Common Core standard of critical thinking was really a euphemistic red herring for critical race theory instead.

Some states are pushing back; Iowa’s legislature recently proposed a law that would make it illegal, and punishable by fines, to teach anything related to Critical Race Theory, 1619 Project, etc. in its public schools. That’s a good start, but it isn’t enough. Parents need to speak up and more legislatures need to act. It is also encouraging that several states are pushing back on the Biden administration;’s transgender idiocy. Continue reading

If you don’t know the story…

… then I would recommend searching on You Tube as his story is something to behold.

His wife Joey passed of cancer several years ago but, what you are about to watch is just one more step in his growth as a marvelous human being… and who knows – this video might give YOU some ideas as to what YOU can do to help the young.

OOPS – I see Rory and Joey’s daughter – Indiana in the classroom. . .

Benson: We May Lose Because We Don’t Care About Our History

Over the past week or so I have posted a couple articles about terrorist John Brown and some of his leftist connections (yes, he had some leftist connections).

Some of the comments I got back from various places my articles were posted were, how shall I say it, downright abusive. Everything from “who cares about all this crap?” to comments that used profanity that I won’t go into. Continue reading

Mass Exodus From Public Schools Accelerates

The exodus of families from government schools continues to accelerate nationwide, sparking panic among the education establishment that has so badly failed America’s children. And the trends are not just because of COVID, contrary to government claims.

Now, public-school bigwigs are freaking out about what the plunge in enrollment means for their bloated taxpayer-funded budgets. In short: The government-“education” gravy train is about to get a lot smaller as sensible families flee to the safe sanctuary of homeschooling and private schools. Continue reading

Loudon: Teaching Children How to Think

When I look around at the United States I wonder where did the United States go wrong? What brought us to this terrible state where we have two divisions of government (two separate philosophies) and two separate paths of thinking? Why is it that we have so much corruption, greed, power, money laundering, and forced control.? Why is our government going down the slippery, slimy path of deception and destruction?

Your answer may be different than mine, but I think we both will agree that somewhere in the past, it started with the division and diversion in people’s education, and professional ethics – and their inability to THINK! Continue reading

Remote education is rife with threats to student privacy

Students are being forced to disclose sensitive information online. urbazon/Getty Images

An online “proctor” who can survey a student’s home and manipulate the mouse on their computer as the student takes an exam. A remote-learning platform that takes face scans and voiceprints of students. Virtual classrooms where strangers can pop up out of the blue and see who’s in class.

These three unnerving scenarios are not hypothetical. Rather, they stand as stark, real-life examples of how remote learning during the pandemic – both at the K-12 and college level – has become riddled with threats to students’ privacy. Continue reading

The Kids Aren’t All Right…

One year ago, Lena Carson was pulling straight A’s at the city’s Creative and Performing Arts Magnet school, located across the river from her parents’ home. She also swam at the local YMCA every day in preparation for the annual state competition and enjoyed the everyday social life of a teenager.

Today, she is sitting at home. Again.

It has been nearly a year since she was able to walk into CAPA, to which she had to earn admission through a portfolio of her work, and interact with her teachers or friends. Continue reading

A Broken Union (1851-1861)

“Tragic Prelude,” a circa 1937 work by John Steuart Curry, depicts abolitionist guerrilla fighter John Brown holding a rifle in one bloody hand and a Bible in the other and standing over the bodies of Union and Confederate soldiers. The painting hangs in the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka.

Editor’s note: The past is prologue. The stories we tell about ourselves and our forebears inform the sort of country we think we are and help determine public policy. As our recent president promised to “make America great again,” and our current “president” is systematically destroying what is left – this moment is an appropriate time to reconsider our past, look back at various eras of United States history and re-evaluate America’s origins. When, exactly, were we “great”? ~ Ed.
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Do YOU Believe?

August 23, 2008 ~ Thousands of Dallas teachers are talking about the little boy with the big voice who wowed them earlier this week at a big beginning-of-school pep rally at American Airlines Center.

Who is this kid?, they wondered… Continue reading

Is Remote Learning Causing A Mental Health Crisis Among Teens And Children?

Depression, anxiety, weight gain and even loss of toilet training are on the rise in kids as the pandemic drags on.

Paige Gagerman spends most of her days during remote learning in her bed at home. Courtesy of Paige Gagerman / WBEZ

At the beginning of the school year, Paige Gagerman was highly motivated. The Deerfield High School junior got dressed each day and set herself up for a day of school at her desk, or the kitchen. But now in second semester, Paige sits in bed with her sweatshirt hood over her head. Remote learning has worn her down. Continue reading

The sadness which we weave for our children…

A lesson for today – and forever!

My heart is so broken right now. As I sit here at Chick-Fil-A watching my kids play I almost feel guilty writing this post because I don’t want to take my eyes off my kids for a second. But as I am sitting here watching the kids, I notice a mom and a little girl come sit at the table next to me. Continue reading