Sistine Ceiling between 1508-1512 by Michelangelo. Fresco, Sistine Chapel, Vatican.
Our artistic traditions are full of wisdom. We can look to the past and, with curious minds and open hearts, absorb the lessons of our cultural history. The Italian Renaissance is filled with great stories that resulted in great art, and the story and art of Michelangelo are an enduring example. Continue reading
Without direct instruction, will kids pick up reading and math naturally? (Image credit: llustration by Julia Wytrazek)
Since the pandemic, there has been a noticeable surge in homeschooling. Now, a different pedagogical trend called “unschooling” is gaining momentum, sparking controversy and debate online.
In June, spiritual influencer Mami Onami went viral after discussing unschooling or “free schooling” her children. “We don’t teach our children anything,” she said in a TikTok video. “Everything that they learn is in response to either their interest or their questions.” With no set curriculum or school hours, she and her partner “just respond whenever [her kids] wanna know something and do our best to make sure they really get it.” Mami Onami’s declaration has led to backlash on social media, with many commenters questioning her parenting. However, she is not alone in pursuing this alternative route to educating her children. Continue reading
On May 29, 1935, in the midst of a Great Depression that would not end, the Supreme Court struck down a central piece of legislation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, the National Industrial Recovery Act. In Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, the Court ruled that the entire scheme violated the U.S. Constitution.
It was a landmark case because the Supreme Court was directly challenging both the executive and legislative branches. It said: They have gone too far and therefore all the legislation and regulation is illegal. As a result, the most elaborate central-planning scheme ever imposed on the U.S. economy was deleted. Continue reading
Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics, set in the backdrop of Nazi Germany
Jesse Owens’ grandson said his track-legend grandfather’s successes at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin were a ‘thumb in the eye‘ to Adolf Hitler.
To commemorate the 4th of July, and the beginning of the Paris Olympics in 2024, Owens’ name was back in the news as one of the greatest American Olympians of all-time. Continue reading
Leadership is an invaluable skill that can profoundly influence a child’s future, shaping their success in school, career, and personal interactions. For parents, the early introduction and nurturing of leadership qualities such as resilience, empathy, and decisiveness are both a privilege and a responsibility. Here are practical strategies for embedding leadership lessons into everyday parenting, courtesy of Metropolis.Cafe. Continue reading
Ms. Kyles with her Pi Sigma Alpha certificate for academic excellence in the field of political science. (Courtesy of Melissa Wheeler)
A homeschool student who began attending college at age 14 is gearing up to complete her bachelor’s degree, graduating from the University of the Pacific this fall.
Abigail Kyles, 19, is a college student from California and the daughter of Melissa Wheeler, 44, who directs a homeschool resource center.
Born and raised in Bakersfield, Ms. Kyles was homeschooled through high school, which enabled her to begin attending Bakersfield College, a junior college, when she was just 14. This made her a college freshman and high school freshman at the same time.
“She graduated high school at 16 years old and is now finishing up her four-year degree at University of the Pacific,” the proud mom told The Epoch Times.
Although many public schools offer dual enrollment, they do not allow students to take a heavier college course load the way Ms. Kyles did. Ms. Wheeler believes homeschooling was the secret to her daughter’s success, allowing the teen to take all the college courses she took and graduate at a young age. Continue reading
Mentorship from father figures is a guiding force in David Copperfield’s life. “Traddles, Micawber, and David,” by Frank Reynolds, 1910.
Charles Dickens created many memorable stories. The one he loved best was also the one he spoke of from the perspective of a father: “It will be easily believed that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy, and that no one can ever love that family as dearly as I love them. But, like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is DAVID COPPERFIELD.” Continue reading
(Illustration by The Epoch Times, Courtesy of Nadine Lauffer, Courtesy of Emma Reese Photography)
Eighteen-year-old Nadine Lauffer has become part of a movement of homeschooling families who are debunking myths surrounding the community. With her weekly podcasts, she’s also been helping teens homeschool fearlessly through high school.
Ms. Lauffer, currently based in Pennsylvania, spent years growing up in the Netherlands and Florida as her dad used to work in chemical engineering sales.
At the age of 3, she began her educational journey at a Dutch-speaking school. However, when her family moved to Florida, she had to restart kindergarten since she didn’t know any English but successfully overcame that challenge. Continue reading
Maintaining a leading edge in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines is essential in the ever-evolving world of education. As you tackle the complexities of teaching these subjects, it’s crucial to continuously discover and adopt innovative strategies that engage and inspire your students. This Metropolis.Café article delves into various practical techniques to rejuvenate and enhance STEM learning in your classroom, aiming to transform both the teaching experience and student outcomes. Continue reading
On Wednesday, May 18, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln issued an Executive Order, commanding General John A. Dix to arrest and imprison the editors, proprietors, and publishers of the New York World and New York Journal of Commerce newspapers for publishing a “false and spurious proclamation purporting to be signed by the President.”
This was part of an incident known as the “Gold Hoax of 1864.” Or, as this video from Life on the Civil War Research Trail calls it, “Fake News.” Continue reading
One of the few surviving Tuskegee Airmen – and one of the four original Top Guns – turned 100 on Independence Day surrounded by friends, family, and television cameras for the big event.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Harry T. Stewart Jr. celebrated his centennial milestone on Thursday with a party that the Detroit chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Tuskegee National Historical Museum hosted. Continue reading
A new nation: In John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams is seated to the viewer’s right of Richard Henry Lee, whose legs are crossed in the front row. They became friends and political allies. (John Trumbull/Capitol Rotunda)
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Continue reading
The names of 56 men ended up on the Declaration of Independence in the form of their signatures.
The name of one woman appeared on it, too, well – a version of it.
According to the National Park Service (NPS), that woman was Mary Katharine Goddard. Continue reading
Eighty-two percent of teachers say that the general state of public K-12 education has gotten worse over the past five years. This is according to a new Pew Research Center survey conducted in October and November of 2023. That’s not the only shocking statistic from the survey, either, which overall offers a grim statistical map of the fault lines fracturing our education system. However, these trends may offer some insight into how to fix our schools.
First, the teachers. Most teachers (77 percent) find their job frequently stressful, and a large majority (70 percent) say their school is understaffed, which may contribute to the fact that over 80 percent of teachers say they do not have enough time in the work day to complete all necessary tasks. Continue reading
Donya Grant, works on a homeschool lesson with her son Kemper, 14, as her daughter Rowyn, 11, works at right, at their home in Monroe, Wash./AP Photo
Scientific American magazine urged the federal government to regulate homeschooling and suggested that parents of homeschooled children should “undergo a background check.” Continue reading
Some of us may remember the Helen Lovejoy character in The Simpsons, who would appear any time some catastrophe befell the town and plaintively wail, “Won’t someone please think of the children?!” The joke here, of course, is that as long as you do something in the name of helping children, it must be right, and you must be virtuous.
Such sentiments are easily ridiculed in cartoons, but unfortunately, they take root in reality like Russian knapweed despite copious evidence undermining their veracity. Consider your own government-school experiences, whether as a student, parent, or interested observer: Continue reading
February 19, 2002 ~ I’ll bet you think that the problems with our nation’s schools are a fairly recent phenomenon. Wrong. It dates backs to the 1960’s. Those that have implemented the subversion of our educational system have sought to fly well below the radar of public awareness, depending on stealth and duplicity to achieve the wreckage that has already stunted the lives of thousands who have passed through it.
No other topic has evoked as much email as did our weekly “Warning Signs” commentary, Indoctrination, Not Education. Good. Time to wake up America!
In this and three other commentaries, I will walk you through the history of the problem with the help of an extraordinary book, “The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America” by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt. The facts I will share with you are found in a fat compendium of research by this former senior official with the US Department of Education who discovered the mother lode, copied it, and fled. She is one of America’s unsung heroes. Continue reading
Millions of Americans have woken up to the fact that their education system is rotten to the core. As elite universities are engulfed by antisemitic riots, their veil of prestige has been torn to shreds. It is by now clear to many that, in the words of Christopher Rufo, the radical left has conquered everything.
What, then, is to be done? Many, Rufo included, are doing their best to stem the tide of revolutionary ideology through direct political engagement. Their hard work is paying off. In recent months, universities are beginning to move away from mandatory diversity statements. This is just the beginning…
Continue reading
The other day I ran across a passage from That Hideous Strength which seems oddly applicable to our time. A dystopian novel written by C. S. Lewis at the close of World War II, That Hideous Strength finds one of its main characters, Mark Studdock, working for N.I.C.E., an organization which pulls the strings in a controlling, totalitarian society.
Studdock is assigned to write propaganda articles for N.I.C.E., an assignment which he objects to when he receives it from his boss, Miss Hardcastle. Studdock argues that it won’t work because newspapers “are read by educated people” – too smart to be taken in by propaganda. Continue reading