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.

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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, […]

It appears that getting your children OUT of the Public Fool System would be advised! 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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.

“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 […]

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 […]

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.

…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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

… 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 […]