Did Lockdowns Finish Off Public Schooling?

We moved to a good school district. The area was growing. Built for families like ours, all of the public schools in the area received “A” or “8/10” ratings. There were two very expensive and very fancy private schools in the area. It was an idyllic place to raise children.

In retrospect, we had a few frustrations with the public schools. Some of the curriculum seemed ridiculous, the math in particular. The apps used to communicate with the teachers were barely functional. It was somewhat difficult to track what the kids were learning, but the teachers had no complaints, so we didn’t make any either.

In March 2020, the world changed. Continue reading

Mom Who Homeschools Her Children Reveals She Lets Her One-Year-Old Play in and EAT Mud…

But Insists It Is Good to Build Up a Healthy Immune System

A mom who refuses to put her kids in school has revealed that she lets her baby play in and eat mud to help build a healthy immune system.

Taylor Moran and her three children, Hudson, five, Thompson, three, and Gus, one, previously hit the headlines after revealing their controversial lifestyle.

The Arkansas-based mom, 32, who doesn’t believe in the traditional schooling system, thinks that classes and homework ‘kills kids’ spirits’ and instead teaches them through exploring.

While she’s received some backlash for ‘unschooling’ her children, the former teacher believes it’s important to let kids be kids, no matter how dangerous that can be.

‘It’s important for them to take on risks like climbing trees, running barefoot or playing in mud,’ said Taylor, who has 73,000 followers on TikTok . Continue reading

Jimmy Carter’s Last Moments With Rosalynn Carter ~ His Partner of Almost Eight Decades

In Memory of a Unique Lady and her Husband.

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter died Nov. 19 at 96 years old with husband, former President Jimmy Carter, who turned 99 last month, by her side at their home in Georgia, their son told The Washington Post.

The Carters celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary this summer, and by then had already been the longest-married presidential couple in United States history for some time. In the wake of Rosalynn Carter’s death, new details emerged this week about her final moments and the former president’s devotion throughout them. Continue reading

The No. 1 Thing Parents Are ‘Completely Forgetting’ to Teach Their Kids Today

As the founder and CEO of As the founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, I’ve spent decades working with parents and educating students from underserved communities. I am also a mom to three kids.

Many parents put a lot of focus into teaching their kids about cleaning their rooms, acting responsibly and doing homework. These things are important, but there’s one thing that many of us are completely forgetting about: HOW TO ENJOY LIFE!
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“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” ~ Not A Christian Hymn

John Brown of Kansas

Many year ago now, when we lived in West Virginia, the church we attended used a hymnbook that contained “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” At the time I didn’t know much about that song (I won’t call it a Christian hymn because it isn’t) but when folks got to choose what hymns they wanted to hear in the Sunday evening service that song was often chosen. At that time the pastor in that church was from Georgia, and I can imagine he cringed every time that song was chosen in a service. I remember one time, one of the congregation said to him, in jest, “We can’t sing Dixie. It’s not in the hymnbook.” If the truth be known The Battle Hymn of the Republic should not have been in a Christian hymnal either, but unfortunately it is still in many. Continue reading

How America’s Teachers Colleges Make Teachers and Their Students Dumber

No law, executive edict, funding package, or curriculum restriction will fix the teacher quality problem.

More than three years after Covid-19 began, explanations abound for ongoing “learning loss” in schools. But these discussions often miss one of the most obvious explanations: outdated and ineffective instruction.

It’s been repeatedly shown that teacher quality is the primary thing affecting student achievement. Shouldn’t teacher quality be our primary concern? Given how far behind we’ve fallen in teacher quality, you would think so… Continue reading

Randi Weingarten Gets Educated About Exactly Who Is to Blame for the Rise in Homeschooling

The American Federation of Teachers union boss shared an article on ‘What’s behind the increase in homeschooling’

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten got more than she asked for after she posted an article about the rise in homeschooling in America on social media Sunday.

“What’s behind the increase in homeschooling,” Weingarten posted on X along with an article with the same title from Axios, which included experts attributing the rise to kids needing specialized services and the pandemic.

Some X users, however, blamed Weingarten and the agenda the AFT has pushed for in education. Continue reading

Holmquist: Why Progressives Hate Memorization

As a student, I was a whiz at memorization, so much so, that I remember basically memorizing two lead roles for different plays – one at age 13 and one at age 16 – after only one serious and focused read-through of the scripts. As an adult, I see myself mirroring my mother’s shock at such a feat, but at the time, such ease in memorization was simply second nature.

But while memorization was a hugely beneficial learning device for me as a student, it often seems like a sidelined and disgraced learning technique in the contemporary education system. Continue reading

Whatever Happened to Kids’ Innocence – and Parental Rights?

Parents from coast to coast are working to have their voices heard in local public schools and continue to fight while being met with resistance along the way – in courtrooms and on Capitol Hill.

In Maryland, a group seeks to have sexually explicit books removed from school libraries and is being portrayed as enemies of speech and enlightenment. Meanwhile, in California, parents believe they should be informed if their child shows signs of gender confusion while at school – an argument with which the state disagrees. Continue reading

Far Left Alarmed Home Schooling on the Rise, Which Should Set Off Alarm Bells at Every Kitchen Table

New figures confirm home schooling is rocketing in popularity but a home school advocate warns that means an unhappy government will try to smash its independent-minded competitor.

The Washington Post this week reported on eye-opening school data from 32 states and Washington, D.C. Its findings show home school students have increased by 51% since the 2017-2018 school year, defying predictions that most families would return to public schools after COVID-19 restrictions went away.

The increases are especially high in states with large urban centers but not limited to those states.

California’s five-year increase in home schooling is 78%, New York’s is 103%, and Washington, D.C.’s figure is 108%, according to the Post.

Citing the National Center for Education Statistics, the Post said the number of home schooling children has jumped from 1.5 million before the COVID pandemic to as many as 2.7 million during the current school year. Continue reading

Benson: The Ongoing Battle Over Public School Books

It’s History Repeating Itself

It seems like the public schools in Hillsborough County, Florida have been having problems similar to those experienced in Kanawha County, West Virginia public schools 49 years ago now. Considering the true agenda of the public education system in this country – indoctrination rather than education – should anyone really be surprised?

And it looks as if this has been going on for while. In an article published back in March of this year in the Tampa Bay Times it was noted that “This Book Is Gay” a non-fiction book that offers guidance to LGBTQ youth will no longer be available at any Hillsborough County middle school. Continue reading

Why Homeschool Fearmongering Should Be Taken With a Grain of Salt

Movie music is the subtle cue that tells you how to respond to a certain scene. Happy, sad, afraid, angry – you name the mood and the composer will ensure that the desired emotion is accomplished.

I sometimes wonder if news articles work the same way. Take the recent and widely shared Washington Post article on the explosion of homeschooling occurring since Covid. “In 390 districts,” The Post explained, “there was at least one home-schooled child for every 10 in public schools during the 2021-2022 academic year.”

That 10 percent mark, also known as “the tipping point,” helped inch the numbers of homeschooling students up to a high of 2.7 million – 1 million more than the number of students in Catholic schools, according to The Post.

Such numbers, although still relatively small, appear to have The Washington Post worried. Very worried.
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Holmquist: The Recipe for a Happy Nation Requires Religious and Moral Instruction in Schools

A Founding Father’s vision for American education included a strong foundation of religious and moral instruction.

As a grade school student, one of my favorite field trips was spending a day attending the one-room school at a local historical site. My friends and I would pack our noontime meal in lunch buckets, dress in aprons and bonnets, and participate in a spelling bee at the close of the day.

But our lessons in the classroom covered more than just the three Rs. Continue reading

Vigilance Is Not Optional: Be Wary of Your Local Public Schools

Parents once looked forward to having their children reach the age of five. At that time, children enter kindergarten, usually a half-day session either in the morning or in the afternoon.

At age six, children enter the first grade with school hours, something on the order of 8:00 a.m. to 2:15 or 2:30 p.m. Parents did their business while ensuring that the children were dropped off and picked up at appointed times.

There was little or no concern about what transpired during the school day as long as nothing happened out of the ordinary. Every now and then, somebody skinned a knee during recess. Or someone got ill during the day and had to go home. Most days, however, were uneventful. Your little ones were learning the ABCs, simple arithmetic, American history, and a few things about society in general… and THEN:
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No, John Oliver, Homeschooling Doesn’t Need More Regulation

Many parents choose homeschooling specifically because of the harms they believe are caused by public schooling.

Those of us who have homeschooled for years are accustomed to periodic calls for greater regulation of homeschooling. Whether it’s a Harvard professor or NPR, the hackneyed hollers to regulate homeschoolers remain unconvincing.

Joining the tired chorus is comedian John Oliver, who earlier this week hosted an episode of his “Last Week Tonight” HBO show calling for more homeschool regulation… Continue reading

Publius Rutilius Rufus: Rome’s ‘Last Honest Man

Publius Rutilius Rufus (158 B.C.-78 B.C.) attempted to reform Rome’s corrupt tax system, and soon found himself accused of corruption and extortion himself.

Banished for debasing the currency from his home city in what is now north-central Turkey, Diogenes of Sinope chose to beg in the streets of Corinth and Athens, live in a clay jar, and eschew wealth of any kind. The story is often told that he walked the streets with a lantern, looking in vain for an honest man. He often confronted people with disparaging hand gestures, including one that involved the middle finger. He is considered a founder of the ancient Greek school of philosophy known as Cynicism. In his 80s, he died in the same year as Alexander the Great (323 B.C.). Continue reading

3 Missteps of the Education System According to Mike Rowe

Putting shop class BACK in session should be number 1 on the list…

Everybody loves Mike Rowe. His matter-of-fact sense of humor, his humility, and his willingness to get involved in the many work sites featured on his “Dirty Jobs” show make him an endearing figure.

But Rowe is also very intelligent. He has his finger on the pulse and problems of America in a way that many others often don’t recognize. Take the recent interview he did with Nick Gillespie of Reason in which he discussed how the missteps of the education system produced a generation of entitled young people who turn up their noses at blue collar or low-paying work. Continue reading

Harnessing Creative Brilliance in Children With Learning Disabilities

In the vibrant tapestry of human expression, art stands out as a medium that transcends words, allowing souls to communicate in colors, shapes, and movements. For children with learning disabilities, delving into the arts unlocks a universe of possibilities, providing them with a medium to express themselves and a bridge to connect, grow, and redefine their potential. Continue reading