I’m convinced that the risks of homeschooling are not about the kids: Of course they will learn because kids do that naturally, if you just leave them alone; and of course whatever you do at home will be better than school. The risk is that parents go nuts. Read more
When you start a blog you have no idea what it will become. I thought this would be a place where I try to figure out what to teach my kids. But really, you are not learning that here. You are probably learning about farm life. And video games. And a range of other stuff that is not curriculum.
My friend sent this photo to me. He was walking by the school and was struck by how much it looks like a prison. There are so many things that are so common in school that they are part of our social vernacular, but they are unique to the school system and prison system and nowhere else: Read more
This is a guest post from Satya Khan. I met her when she hired me for a coaching session, and I’ve remained friends with her since then. She has a daily newsletter about her experience raising young children. Her writing in the newsletter is breathtakingly beautiful and wicked smart and you can check it out here.
My husband, who teaches at a private school, is against homeschooling our kids. “That’s the path to crazy,” he said, when I suggested it for our sons. But he wasn’t talking about them. He was referring to me. Read more
There is a movement, among people who love the idea of locking kids up in school all day, to add deep reading to the national curriculum. Supposedly, kids don’t read well enough anymore. The Internet is making kids stupid. Or bad readers. Or lazy. Or all of the above. Read more
I am at my favorite dance recital ever. There are 260 kids, and there are parents backstage all day to keep everything organized. I am in the boys room, where they all have a DS, and many have something else as well for video games. Read more
Some of my favorite statistics come from the 70-year Harvard study about what makes people happy. The first thing they found out is that going to Harvard has no bearing on whether someone is happy. Another conclusion the research supports is that kids who have warm relationships with their mother make more money. And kids who have close relationships with their father have less anxiety. Read more
