When does a school year end for homeschoolers?

This is a guest post from Sarah Faulkner. She is a homeschooling mom in Washington state. She has five kids, ages 13, 11, 9, 5, and 2.  When the kids were little we had an official first day, and a last day of school.  It is a given that children learn all the time, and don’t stop […]

How to homeschool with confidence

Every time I hear a flight attendant tell me to put my mask on before I help my child, I realize how that moment might be worth the price of a the plane ticket, just for a reminder that I can’t help my kid if I can’t breathe.

How do the 1% handle education?

I like looking at what the super-rich do for education because they are not bound by the same social rules as the rest of us. For example, it’s so common for Hollywood stars to homeschool their children that we don’t even blink an eye when we read about it.

Charter school data reveals they’re no better than public schools

The cacophony of parents talking about their great charter school is really disheartening. There is no evidence that charter schools work. And the reason for this is that no one knows how to reform schools effectively and charter schools are schools.

Finally, Silicon Valley funds homeschooling: Elon Musk leads with Ad Astra

This is a guest post from YesMyKidsAreSocialized. Her name is Elizabeth and she is a parent to three girls that are being unschooled. They reside in the Los Angeles, CA area. This is a picture of her daughter. After a recent interview he gave while in Beijing, the news that Elon Musk of Tesla, SpaceX […]

Stop teaching kids to write for last century

My son told me he wrote a post for my blog. He’s written for this blog before, so I read his post with excitement. But then I had to tell him it wouldn’t work. I’m not sure it’s that nice,” I told him. “Or useful.”

Education today should prepare for shocking careers of tomorrow

The top 25 jobs of the future don’t even exist yet. Of course we want education to prepare people for the future workplace. The problem is that history has proven that the top jobs of one decade were non-existent jobs just a few decades earlier. This makes sense; it’s the newest skills that are in the […]

How do unschoolers turn out?

When you look at this headline, the important thing appears to be unschoolers. But in fact, the important thing is “turn out.” That is, what does it mean to “turn out well?”

The real education you give your kids is what you model for them

This is a guest post from Sarah Faulkner. She is a homeschooling mom in Washington state. She has five kids, ages 13, 11, 9, 5, and 2. The goal of learning from being a kid to an adult is defined by every parent. My husband Andy and I set our homeschooling goals. We created a list, and […]

Teachable moment

Scene at the Grocery Store: Neighbor: I hear you’re not in school anymore! Nine-year-old: Yah. My mom’s teaching me. Neighbor: Oh really! That’s nice. Nine-year-old: Not really. She’s not really teaching me anything.

© 2023 Penelope Trunk