I am convinced that kids should not go to college. It’s overpriced, it’s nonessential to getting a job, and you are more likely to earn a ton of money if you take unconventional paths.  Not that earning money is the primary goal of  life, but for the amount of money college costs, it should be […]

When I lived in New York City, I saw a lot of amazing school stuff going on. Gorgeous gardens tucked between skyscrapers. Tall cast iron gates helping children feel important and special. Tons of details that were too expensive for the lifestyle we could afford. I spent a lot of time wishing I could get […]

We live a mile from the nearest house and two miles from the nearest kid to play with. And I think his mom has banned her kid from playing with my kid. Maybe because of my blog, I’m not sure. But suffice it to say, the closest thing we have to playmates around here are […]

Even though the whole world seems to be going back to school, it’s still summer for us. We don’t start school and stop school because that would send the message to my kids that learning is something you start and stop. The whole back-to-school hoopla is for people who teach their kids to be poor. […]

I made two investments in homeschooling this week. First, I bought Rosetta Stone Hebrew. I am worried that Hebrew is too hard for me to teach the kids. I’ve had two years of college Hebrew. I’ve also had five years of get-ready-for-bar-mitzvah-Hebrew that really add up to about one month of college Hebrew. I think […]

My son grabs my hand to hold. I say, “I can’t. I’m holding the cello. Let’s just go. We’re in a rush. Come on. Just grab the music.” He says, “But I thought you said holding my cute little hand is your favorite thing in the world to do.”

This is a picture of me and the boys at the music workshop we went to in Boston. You will notice that there are no instruments, and no teachers. This is because after two hours we left the camp and just did a trip to Boston. In the past, this would have been a hard […]

I was sitting with my son’s best friend, Joe, and his sister and his mom in a restaurant in Illinois. And a text came from the school to say which classroom Joe is in. Joe said, “Am I with Robbie?” His mom called Robbie’s mom. “No. You’re not with Robbie. But Robbie’s mom says you’re […]

Asperger’s is a developmental disorder that is almost impossible to self-identify because central to the dysfunction is very poor social skills. But poor social skills means that you are missing social cues which means that you don’t know you’re missing social cues. Everyone in the room wants you to shut up and you don’t know […]

I’m traveling with my son, which means I’m reading USA Today, which is distributed liberally throughout hotels in the US. I usually love USA Today. It’s like eye candy with all the photos and it’s nice that I get the same paper no matter what city we’re visiting. My favorite spot in the paper is […]

© 2023 Penelope Trunk