You are not trying hard enough. You only try hard at what you like. This is a refrain you hear in school all the time. Probably because it’s true, that kids intuitively try hard at what they like. In early grades, this means boys are trying hard at recess. In later grades it means very […]
After failing special ed math, I went on to launch three startups, securing funding for all three from investors. At this point, it’s pretty clear to me that very young kids can run their own company. Certainly they can by age fourteen, but probably even younger. Did you ever read Berenstain Bears and the Trouble […]
I’m done with math. I’m simply not teaching it. I am teaching what my kids ask to learn. Right now we are mastering jumping on the bed. Here is why I don’t think I need to teach math. 1. Learning fundamental math is like reading – kids will take the lead. My son asked to […]
I write a ton about all the things that surprise me when my kids have unlimited screen time. I’ve been surprised that they learned to type, that they learned to spell, and they learned to make movies. Today I’m surprised that they learned about politics. We were driving in the car to the butcher and […]
It’s the start of the school year, which is when parents invariably ask me where we take music lessons. And if they should let their kid start. And what’s it like. My answer is usually, “Yes, definitely your kid should play an instrument. If you are willing to drive yourself nuts with the practicing.” Before […]
This is a picture of the very famous Joshua Bell. Here’s a story he tells: His mom dropped him off every week at some university where he was supposed to practice violin. But the room he was supposed to practice in was right by the video game room, and he found himself going there a […]
I think my son is a writer. Not the one who is the cellist. Writing is too solitary for him and the audience is too far removed. He’s a performer. But the other son, he is a writer with a knack for non-fiction. He writes a journal every night, and he’s as obsessive as I […]
When I moved to the farm with my children, it never occurred to me that I would be raising farm kids. But it happened quickly that my kids did things I would never have dreamed of doing in my own childhood. They spend the day with no shirts. They chop wood with axes. They pee […]
There are no blue ribbons for parenting, so it’s hard to know what to aim for. I have talked about grit, perseverance, and expertise. But as I read more about what people need as adults, I see that we completely underestimate usefulness. I am starting to focus more on that for my own kids, and […]
In the curriculum world, I notice there is an obsession with good writing. The problem with the curriculum is that it tells you WHAT to write, which is exactly the problem with school, telling you what to learn. The best way to learn is to do what interests you. By the same token, the best […]