Feeding Mind, Pursuing Truth
Blog 3 Columns
- Home
- Blog 3 Columns
Homeschooling is Becoming an International Phenomenon0
- January 20, 2016
First there was the news that the number of homeschooled children in the U.S. rose 61.8% in the last decade. Then came the report that homeschooling is exploding in the U.K. – with a 65% increase in the last six years. And now comes the news that homeschooling’s popularity is spreading to other countries as
READ MORE
Are America’s Best Days Behind Us?0
- Economics
- January 20, 2016
America’s best days might be behind us, argues Eduardo Porter in a piece for the New York Times. According to Porter, the new book The Rise and Fall of American Growth by economist Robert J. Gordon makes a convincing case that American growth, prosperity, and innovation are significantly slowing down. So much so that today’s
READ MORE
8 Deeper-Than-Usual Critiques of American Education0
- Education
- January 20, 2016
In 1987 Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind was published. It represented a penetrating critique of higher education in America. Almost thirty years later, his criticisms—including the following eight—are still very much relevant: 1) “Fathers and mothers have lost the idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their children is
READ MORE
5 Un-PC Quotes from Past Inaugural Addresses0
- History
- January 20, 2016
One year from today, news cameras across the county will be focused on the steps of the U.S. Capitol as the 45th president of the United States is sworn into office. Whomever the next president is, we doubt you’ll see comments like these: “[T]he foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and
READ MORE
Should People Read Less News?0
- Culture
- January 19, 2016
Thomas Jefferson was one of the most famous critics of the news media. He went so far as to write, “The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them.” Was Jefferson’s scorn unfair, or did he have a point? Should people read less news if they wish to
READ MORE
Read Literature to Learn and Love the Truth0
- Education
- January 19, 2016
The other night I testified (via telephone) before the Alaska state legislature, on the standards their public schools are adopting for classes in English. I’d read the standards but didn’t have them in front of me, so I was taken aback when one of the representatives plucked a directive out of all the verbiage and asked
READ MORE
Is it Time to Stop Pushing the “College-for-All” Mantra?0
- Education
- January 19, 2016
In Forbes today, columnist Erik Sherman addresses a common mistake that politicians and the public make about education. All too often, writes Sherman, “we move from ‘education is good’ to ‘education will fix income inequality’ or otherwise charge the economy.” Because the public has believed such taglines, the push to send every student to college
READ MORE
Have You Read These 10 Titles From the Original Harvard Library?0
- Education
- January 19, 2016
In 1638, a man named John Harvard died and bequeathed half of his estate and his library of over 400 books to a fledgling college in Massachusetts. Today, we know that college as Harvard University. To the modern ear, many of the titles John Harvard left to the college are unfamiliar and likely known to
READ MORE
Famed Historian Explains How a Civilization Collapses0
- History
- January 19, 2016
Will and Ariel Durant are famous for their magisterial 11-volume survey of human history titled The Story of Civilization. After spending fifty years of studying and reflecting on the history of mankind, they are at the very least an interesting authority to consult on the matter. In The Lessons of History—written after they completed their
READ MORE