Education

Back to Homeschool 3
- Education, Family
- September 13, 2023
It began a few weeks ago: the back-to-school memes. One featured dejected kids dressed in new school clothes waiting for the bus while elated parents look forward to an empty house. My favorite meme so far is one with a mom in mid-kick, child flying through the air toward a waiting school bus. Freedom, at
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Kids Don’t Have To Be This Anxious 1
- Family, Education
- September 11, 2023
What if one of the big reasons kids are so anxious is simply this: They’re micromanaged by adults? As you may have heard me say over and over (I’m getting to that age!), kids are micromanaged. Increasingly they’re in adult-run classes, clubs and sports. Or they’re inside on a screen, instead of climbing a tree
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The Lawyer on the Playground 1
- Education, Family
- September 5, 2023
“Welcome! Play Safe” reads the sign at a Fairfax County Public School playground in Virginia just outside of Washington D.C. It goes on to list a few simple rules — 21, by my count. First off, the playground should never be used when it’s frozen. Or wet. There can be no climbing on things like
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Old Kindergarten Requirements Suggest Today’s Classrooms Are Too Much, Too Soon 6
- Culture, Education
- September 1, 2023
I received a rather frantic email from a friend when school started last fall. Panicking over the number of parents posting first day of preschool pictures, my friend wondered if she had made a mistake by not sending her four-year-old to school. “When did preschool become so popular?” she asked in dismay. She wasn’t imagining
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Charters Receive Far Less Money Than Traditional Public Schools. They Do Better Anyway 1
- Education
- August 31, 2023
If you thought charter schools received anywhere near the same amount of funding as traditional public schools, then think again. A new, massive study from the University of Arkansas finds that “On average, charter schools across 18 cities in 16 states (…) receive about 30 percent or $7,147 (2020 dollars) less funding per pupil than traditional
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The Trivium: The Foundation of Language Arts 6
- Education
- August 29, 2023
There’s a great deal of debate about what constitutes a good education. Our current education system seems to operate on the belief that how children are educated needs near constant tinkering and updating. Meanwhile, the number of individuals choosing education as a profession is on a steady decline, with a 19 percent drop in the
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