Education

The Student Loan Crisis Is Real and Growing Worse 0
- Culture, Economics, Education, Featured
- January 27, 2026
Student loan debt has become one of the most persistent financial burdens Americans face today. Some argue that it should be erased. Others insist borrowers are solely to blame. But neither position reflects the reality of the situation. The truth is simpler and more troubling. The student loan system has expanded beyond its original purpose and now
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Here’s What French Elementary Schools Are Doing Right 0
- Culture, Education, Featured
- January 26, 2026
I went back to elementary school immediately following my college graduation. No, it wasn’t remedial coursework! Instead, I am putting my English major and French minor to work in Angers, France, as the primary English language teacher in two French preschools and elementary schools between January and July. Beyond the culture shock of moving from
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Are We Too Smart for Our Own Good?0
- Culture, Education, Featured
- January 22, 2026
When I was a kid in Boonville, N.C., I’d occasionally hear a grownup say, “He ain’t got a lick of sense,” meaning someone had just done something really stupid. I’d also hear, “That old boy’s too smart for his own good,” meaning someone with an overabundance of brains unchecked by common sense can bring himself
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‘Socialization’ Depends on Who’s Doing the Socializing 0
- Culture, Education, Family, Featured
- January 20, 2026
I was conversing with an 80-year-old neighbor recently who taught and coached for decades in public schools in New York City and here in Virginia. When I mentioned having taught seminars in literature, history, and Latin to homeschoolers, he instantly brought up socialization, a word I’ve heard linked to homeschoolers since my wife and I
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Taking School to the Woods 0
- Culture, Education, Family, Featured
- January 15, 2026
English philosopher John Locke once advised that children should have “shoes so thin, that they might leak and let in water, whenever he comes near it.” Yikes! I thought when I first read that passage in “Some Thoughts Concerning Education” years ago. The mother’s heart of caution within me still balks at that idea … but
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What Harvard Neglected in 1982 0
- Culture, Education, Featured
- January 12, 2026
Going through some old, family documents this week, I stumbled upon a clipping from “Harvard Magazine” that included an address given by Reverend Peter J. Gomes of Harvard University to the school’s graduating seniors in 1982. It’s a heart-felt and lively address, which is reproduced below. What stands out most is that Rev. Gomes recognized that
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