Is it about school or learning?

I love what Seth Godin said on his blog the other day:
Should this be about school or about learning?
School was the big thing for a long time. School is tests and credits and notetaking and meeting standards. Learning, on the other hand, is ‘getting it’. It’s the conceptual breakthrough that permits the student to understand [...]

College is a waste of time

For many people, that is.
This article from the New York Post blew my mind.
“The four-year college degree has come to cost too much and prove too little. It’s now a bad deal for the average student, family, employer, professor and taxpayer.”
As a home educator, curious parents will often ask, “what about college?”  Many are surprised [...]

School’s such a gas!

The call of the wood duck strikes again!  This time in a Martin Country, FL school where a 13-year-old boy was arrested for “breaking wind”.  He then “shut off computers” the other students were using.  (It was unclear as to if the computer’s shut down were as a result of the noxious blasts.)
The Sheriff’s department [...]

Those blasted boxes!

Jay read to me from a book he is reading entitled, “Lust for Life” and it’s on the life of Van Gogh.  Van Gogh’s past is fascinating.  It took him a while to sort things out before his artistic brilliance took center stage.
One of his obstacles on his road to self-discovery was his dad.  His [...]

Daisy chains and a crisis of irrelevancy

Last night we attended Missoula Children’s Theater performance at a local school; Daniel was the Assistant Director.
It never ceases to amaze me how little government schools have changed over the years.  It’s like stepping into a time machine back to the 70’s.  How nostalgic, eh?
Last night,  I thought about how I’d sit staring at the [...]

The death of silence and the genius of BusRadio

In today’s Tennessean, it’s reported that schools in Clarksville have fitted their school buses with “BusRadio”. Said to have a calming effect on the children, it plays music, public service announcements and (the didn’t list this one in the article, I went to their website) sponsorships.
Drivers report happier, calmer children and a quieter ride. [...]