Poem: “Haec Fabula Docet,” by Robert Frost  Statement of the Whole:  Anxiety can radically change behavior.  This is a predominant issue in education today in part due to the over emphasis placed on the standardized test.  What should home schooling parents do with this … Continue reading →

Poem: “Ode to My Goldfish” by Ogden Nash  “Oh, wet pet.”  Statement of the Whole: It is often through analogy and metaphor that we can see relationships between humans most clearly.  The relationship between a tutor and his pupil is a hard … Continue reading →

“Thoughts About the Covid Gap”  Poem: “On Nature,“ by Parmenides  Statement of the Whole:  Given the current concerns about what happens when disease or some other factor shuts down education in the land, the Backporch boys go on safari throughout history to look at what … Continue reading →

“The Dive into Digital Media” episode  Poem: “Bed in Summer” by Robert Louis Stevenson  Statement of the Whole:  Education is now afloat in the digital sea.  How have screens improved education and are there things that are better off without the screen involved?  … Continue reading →

Poem: Quote from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare  “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary … Continue reading →

Poem: “November, 1806” by William Wordsworth  Statement of the Whole:  Many today believe that success in education is determined by the budget given to it.  The home schooling movement is pushing back on that adage.  Jason and Steve conduct a thought experiment using the notion … Continue reading →

Poem: “To ____” by Edgar Allen Poe  Statement of the Whole:  How does what you read affect how you write?  Is it good or bad writing to see something of other writers show up in your writing?  How does this question affect the teaching … Continue reading →

Poem: “How to Be a Poet” by Wendell Berry  Statement of the Whole: How do you find the right environment that promotes good learning?  Is there just one type of such place?  Does the place learning occurs matter any more or less … Continue reading →

Our Annual Incarnation Special  Poem: none (the whole thing is about Christmas lyrics, which are afterall, poems)  Statement of the Whole:   What does singing Christmas songs have to do with education?  A lot and very little.  Jason and Steve think it has more to … Continue reading →

Reading a difficult book  Poem: none, instead Steve reads a quote from the work:  “Comes again the longing, the desire that has no name. Is it for Mrs. Prouty, for a drink, for both: for a party, for youth, for … Continue reading →