We have discussed how home education provides the best opportunity to have a loving home in which to develop and grow as a family, and where the end result is usually a strong family unit of people who truly love and cherish each other.  Although this is not always the case, there is a much … Continue reading "Why Home Education? – Part 3: Back to the Basics (Part 19)"

Sometimes, something is so obvious it is hard to see and even more difficult to describe.  That is what I have come to believe regarding home education.  I cannot claim home education should be practiced by everybody, but I can definitely claim it is the best educational choice, when possible. Most anyone can home educate.  … Continue reading "Why Home Education? – Part 2: Back to the Basics (Part 18)"

We were no different than most people in our early days of home educating.  We knew the school was failing our children so we decided to bring it home.  Unfortunately, we did not solve anything by bringing school ideology and practices into our home.  We erroneously thought we could fix the problem simply by doing … Continue reading "Why Home Education? – Part 1: Back to the Basics (Part 17)"

It is often said that common sense is not that common.  This may be true, but it depends on who is involved.  Most people have been educated in some kind of school.  School was initially invented to help children think differently from their parents.  Perhaps there are a few schools that serve the community on … Continue reading "Common Sense: Back to the Basics (Part 16)"

We all want to see our children succeed.  Yet, when I ask parents what they mean by success, almost always the answer is, “We want them to be happy, content with their lot in life, the job they have and the person they marry.”  Maybe not in that order, but close enough. Our problem goes … Continue reading "I Want My Child to Attend University: Back to the Basics (Part 15)"

This time I want to start with the conclusion:  No, you do not need to send your children to high school to get accreditation so they can go to college.  First of all, you have no idea if college is required in your child’s life.  Secondly, children going to college are young adults and need … Continue reading "I Need to Send My Children to High School: Back to the Basics (Part 14)"

This may be true.  Perhaps you never completed high school yourself or maybe you did not excel at that level.  No big deal.  Two things must be considered when addressing this concern, but first, let’s be abundantly clear that bringing “high school” home is not a solution but rather more a matter of normalizing school … Continue reading "I Can’t Teach High School Level: Back to the Basics (Part 13)"

Aside from specializing in confusion, schools do a great disservice to students when they program them in computer fashion.  One way this is demonstrated is by telling students they can be anything they want to be.  Although this may sound reasonable at first blush, it is a big fat lie. Many years ago, while addressing … Continue reading "My Daughter (Son) Wants to Be a… Back to the Basics (Part 12)"

“But my child is different,” you say.  “She is special needs and requires special programming.” Yes, indeed, but all children are special needs.  All children are unique and in need of special programming.  Through God’s eyes, we are all special and precious, differences notwithstanding.  God’s love is ubiquitously applied to everyone.  We can all be … Continue reading "The “Different” Child: Back to the Basics (Part 11)"

We have all heard the rhetoric regarding standards.  While we may appreciate the expectation of standards in certain things like cars, planes boat and trains, the application of standards to students is absurd. To expect all iPhones to meet a certain level of expectation makes sense.  Children are not mechanical items like computers, yet this … Continue reading "The Standard Child: Back to the Basics (Part 10)"