The author is the proud parent of The Most Complex Child on the Planet[TM]. This has been confirmed by numerous teachers, administrators, doctors, therapists, specialists, friends, family members, and random strangers on the street. She has accepted her son's complexity (mostly) and is trying to work with it instead of against it. Now she is…

Considerable progress has been made in the last three decades in contraceptive technology and the treatment of sexually transmitted infections. However, education of the nation's youth about sexual health issues has been less successful. Most parents remain silent on the topic of sexuality while states argue over the curriculum. As a result, a…

One hundred percent literacy is a relatively modern goal. According to The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago (n.d.), writing was invented in 3200 BC. However, it was not until the Industrial Revolution, in the 19th century, that large numbers of ordinary people began to read and write. Today, most people believe that becoming a…

When the author started homeschooling, she would listen jealously as other parents discussed curriculum for reading and math, two subjects that her daughter never needed any instruction in as a young child. She was eager to try out curriculum, but her visual spatial daughter was not quite ready for learning on paper. She found out that searching…

In this paper, I explore different ways of picturing language learning in philosophy, all of them inspired by Wittgenstein and all of them concerned about scepticism of meaning. I start by outlining the two pictures of children and language learning that emerge from Kripke's famous reading of Wittgenstein. Next, I explore how social-pragmatic…

Drawing from six years of qualitative research, this article analyzes the broad range of proposed and existing homeschool regulations throughout the United States. It argues that current homeschool regulations--and most proposals for how to improve them--misjudge the complexity of such an endeavor; state resources are misused and the basic…

Home schooling has a long cross-cultural history. Parents who teach their children at home have diverse characteristics and rationales: dissatisfaction with public schools, avoidance of conformity, freedom, or concern for their values. (SK)

Discusses parental involvement in education. (FL)

Discusses how to create an effective working partnership between parents and teachers. Discusses parents as part of their children's literacy development, as teaching partners in the classroom, as resource persons in the classroom, and as teachers at home. (SR)

Addresses why families choose home schooling. Summarizes the most common arguments put forth by advocates and critics of home schooling regarding the perceived strengths and limitations of this unique form of education. Concludes that parents have the right to determine what form of schooling best meets the needs of their children. (SG)

Contends that to help children grow up to be people of faith, both parishes and parents have to do more than what was done in past generations. Emphasizes the importance of family catechesis--both the informal catechesis that happens in the home and the formal catechesis that parishes plan and facilitate. (VWC)

Missouri is the only state with a statutory mandate to provide parent education and family support services in every school district. Parents as Teachers is designed to enhance child development and scholastic performance by reaching out to families before a child is born. (Author)

Discusses the benefits of parent participation and various ways to welcome and allow parents to participate in the Montessori experience without formal training sessions and formal lessons that generally intimidate adults and imply the superiority of the teacher. Topics discussed include parent volunteers, parent observation, collaborative…

An education professor recounts her mother's profound influence on her life over the years. Her most important lesson was the sacredness of life. Teaching lost its status when education became secularized as a tool for economic mobility, when concerns for the spiritual became embarrassingly atavistic. (3 references) (MLH)

Discusses the issue of timed tests. Includes a take-home page for families on the topic of speed or timed tests. (KHR)