by Oliver DeMille Abigail’s Crayon Drawing She looked at Abigail’s crayon drawing and praised it. And this was no ordinary praising. Vernie’s comments were specific and insightful, and went on and on and on. Eight-year-old Abi beamed with happiness. I sat and watched, a little [...]
(What Every Parent, Teacher, and Student Should Know) The New Rules The Millennial Generation (born between 1982 and 2001) started entering the job market in about 2004. Since then they have grown as a percentage of those in the work force (this will continue until [...]
A Deeper Problem One day. One trip to Barnes and Noble. Two magazines. It was interesting to read the two articles within five minutes of each other. It really made me think. First came a piece in Psychology Today (April 2014) reviewing a groundbreaking new [...]
The Size of Dreams “Dad, why do teachers think their students should only have small dreams?” I just about choked on my bottled water. “What?” I sputtered. “Well, before I tell you, don’t make me quit the public school class I’m taking, okay?” I laughed. [...]
The New Name for the Conveyor Belt I got excited when the next reading in my day’s pile of news clippings was from Parents magazine, but the title made the corners of my mouth turn down just a bit: “School Discipline Gone Bad.” I almost [...]
The New Problem Time magazine and The Economist recently ran articles on education and career, and how the changing economy has made the current conveyor-belt style of schooling almost entirely obsolete—for everything except low-paying jobs. The Atlantic ran a similar article showing that American workers [...]
Stand Up! I read somewhere, I forget where, that the only people who ever get a truly great education are those who just plain stand up and demand one. They do this in spite of schools, bureaucracies, and the educational system—not because of these things. [...]
by Oliver DeMille Forbes recently released a list of 7 crippling parenting behaviors, and I found them very interesting. From the writings of Tim Elmore, as recounted by Kathy Caprino, these behaviors should at the very least make all of us stop and think. Here [...]
by Oliver DeMille “As Father had taught him, he did not believe the first explanation his mind leapt to. ‘It will often be right, and as you get more experience of life is will usually be right. But it will never be reliably right, and [...]
by Oliver DeMille The Libraries of Great Men I recently read an interesting and fun article by Jeremy Anderberg entitled “The Libraries of Great Men: Theodore Roosevelt’s Reading List.” It’s an excellent read. For example, Anderberg wrote: “Reading books by your ‘mentors’—even if they’re long [...]
