I first came across the idea of fads within the education system upon reading Reginald Damerall’s book Education Smoking Gun. In it, Damerall details the total lack of scholarship in the education colleges, which leads to a vulnerability to faddishness in teaching. Teachers are led away from time tested teaching methods to methods that seem more exciting, more progressive, and less intellectual, in an effort to be more inclusive and make learning more fun. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the area of reading instruction.Reading is a basic skill all children must learn if they are to be educated. It is ground zero for all other learning. If a child cannot read, he cannot learn history, grammar, logic, math, or any other subject. Reading is one of the most powerful tools we can

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a homeschool resource fair at a small local school for the arts in my hometown. Every classroom and corridor was filled with tables covered in information about homeschool co-ops, clubs, private classes and teachers. Everything from ballet to robotics, art, woodworking, and every conceivable academic approach were represented by eager adults, excited to share their particular interest and expertise, and most of it free.The incredible diversity within the homeschool community is astounding—a feast for the eyes and intellect. It is such a contrast to the uniformity of the government school offerings. If I’ve learned anything in my sixteen years of homeschooling, it’s that one size does not fit all. While the basic information to be conveyed remains

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

Trade school enrollment is on the rise. Many trade schools have seen as much as a 19.3 percent rise in enrollment over the last several years. This is good news given the labor shortages in areas like construction and auto mechanics.Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, when I was in high school, it was unthinkable to not go to college. In my working-class neighborhood, a college education was viewed as a way out of poverty. Jobs in construction, welding, and the like were viewed as less desirable. They’re hard physical work and don’t necessarily come with the promise of moving up the economic ladder.However, things are changing. The trend toward a four-year college degree is decreasing as students and parents have begun to view a degree with less enthusiasm. The value of a degree has

Since 2020, the number of families participating in homeschooling has increased significantly, and with it, discussions about regulations. Currently, regulations of homeschoolers are a state-by-state phenomenon, with Pennsylvania and New York among the states with the most regulations and Missouri, Texas, and Oklahoma with the least. Examples of regulations include requiring parents to submit a letter of intent to homeschool prior to removing their children from the classroom, having teaching qualifications, teaching specific subjects, having evidence of vaccinations, schooling each child for a certain number of hours, and more.One of the many reasons for the push for regulations has to do with the desire to protect children from isolation, educational neglect, and other more-violent forms