By Kerry McDonald “I hated going to school when I was a kid,” said Elon Musk in a 2015 interview. “It was torture.” When deciding how his own children would be educated, Musk rejected traditional schooling and created his own project-based microschool, Ad Astra, in 2014, on his SpaceX campus. “The kids really love going to school,” said Musk about Ad Astra in that same … [Read more...] about If Your Kids Aren’t Happy at School, Find Them Another One
Homeschooling
Former Public School Teachers Find Happiness In Entrepreneurship
By Kerry McDonald I spent much of last week in the greater Kansas City area visiting microschools and learning pods, and talking to founders, ahead of the Heartland Hybrid & Microschools Summit, hosted by Kansas Policy Institute. All of the seven learning environments I visited in Kansas and Missouri were founded within the past three years and all of the founders are … [Read more...] about Former Public School Teachers Find Happiness In Entrepreneurship
To The Mom Who Doesn’t Want to Send Her Kids to School
By Kerry McDonald It’s back-to-school season and some parents aren’t happy about that. Take the example of Rousmery Negrón, a single mom of two boys who was featured in a recent Associated Press article on chronic absenteeism. After being insulted by his teacher and placed in a special classroom for students with alleged hyperactivity, her middle schooler didn’t want to … [Read more...] about To The Mom Who Doesn’t Want to Send Her Kids to School
School Principal Quits Job To Homeschool Her 3 Kids On A 10-Acre Homestead: “I Wanted To Raise Thinkers”
By Louise Chambers A former school principal who grew frustrated with the school system quit her job and instead chose to homeschool her three kids on a 10-acre (4.05-hectare) homestead. Merging her children’s learning with their land and home, she has created an immersive “real world” educational experience based on her kids’ unique needs. Mandy Davis, 37, lives in … [Read more...] about School Principal Quits Job To Homeschool Her 3 Kids On A 10-Acre Homestead: “I Wanted To Raise Thinkers”
Celebrating a Milestone For Homeschooling Freedoms
By Kerry McDonald The ubiquity and widespread acceptance of homeschooling as a valid educational option for American families can obscure the fact that homeschooling freedoms were hard-fought. Homeschooling didn’t become legally recognized in all U.S. states until the 1990s, with families who chose to teach their own children in earlier years often harassed and sometimes … [Read more...] about Celebrating a Milestone For Homeschooling Freedoms
Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Across the US: A Case Study
By Kerry McDonald The rise of bottom-up education models Across the US, everyday education entrepreneurs are reimagining K-12 education in simple but profound ways. Some of these entrepreneurs are parents trying to solve an educational problem for their own families who decide to bring others along with them. Others are teachers who became fed up with one-size-fits-all … [Read more...] about Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Across the US: A Case Study
How Entrepreneurs Are Expanding Education Options For Families in Texas
By Kerry McDonald In early 2020, Chrystal and Joshua Bernard decided that they would begin homeschooling their four young children at the start of the following school year. Their two oldest children were completing first grade and pre-kindergarten, respectively, at a traditional private school in the greater Fort Worth, Texas area, but the Bernards were drawn to … [Read more...] about How Entrepreneurs Are Expanding Education Options For Families in Texas
The (Further) Case for the Free Market in Education
By Kerry McDonald In 1964, Leonard Read wrote a powerful essay celebrating the free market in education. Read, who founded FEE nearly two decades prior to promote individual and economic freedom, recognized the ways in which government control of the K-12 education sector constrained choice and prevented diversity and abundance of learning options. In “The Case for the … [Read more...] about The (Further) Case for the Free Market in Education
Hybrid Homeschooling and the Benefits of a Decentralized Education System
By Kerry McDonald I presented at a conference last week hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School on emerging school models. I talked about the growth and diversification of the microschooling and hybrid homeschooling movement that was already underway prior to 2020 and that has since accelerated. Now, more families recognize the tremendous value of these hybrid homeschool … [Read more...] about Hybrid Homeschooling and the Benefits of a Decentralized Education System
How One State Went From Bottom to Top in Education Choice and Innovation
By Kerry McDonald In addition to expansive education choice policies, the Mountain State has seen the growth of microschools, learning pods, homeschooling collaboratives, and low-cost private schools that are meeting parent demand for more education possibilities. West Virginia has experienced a dramatic expansion of educational freedom over the past year, from the state … [Read more...] about How One State Went From Bottom to Top in Education Choice and Innovation
Empowerment, Exit and Entrepreneurship Will Continue to Transform Education
By Kerry McDonald Over the past two years of social and economic disruption, U.S. education has experienced an extraordinary transformation that can best be defined by 3 “Es”: Empowerment, Exit and Entrepreneurship. Empowerment Beginning in the spring of 2020, and prompted by widespread school closures and remote schooling, parents began to reclaim control of their … [Read more...] about Empowerment, Exit and Entrepreneurship Will Continue to Transform Education
Could Employer-Based Microschooling Be The Newest Workplace Perk?
By Kerry McDonald When Elon Musk created a small school for his children and some of his SpaceX employees on the company’s California campus, he created a spark that could just now be catching on in other workplaces across the country. In a 2015 interview about the school, the billionaire inventor said: “The regular schools weren’t doing the things that I thought should … [Read more...] about Could Employer-Based Microschooling Be The Newest Workplace Perk?