Public schooling: Getting out is not enough

By Tammy Drennan I talked with a young lady the other day – 14-years-old – who loves horses and aims to own stables and teach riding, among other things. She’s been working with horses since she was five. She’s good enough now that she “breaks” new ones and retrains ones facing changes in the use […]

Christian families in state schools fight reform, refuse to exit

The Christian’s commitment to godly education is part of his duty to enter in at the narrow gate rather than taking the broad way that leadeth to instruction. By David Tulis The alarm among Christians who patronize government-run schools has a clear cause. Common Core, the name of the latest spate of reform, promises further […]

Dad, let’s rediscover the great gift of intellectual hunger

By Tammy Drennan In his excellent autobiography, My Grandfather’s Son, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas talks about discovering the joy of reading for the first time. It wasn’t as a child, nor as a grade school or high school student. It wasn’t at the colleges he attended, not even Yale. Instead, after getting hooked on […]

Coming paradigm: Certifying the student, not the institution

The Nearly Free University is available in print or electronically. [Excerpt from The Nearly Free University, by Charles Hugh Smith, available at Chattanooga bookshop Winder Binder Books & Records. David Smotherman would be happy to order it for you. He will mail it to you if you like; or you could use its arrival at […]

Administrative bloat, piles of student debt hint colleges a legacy system

The courtyard outside the library at UTC. The average debt load for students at the government university in Chattanooga is around $14,000. [This essay appears in the April 1 edition of Esprit newsletter, serving hundreds of homeschool families in the Chattanooga area. — DJT] By Charles Hugh Smith Once we accredit the student, not the […]

From hands of few into hands of many; free market aids Chattanooga

Public schools, like this one in Bradley County, Tenn., are a legacy system being supplanted by the free market and the World Wide Web. (Photo Bradley County schools website) The prospect for liberty in my hometown, Chattanooga, and yours is brighter. This assertion rings true despite almost daily reports about the rising police state. A […]

Just as eye soaks in poetry by reflex, train yourself toward lococentrism

Sam Blumenfeld explores the public policy benefits of illiteracy, but hopes his readers will find their way around the obstacles to liberty created by mass schooling. Suddenly — dreadfully — she wakes up. What has happened? Something dreadful has happened. No — nothing has happened. It is only the wind shaking the house, rattling the […]

Christians feel besieged as school system secularization whines ahead

News coverage over the past two months has focused much on Christian prayers at public events. By David Tulis The South’s strong cultural Christianity comes from its Protestant heritage and the influence of reformed theology, particularly the many Scottish Presbyterians who fled religious persecution. This theological heritage explains the region’s resistance to federal armies in […]

A provisional Panera Posse book list: several guys’ 3 favorite titles

Dads gather every Friday morning at the Panera in Hixson, chasing down bad ideas and arming themselves for spiritual and intellectual service. From left are James Hindman, Chris Davis, John Kozlowski, Andrew Huffman and Phil Dake, a homeschool dad who works in the insurance field. The book in the foreground is “Dissenting Electorate.” The home […]

When the vegetables talk to one another

A shortcoming I have is that of peevishness. Breakfast fails to occur at 9 when I like it. The family is taking too long to gather in the living room for a conference or the day’s Bible reading. Someone sits down at my desk to use the computer after I had stepped away for a […]