Out of the Homeschooling Closet
As education comes within the purview of worldview, here are a series of articles about the difficulty of admitting to being home-schooled or a homeschooler.
First was Jennifer Kulynych, a Washington lawyer writing in the New York Times, about the difficult of Owning up to Being a Home Schooling Parent, especially in the legal circles in which she moves.
Then Rod Dreher, reflecting on Kulynych’s post, called on parents to Come out of the Home Schooling Closet.
Gracy Olmstead does so but explains Why it’s so hard to Come out of the Homeschool Closet and closes with:
Homeschooling is not for everyone. But neither should it be the leprosy of the educational world. Its practitioners should be judged on their merits and manners, and its benefits and disadvantages should be weighed fairly, as with any other institution.
Getting Poor Kids Through College
50 college presidents and officials from states, industry and nonprofits recently attended a day-long meeting at the White House to find new ways to promote success among low-income students.
- Of top-performing high school students who hail from the bottom half of the income distribution, fewer than half go on to receive post-secondary degrees.
- Colleges pursue racial diversity more than socioeconomic diversity because racial diversity is much more visible, and socioeconomic diversity is much more expensive to address because you have to provide financial aid.
- Sometimes simple techniques — such as waiving application fees — can make a big difference in terms of student enrollment and eventual success.
- A Stanford University study found that simply providing low-income students who are top achievers with basic information about colleges not only led more of them to apply but also was associated with higher graduation rates.
- Children with two biological parents are more likely to attend college…than those with a stepparent or no parent.
- Children from intact homes receive significantly more financial support in covering college expenses.
- Having no father (i.e., [being from] a mother-only household) reduces support much more than having no mother (a father-only household).
Save up to Marry? Or Marry to Save up?
When cohabiting couples were asked about why they were not transitioning to marriage, 72% gave economic reasons.
- One-third of their respondents indicated that ‘the money needed to be in place’ before getting married.
- One-fifth of respondents wanted to have enough money for a ‘real’ wedding before tying the knot (average cost $23,000+)
- Respondents also said that better employment prospects were a prerequisite for marriage, especially for the man
- Some individuals suggested that a combination of goals like completing education and steady work were needed before considering marriage.
Andrew Cherlin, professor of public policy at Johns Hopkins University argues that marriage has become as a capstone.
Young adults are marrying after achieving educational goals, establishing a career and reaching financial stability rather than building a life around marriage. The capstone understanding of marriage puts matrimony out of reach for some working and lower middle class individuals who view improved fiscal status as the admission requirement.
And yet, research has also found that marriage provides large economic advantages, for example, “married couples seem to build more wealth on average than singles or cohabiting couples.” And of course, there are other advantages too:
Even though marriages are not guaranteed to last, healthy marriage relationships do promote human flourishing. Marriage successfully integrates emotional intimacy, parental responsibility and economic cooperation into committed, permanent union.
The Most Godly and Most Godless Cities in America
A recent study by Barna and the American Bible Society used the criteria of Bible-mindedness to measure the most and least godly cities in the USA. The study defined “Bible-mindedness” as a combination of how often respondents read the Bible and how accurate they think the Bible is. “Respondents who report reading the bible within the past seven days and who agree strongly in the accuracy of the Bible are classified as ‘Bible Minded,’ says the study’s methodology.”
- The two least “Bible-minded” cities in the United States are Providence, R.I., and New Bedford, Mass.
- The most “Bible-minded” city is Chattanooga.
Or maybe the residents of Providence and New Bedford are simply the most honest!
The most challenging line in the research was “The study found an inverse relationship between population density and Bible friendliness.”
18 Photos That Will Make you Wonder if the Earth is Real
Awe-inspiring views of our beautiful world. Feast your eyes!