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The Genius of Ivan Illich

Ivan Illich’s star once burned brightly. From the late sixties through the mid-seventies—when his influence was greatest—this learned Roman Catholic became a countercultural guru, notorious for facing a 1968 Vatican inquisition that led him to cease exercising his priesthood, though he . . . . Continue Reading »

Why My Friends Don’t Like Homeschooling

My wife homeschools our seven-year-old daughter, so I read with sympathy David Mills’ piece in the January issue of First Things on the suspicion he encounters when discussing publicly the homeschooling of his two children. Opting out of the public education system feels a bit like jumping off a moving train. As you tumble down the side of the embankment and struggle to gain your footing, passengers on the still-moving train crane their necks and crowd to the windows to stare at you with wide eyes and slack jaws…. Continue Reading »

More Homeschool Reading and Resources

We start Monday, and not a moment too soon, in my view. I’ve spent the last two days scheduling everyone’s reading and other work from now till Christmas, using the lesson-plan feature at Homeschool Reporting, the record-keeping service to which we’ve subscribed since the . . . . Continue Reading »

Addendum

Forgot one item on the teenager’s reading list for this year: How to Read a Book, by Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren. When I handed her the book, she took one look at the title, laughed, and said, “Don’t you think it’s a little late for that?” . . . . Continue Reading »

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