I told my family about how my son is passionate about clothes and he runs around Chicago buying socks, and shoes and changing his outfits between cello and piano lessons. I told them about how he uses the Internet to track style trends and then find stores that will sell the stuff he wants.

When we talk about school being a place to socialize kids, let's be clear that it's a place to socialize kids who like school. If you're an outcast, what you learn is that you don't fit in and that it's hopeless.

The "ed market" is a term people pass around in business mostly to talk about a career death sentence. The education market is slow, the budgets are ridiculously small, and the salespeople have to be in it for the love of learning because they are giving up a lot of money they could earn in…

I live in rural Southwest Wisconsin. In our community we are the only family that celebrates Hanukkah. We are the only family that doesn't eat pork. People are generally respectful when they hear we are Jewish. And if they have ever met a Jew before, in their whole life, they are always sure to tell…

The generation we are homeschooling right now is Generation Z. To understand Generation Z, you have to understand Generation Y. One of the most notable traits of Generation Y is that they hate conflict. They are peacekeepers, rule followers, look-at-the-brightside type people. You can trust me on this. I get paid to give speeches on…

I do a lot of career coaching for people making the transition from college to adulthood — the transition from being told what to learn to becoming a self-learner. It's also when people begin to notice that there is very little correlation between how well you do in school and how well you do at…

We live a mile from the nearest house and two miles from the nearest kid to play with. And I think his mom has banned her kid from playing with my kid. Maybe because of my blog, I'm not sure. But suffice it to say, the closest thing we have to playmates around here are…

Asperger's is a developmental disorder that is almost impossible to self-identify because central to the dysfunction is very poor social skills. But poor social skills means that you are missing social cues which means that you don't know you're missing social cues. Everyone in the room wants you to shut up and you don't know…

I am in Las Vegas giving a speech. And, of course, I brought my son. I think, when I was deciding to bring him, that I remembered hearing that Vegas was becoming kid friendly. Apparently, though, that was a decade ago. And it didn't go well, probably because people don't spend a lot of money…

For the most part, my kids and I go through our days without seeing any homeschoolers. We wake up early, do chores and breakfast, and then the morning unfolds slowly, with video games and music practice, and me worrying about my work that I am going to try to do while I have the kids…

I am Jewish, so I'm very sensitive to Christian tropes that infiltrate our culture. Christmas is the biggest example of this, and I have written many times about how it is absolutely suffocating to be Jewish in December when almost everyone assumes that you celebrate Christmas. The assumption that all people are Christian permeates American…

Last week I took the kids to Florida. My cousin had a wedding in Boca Raton, so we went for the wedding and stayed for a week. We stayed at the Boca Beach Club, in Boca Raton, FL. It's owned by Waldorf Astoria, and it was just totally over the top in terms of luxury…

I love this post by Aaron Smith about why homeschool parents are entrepreneurial. It's a great way to look at homeschooling because in the 90's when I launched my first startup, most people thought I was a hopeless loser and unemployed. Now we celebrate business entrepreneurship, but it makes sense to me that parent entrepreneurship…

Skateboarding used to be a counter-culture sport. In fact, towns across America ban skateboarders because they ruin public property, but also because who wants crowds of young boys at high speeds in an area where people are supposed to feel secure and happy and spending their money? Bur today there are skateboarding overnight camps in…

I've never been so conscious of what my kids looked like as I am when I walk around the world with them during school hours. Most of the time I think people assume the kid is sick, or we are tourists in a town of no tourist activiites so we are forced toward the banal,…

The picture is the spot on my elementary school playground where I hid at recess, because I was craving alone time. Last month, I went back to the playground, thinking it would be heartbreaking or something. But really, the corner still felt cozy. I am bad at making friends so I worry that I will…

I think we all know it's true that homeschooled kids are different. Before I was homeschooling, I used to read tons of blogs by kids when it was my job to glean trends for the younger set. And I could always tell when I landed on the blog of a homeschooled kid. They are not distracted by…

The New York Times mentioned this blog yesterday and said: "Proof that homeschooling often works." (Hooray!) I am convinced that homeschooling is about to go mainstream. The biggest evidence to me is that I'm doing it, and the New York Times is noticing. Because I don't want to do it. I want my kids in…

I have a six-year-old boy who absolutely loves being around people. He wants to run and play and be goofy. He needs other kids. And kids love him. Actually, everyone loves him, which has lead my ex-husband, for a time, to question his own paternity. (Reasonable, really. What are the odds of two parents with…

I didn't realize this until we started homeschooling, but adults begin child-oriented conversation with a question about school. It's like the weather. It's safe and universal. When we were at the grocery store, buying junk food, the cashier said to me, "Your sons must be so excited to get out of school today!" I said,…