I must admit, that I did have a rocky start though. In fact, as a boy I hated school with all my heart. It was synonymous with suffering. I counted the minutes of my wasted afternoons. I had big plans: forts to built, creeks to cross, and people to spy on, and there school was talking on and on about who knows what. Being the gullible child that I was, I did trust that schooling was necessary; so I endured.

Then something terrible happened. In fifth grade, I took a standardized test and was discovered.

“Gifted” is what they called me. And suddenly a school that had never noticed me, except to tell me to “sit down,” or “shut up,” began filling my head with nonsense about how special I was and what a bright future I had.

Oh yes, they tell that to everyone. But once you test “gifted,” they actually believe it! They told me that I could be whatever I wanted to be, if I just applied myself in school. It took some convincing, but eventually I believed them.

In that instance, when I came to believe in school, I died and a student was born.

I traded my ambitions, for the school’s. By senior year, I was a GPA junkie. Even when I had an A+, I did the extra credit just to get a fix.

I sucked up to teachers; I sat in the front row; I got nervous for tests; I always completed my homework and I felt cheated if I didn’t get any; I took SAT Prep classes in my spare time; I planned to be the valedictorian; and I dreamed only of college.

School even changed the way I talked to people. There was this book I was reading, it was called something like 10,001 Vocabulary Words You Need to Know for College, and I really took it to heart. But they were mostly words that I had never heard of and were hard to use in sentences. So, I practiced them on my friends. I’d say, “My goodness, this room is quite aphotic.”

My friends didn’t understand what I was saying, and some of them called me stupid. But I knew that the joke was on them because they were going to get rejected from colleges for not knowing those essential vocabulary words!

However, the fog of school dissipates rather quickly after graduation. First, everyone that wanted to go to college got into one! I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t hard at all.

Second, after high school no one cared about my GPA. Actually, no one has ever asked about it since. Then, the prestigious university that I was so proud to get accepted to wasn’t as brilliant as I had imagined. In fact, it was garbage, even worse than high school!

Finally, I entered the real-world and only a few ounces of my schooling converted over. I felt cheated. They promised me an education, but they gave me school instead.

I knew how to align paper margins according to MLS standards, but I would rather have known how to align the wheels of my car. I understood calculus, but didn’t understand the true cost of my student of loans. I wasted months in school learning concepts and ideas that I now teach my daughters in a single afternoon!

What a waste school ended up being. I never should have engaged. And if it were possible, I would love to have my childhood back; I could have put it to better use!

Would you like to know the truth about school? Would you like to know what it is, and where it came from, and most importantly, why you should never send your children there? Get your questions answered in my new book REVEALING school.

The post Dear School, I Want My Childhood Back first appeared on True Aim.

According to Corestandards.org it’s all a myth that Common Core is a federal takeover of state schools.  Corestandards.org claims, “The federal government will not govern the Common Core State Standards Initiative.  The Initiative was and will remain a state-led effort.”

Do we really believe that our federal government had no part in federalizing our school system?  Do the Feds really expect us to believe that our states got together and came up with the bright idea to hand over control of our schools to the federal government?

In case anyone is still under the delusion that Common Core is a “State” initiative, this story should help.  Until recently, Georgia had submitted to the Federal takeover of local schools.  But, after further review, Georgia changed its mind and decided that some of the “benefits” of Common Core did not justify the costs.  So, they decided to go in a different direction – one they felt was better for Georgia, for Georgia’s schools and Georgia’s students.

Since Common Core is a state initiative and totally voluntary, it shouldn’t be a big deal when a state like Georgia decides Common Core doesn’t work for their state, right?  So why is our “un-involved” federal government now punishing Georgia for opting out of this state-led, voluntary initiative?  Why did the Federal Department of Education just pull $10,000,000 from Georgia?

No, this is not a state initiative.  This a tyrannical takeover, by the biggest school bully ever – the Department of Education.  Like all bullies, the Feds are using their size and strength to intimidate smaller states.  But unlike other school bullies who’ll settle for your lunch money, the Department of Education just stole $10,000,000 from millions of Georgia’s school children.  That makes the Department of Education the biggest school bully in the history of the entire world!

Pin and Share, if you don’t want to be bullied by Common Core!

The post Common Core: A Big Bully! first appeared on True Aim.

It all started under the Bush administration and No Child Left Behind (NCLB), an expensive program in which the federal government tied funding to standardized test scores.  The program has produced zero noticeable gains in student achievement.  Some would say that the program is a failure, but they are the deceived (I was one of them) who actually believed the rhetoric, that NCLB is about improving standards.  Now I know better, NCLB was Phase 1 of the of the Fed’s take over of state schools.  So, in light of Common Core, I’d say that NCLB was a raging success, a tactical wonder.

NCLB, set the precedent for Obama’s “Race to the Top.”  Despite fervent promises from Bush and Obama to the contrary, both NGLB and R2T have become the weapons of choice to beat States into submission.  The Fed’s used the massive NCLB and R2T taxpayer funds to hook the States.  Then as soon as the States took the bait, the Obama administration began to reel them in, threatening to hold funding if States did not comply with federal mandates!

The 1st phase of Common Core is national standards in English and Math.  That is because these subjects really aren’t very controversial.  But I predict that over the next 3 years, as soon as everyone has accepted Common Core Phase 1, Obama’s socialist Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, will eagerly roll out Phase 2, then phase 3, and 4.  After all, Arne Duncan is dreaming of his Utopian society, where “In all seriousness, … schools should be open 12, 13, 14 hours a day, seven days a week, 11-12 months of the year.”

If this is the first time that you have heard about Common Core, you should know that 45 States have already adopted it!  Minnesota, Virginia, Nebraska, Alaska, and Texas are the last Free States!  Common Core is resurfacing in the news because many states adopted Common Core years ago, but are just now implementing it.

So, as I always say, if you are not already homeschooling, it would be great time to start!  However, homeschoolers should know that many homeschooling curricula have also been infected with the Common Core.  For a detailed list of Homeschool Curricula that has remained independent of Federal Standards check out, The Educational Freedom Coalition.  For more information on Common Core check out this video series from STOP THE COMMON CORE.

The post Common Core Smells Fishy first appeared on True Aim.