History of Homeschooling

Taking into account that schools are a realtively modern invention, children have been home-schooled until the late 19th century. From then, laws compelled children to go to public school. However, public schools were not seen as the best option for the early advocates of homeschooling.

Do It Yourself Education

In considering homeschooling, a kind of do-it-yourself education, one of the first questions to ask is: Who is the 'you' in 'yourself'? Parents have busy lives, earning a living and pursuing other important values that benefit them and their children. Making time for giving a proper education at home, especially for single parents, can be difficult. What to do?

Adoption Challenges

Adopting a child may be both a long train of practical and emotional nightmares and the fulfillment of a dream.

Parenting Difficult Children

Sometimes a child labelled 'difficult' is just expressing a healthy need for independence. But in other cases, the label is actually too mild. Adults can be violent, irresponsible, indifferent to the harm they do others and typically that behaviour begins in childhood.

When Parents Disagree

Sometimes it's surprising that the divorce rate isn't actually higher than it is. Assuming it isn't just inertia on the part of the 54%, it's a tribute to the willingness of so many couples to work out their differences.

Punishment and Objectivity

In parenting circles, the word 'punishment' often brings to mind 'corporeal punishment' - spanking, slapping or other forms of physical action. One can agree that such behaviour is counter-productive in rearing a healthy child, while at the same time avoiding the false alternative of excessive permissiveness.

Sibling Rivalry

Sibling rivalry - conflict between and among brothers and sisters - can take all the forms that occur among adults: loud arguments, sports competition, physical fights, property destruction, etc. As the list suggests, some forms will require parental intervention, while others may be safely left to the kids to work out for themselves.

Communication

Few subjects in parenting are as fundamental, or as important, as communication. Humans function so much by language, whether implicit or explicit, that learning how to communicate effectively affects virtually every other sphere of family relations.

Discipline and Individual Choice

The word 'discipline' often brings to mind images of harsh punishment, unreasonable restrictions and an approach to parenting that is cold and insensitive. As a result, many parents will accept the false alternative of being excessively permissive.

Harrods in London

The world's greatest department store was established on its current site in 1849 by Charles Henry Harrod, a wholesale grocer. Harrod's son Charles Digby rapidly grew the business and by 1880 employed 100 staff.

Never one to be bowed by setbacks, not even a devastating fire in 1883, Harrods went on to make all its Christmas deliveries in that year and many since. Whether flying fresh fish to Alfred Hitchcock or embalming Sigmund Freud's body, the store that promises 'Everything to Everybody Everywhere' never fails to deliver.