🐴 Print Your Own Diploma (Weekly Roundup)

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🎙️ IS "HOMESCHOOLING" EVEN THE RIGHT WORD?

Question: Is it still "homeschooling" if academics only take three hours and the rest happens everywhere but home?

Maybe we need a new term.

Some call is unschooling. Others call it outschooling (you can vote for your preferred term here).

Whatever you call it, the reality is that most families who embrace an open education spend less—and often much less—than the traditional 5-6 hours a day on academics. Yet they get the same, or better, results. As veteran homeschool mom Maecy Palkki explains on the latest OpenEd podcast:

"I think homeschooling is a misnomer for us. The amount of time that we're home is maybe three hours for the book work academics. Everything else is out, about, with friends, field trips, co-ops... fun things."

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💡 DEEP DIVE

THE CREDENTIAL MIRAGE

Three stories this week exposed the growing disconnect between credentials and actual learning.

When Maecy Palkki's daughter applied to work at the prestigious Mayo Clinic, they requested a high school diploma. Although she had an associates degree and top test scores, she didn’t have an "official" diplomas.

Panic might have been warranted. But Maecy kept calm.

"I printed a homeschool diploma out and I signed it", Maecy explains. "And they accepted that. They don't care if it's accredited or not. They just want a paper to file in their diploma spot."

Her daughter got the job.

Meanwhile, the valedictorian of a Florida high school revealed what happens at the opposite extreme – achieving the educational system's highest honor only to find it hollow.

Having done everything "right" – perfect grades, top class rank, valedictorian status – Kyle Martin expected lasting fulfillment. Instead, he felt emptiness.

"It felt so good... for about 15 seconds," he confessed in his viral graduation speech. "But there must come a 16th second. And on that 16th second, I sat down, looked at my silver stole, and thought... 'That's it?'"

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The credential-focused system had taught him to chase external validation, only to discover its hollowness at the very moment of highest achievement.

Lastly, we learn from Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow that the secret to his success was parents who prioritized character development over conventional academics.

"They wanted us to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic, but it wasn't number one," he explains. Instead of seeing his different educational path as a limitation, he embraced it: "You can be homeschooled, you can be the cool kid, and you can break the trends... you're different, but in a good way."

The bottom line: the things we measure and credential in education often have little relationship to what matters in life and work.

What might education look like if we focused less on credentials and more on developing the whole person?

This doesn't mean credentials have no value – they can be useful signals in a complex world. But mistaking the credential for the education itself is like framing a restaurant receipt instead of enjoying the meal.

📊 TRENDS WE'RE WATCHING

Grade Less, Learn More → Edutopia's research reveals nine compelling reasons that less grading leads to better learning. Take this one: when students see a grade before they see feedback, they're likely to ignore teacher comments entirely. Delay the grade, and students actually engage with how to improve.

Beyond the 'Five Pillars' → Reading researchers Catts and Kamhi explain why phonics instruction alone doesn't significantly improve comprehension. Unlike phonics and fluency, comprehension isn't a skill but a complex ability dependent on knowledge. Their solution? Teach comprehension through content-rich curricula in science, history, and the arts. Schools implementing this approach in North Carolina saw significantly better standardized reading test scores that sustained over time.

🔨 TOOLS OF THE WEEK

Transcript Creation Made Simple: Three approaches that work:

1. Digital All-in-One Systems

   • Homeschool Planet: Comprehensive planning with built-in transcript generation

   • Syllabird: User-friendly interface with student accounts and gradebook features

   • Fast Transcripts: Secure and watermarked, sends directly to over 4,000 colleges and universities

2. The Spreadsheet Method
   "Use a spreadsheet with one row per course, including columns for course name, subject category, grade level, credit earned, and final grade."

3. The Bare Essentials Approach
   Remember what colleges actually need: "One credit means a full year of work. A half credit is one semester." Keep a separate document with brief course descriptions (1-2 sentences) that outline materials used and topics covered.

Documentary Gems: Parent-approved documentaries that make complex concepts click:

For the budding historian:

• Lost Cities with Albert Lin – Adventure meets archaeology as Lin uses technology to uncover ancient mysteries

• David Macaulay's Castle / Cathedral / Mill Times – Architectural marvels explained in vivid detail

For science enthusiasts:

• PBS Eons (YouTube) – Perfect for answering life's big questions

• A Real Bug's Life on Disney+ – New season just dropped!

h/t: Reddit

Mental Razors → Simple rules from @SahilBloom to cut through complex decisions:

• The Feynman Razor: If you can't explain it to a 5-year-old, you don't understand it. Perfect for checking whether you truly grasp a concept before teaching it.

• The Rooms Razor: Choose environments where you're likely to be the least knowledgeable person. This creates optimal conditions for learning.

• The Gratitude Razor: When in doubt, show more gratitude to people who have mentored or supported you.

• The Uphill Decision Razor: Choose the option that's more difficult in the short-term. The path of resistance often leads to greater rewards.

• The Lion Razor: To do creative work, be a lion: Sprint when inspired. Rest. Repeat. Don't force creativity on a schedule.

🤔 PARTING THOUGHT

THE ADOPTION PARADIGM

"Schooling is a form of adoption. You give your kid away at his most plastic years to a group of strangers."

These words from John Taylor Gatto, three-time New York Teacher of the Year who quit at the peak of his career, challenge us to reconsider the fundamental structure of how children are educated and by whom.

Gatto refused to continue teaching what he called "the hidden curriculum" – seven lessons that shape children for compliance rather than creativity:

1. Confusion (disconnected facts without context)

2. Class position (knowing your place)

3. Indifference (nothing worth caring deeply about)

4. Emotional dependency (waiting for validation)

5. Intellectual dependency (following instructions)

6. Provisional self-esteem (tied to external judgment)

7. You can't hide (constant surveillance)

The alternative? Education where families maintain primary influence, where learning connects to real life, and where children develop not just skills but character, curiosity, and purpose.

That’s all for this week!

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

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