'American education has become a corrupt, bloated, and failed institution,' says author. 'For the foundation of all learning, all communication, and all thought, is words'

American education, not long ago the envy of the world, has become a corrupt, bloated, and failed institution.

So what can we do? I made the choice to homeschool, yet I felt less than qualified to teach children.

I had been accepted into a master’s degree program at Stanford , where I assumed that what I learned would better fit me to teach.

Peggy Drexler : Reading great works aloud shifts us away from “doing homework” and into a reward that is anticipated with joy.

Choose books wisely, as they become traveling companions, she says.

Make vocabulary index card rings built from readings from the time my child began to read, and for each word we looked up, we made a new card.

Elocution was once a standard part of school curricula.