Greetings Eddies!
This is our last newsletter before we sign off for the holidays. And what a year it's been.
Scroll to the end for our recap of the most popular content from the year, and reply to this email or let us know on Facebook what topics you want us to cover in 2026.
ICYMI, the New York Times ran a guest essay last weekend that was critical of unschooling, and we have some thoughts (see more below).
Meanwhile, January community events are looking stacked. Once Upon a Time Week has events built around Nancy Drew, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and more. We're running our first-ever OpenEd Spelling Bees - three divisions, with swag for the winners.
And last but not least - mark your calendars: Apryl Stott, the bestselling author and illustrator, is joining us for a live event on January 28th.
We'll see you in the new year!
P.S. Get your swag from the OpenEd Store!
DEEP DIVE: UNSCHOOLING
Last Sunday, the New York Times published a guest essay titled "The Home-Schooled Kids Are Not All Right." The author calls for mandatory registration and check-ins for all homeschoolers, based on his own painful childhood experience with unschooling-gone-wrong.
We went to our community to help guide our response. This comment, from neuroscientist turned homeschool mom Dr. Claire Honeycutt captures something essential about why open education is more than a trend:
"The biggest problem in education today is the assumption that there is one perfect way to learn that suits all children everywhere under all conditions. That's never been true. No single school - or education model - will fit all kids.
If you want people to return to public school, make it something worth returning to. Until then, let the parents who are upending their entire lives to be with their children do their work in peace. They are not the problem."
Coincidentally, we had already planned our deep dive for this week on (you guessed it) unschooling. We don't endorse unschooling any more or less than the many other approaches to personalized education. But we think it's important for families to understand the range of options available to them.
The reason open education is attracting more families each year precisely because it refuses rigid adherence to any single approach. That flexibility lets us look clearly at what works and admit when something has flaws - whether that's unschooling, classical education, or the traditional school system.
Isaac's full response to the New York Times piece points to the Nirvana Fallacy at the heart of the essay - a comparison between the authors real (and tragic) story to an imagined ideal. Three weeks earlier, the same New York Times published "America's Children Are Unwell. Are Schools Part of the Problem?" - one in four teenage boys now diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety spiking as early as age six.
Our message to parents is simple: you don't have to be perfect to do better than the status quo if school is failing your kid. Your Kids Will Be Alright
Read our guide: The Definitive Guide to Unschooling
PODCAST HIGHLIGHT:
Janssen Bradshaw (@everydayreading) had every advantage. Former librarian. English major. Thousands of books in her home. Her first daughter tested at a 12th grade reading level in kindergarten.
But her second daughter was barely at grade level in first grade... and drifting lower.
"Learning to read is just really hard for some kids," Janssen told Ela.
Then she discovered what researcher Benjamin Bloom called the "Two Sigma Problem" - students who receive one-on-one tutoring outperform 98% of students in regular classrooms. The solution wasn't more hours or harder curriculum. It was 25-minute sessions, four times a week, meeting her daughter exactly where she was.
By fifth grade, her daughter was reading at an 11th-grade level.
The approach she used was systematized into the method now employed by Savvy Learning - an online tutoring company founded by Janssen to deliver intensive 1:1 and small-group practice in small doses. The program is accessible via the OpenEd Marketplace, and is our top recommended resource for kids who struggle with reading.
TRENDS WE'RE FOLLOWING
Readers Are Now the Minority - Paul Graham shares data that should alarm anyone who cares about literacy: "Readers used to outnumber non-readers 2 to 1. Now non-readers outnumber readers 3 to 1." A complete inversion within a generation.
Parents Want Skills, Not Scores - EdChoice finds 85% of parents rate "durable skills" - communication, critical thinking, adaptability - as extremely important. 45% say emphasis on these affects enrollment decisions. Meanwhile, 73% of school parents now support Education Savings Accounts.
The Engagement Gap - 92% of students say engaging lessons make school more enjoyable, but only 63% feel "highly engaged." There's a 20-point gap between what students report and what teachers perceive. Engagement is a precondition for learning - not a nice-to-have. (The 74 Million)
The 8-Hour Day Is Made Up - Organizational psychologist Adam Grant says: "The 8-hour work day was not ordained from above for all time. It was dreamed up by humans. We can be as productive and creative in 6 focused hours as in 8 unfocused hours." Anyone who's watched their kid finish a full day of school in two hours at home already knows this.
TOOLS WE'RE BOOKMARKING
Savvy Learning - Personalized reading and math instruction in 25-minute sessions, 4x/week. From this week's podcast guest. Now in the OpenEd Marketplace.
Writey the Whiteboard - Peel-and-stick whiteboards, Mark Cuban-backed. $30 for a 2x3 sheet. No drilling, repositionable. Math problems, spelling words, mapping your teenager's life decisions - a whiteboard handles all of it.
The Feynman Technique - Richard Feynman's method for learning anything: explain it to a child. If you can't, you don't understand it. Four steps: choose a topic, explain it simply, identify gaps, revise. Works for parents and kids alike. (Educated & Free Substack)
History Odyssey Timeline - Four timeline posters, 5 feet long each, covering 7 categories. Visual learners love watching history literally unfold in front of them (Pandia Press).
Navigating Holidays with Intense Kids - Colleen Kessler's guide for neurodivergent families. Bring favorite snacks. Have an exit strategy. "You didn't cause this. Their intensity isn't your failure." (Raising Lifelong Learners).
11 Things to Hear This Winter - Dallas Lore Sharp's nature study list from the early 1900s. The three great silences of winter. The voice of the north wind through pine trees. Chickadees in empty woods. Simple goals that turn noticing into a habit. (A Humble Place)
Free Kindergarten Resources - Community-sourced recommendations from real parents. What actually worked. (Reddit)
From the Podcast: Janssen's Favorite Read-Alouds
The Penderwicks series - five books about four sisters that her kids have listened to "15 or 20 times, maybe more." Nanny Piggins - outrageously weird Australian fiction for Wayside School fans. For screen-free listening: the Yoto Player.
COMMUNITY: JANUARY AT OPENED
January's Community lineup at OpenEd is stacked. Here's what's coming:
Once Upon a Time Week (Jan 26-30) Book-based events all week: Nancy Drew escape room, Wings of Fire dragon habitats, Percy Jackson myth writing, Wild Robot drawing, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory candy invention, Dog Man comics, Harry Potter potion brewing, Chronicles of Narnia painting.
First-Ever OpenEd Spelling Bees Three divisions, winners get OpenEd swag:
Grades K-3 (One Bee) | Tuesday, January 27 at 4 pm ET / 1 pm PT
Grades 4-6 (Two Bee) | Wednesday, January 28 at 4 pm ET / 1 pm PT
Grades 7-12 (Three Bee) | Thursday, January 29 at 4 pm ET / 1 pm PT
Author Event: Apryl Stott Wednesday, January 28 at 12 pm ET / 9 am PT - the legendary best-selling author and illustrator. She'll share her journey, what her job looks like, how we all have a story to tell, and read one of her books. Perfect for aspiring authors and illustrators.
January Student Clubs Free, virtual, meets once a week: Animal Studies Sr., ASL, Crafty Kids, Harry Potter Jr. and Sr., LEGO Jr. and Sr., Mix It Jr., Rubik's Cube. Sign up in the marketplace.
Epic Book Battle (Feb-March) 8-week reading competition for grades 3-8. Start reading now:
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis
The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry by Chad Morris & Shelly Brown
The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis
Share Your Favorite Books We started a Padlet for favorite books - help us build a community resource of what OpenEd students love to read.
Ongoing: Morning Meetings (daily, K-3 and 2-3), Teen Hangout (grades 7-12), Flex Fridays, Virtual Field Trips
Sign up in the OpenEd Marketplace.
Questions? Email us: [email protected]
ED'S STABLE
The OpenEd Store is officially live. Hoodies, tees, hats, mugs - all the classics.
Everything is sold at cost. We're not trying to make money off merch. We just want you to have stuff you actually want to wear.
THAT'S A WRAP
The most-read/watched pieces of content from 2025:
What do you want us to cover in 2026??? Leave a comment on Facebook.