Subscribe below to receive a new post via email every Thursday.
After months of being too bummed out to even look at the numbers, I started budgeting again properly in January.
Of course, numbers are numbers. They are what they are, without emotion. Whether I choose to examine them or not doesn’t change their reality. But if I didn’t pay attention too closely, I didn’t have to deal with them. I didn’t have to deal with reality.
Read More“I am trying to learn problem-solving skills. Do you have any recommendations?”
I received this question on one of my very favorite topics from a reader of this blog. (Thank you!)
My answer is very simple: I learned problem-solving skills through solving problems.
Each problem required certain resources and tools to solve it. And then, once I solved it, I had those resources and tools to use on the next problem.
Read MoreRunning a tiny, weird school exposes some fascinating and frustrating human behavior.
From prospective families who decide not to enroll, I often hear, "We love your program, but we're going to give our public school a try first. Who knows, maybe we'll be contacting you again if it doesn't work out!"
It’s understandable that people would be reluctant to take the risk, financial and educational, of trying something different. But I also hear, equally often, "We wish we had started with you sooner!" from parents who return a year or two later, finally ready to give us a try.
Read MoreSuppose you wanted to learn to play the piano. (It’s fun, I recommend it.)
If you were to do what most people do, you would start lessons, stick with it for a few weeks or months, and then become overwhelmed with your other commitments.
You would feel bad about spending so much on lessons when you weren’t really practicing enough to make it worth the money, so you would quit.
Read MoreA teacher had been using a free app or organize his communication with students and parents. It worked perfectly.
Then the app decided to start charging its users, which sent the teacher looking for another solution just like the first app, but free.
From an economics perspective, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. If an app solves a problem for you, shouldn’t the maker of the app be paid, thus making your solution sustainable and something you can count on?
Read More
