Greetings Eddies!

Did you know that OpenEd is on Instagram (@openedHQ)? While I may not be able to compete with top-tier influencer homeschool moms, we're always looking for new ways to share the message that education is opening up (even if that means putting on a smelly latex horse mask and A/B testing silly gimmicks until we find something that sticks).

THOUGHT: Teach the Child, Not the Grade Level
‍TREND: Every Hour Costs Them
‍TOOL: Boring TV

Teach the Child, Not the Grade Level

From Simply Charlotte Mason:

"It's very common for a child to be ready for, say, third-grade math skills while at the same time be working on second-grade or even first-grade reading skills. That's fine!"

In other words, teach the child, not the grade level.

We all know the story by now: Horace Mann copied the "Prussian Model" of education in the 1800s to solve a problem: a shortage of factory workers. 

Today, grade levels persists not because it's good for kids but because it's efficient for institutions. Charlotte Mason understood this over a century ago: Kids don't develop like cogs on an assembly line.

Read the full framework at Simply Charlotte Mason and stay tuned for our upcoming deep dive into the enduring movement spawned by “Miss Mason.”

Every Hour Costs Them

Newsweek reports on a new study that tracked 5,400 kids from early childhood through grade six, which found that every additional hour of daily screen time was associated with a 9-10% lower likelihood of achieving higher test scores in reading and math.

Of course, not all screen time is created equal. Doomscrolling isn't the same as focused time in an adaptive learning app or creating worlds in Minecraft.

On a related note: Today is the last day to enter the Daylight Computer giveaway (a tablet designed to prevent overstimulation). Refer your friends to earn more entries and help spread the word about OpenEd, and the Daily!

Read the full article

Boring TV

Emily Phillips of Withyweather Farm & School curated a list of "boring" TV that won't overstimulate young minds. Here are some of her top picks:

1. Beatrix Potter animations — Beautiful, zero manipulation.
2. Roy Underhill's Woodwright's Shop — Watch craftsmanship happen slowly.
3. David Macaulay's architectural histories — Learning built into stories.
4. My Neighbor Totoro — Magical animation without psychological manipulation.
5. Irish Hands — More traditional craftspeople (bonus: this time they’re Irish).

These shows aren't designed to be engaging in the modern sense. On the contrary, they demand attention (without hijacking it). Once kids have watched enough "boring" content, regular activities become interesting again.

Read the full list