An increasing number of advocates for online learning have come out in favor of mandating that states require students take at least one college- or career-prep course online to earn a high school diploma.
Mothers and fathers should start early, or at least earlier, to give kids a crash course in the DIY drudgery -- from tax prep to turkey trussing -- that doesn't make it onto school applications and resumes.
In theory, the literate-thinking methodology isn't all that different from an SAT prep course, which also teaches kids how to fathom the basic principles underlying all sorts of word problems.