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How to Teach at Home

Homeschooling Heroes: Ben Bolger

1/4/2019

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by Christina Yeager

Despite struggles with Dyslexia, Ben Bolger has racked up fourteen degrees over the span of his life and one of those is a doctorate! Due to a learning disability diagnosis in early grade school, his mother (a retired teacher) chose to homeschool after multiple attempts at finding a school that could handle Ben’s discrepancies. Her unique approach to teaching led to a lot of learning! Bolger claims to be the second highest person to hold accreditation of such and very well may be one of the most educated humans on the entire planet.
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Barely learning until homeschooled
Benjamin B. Bolger was born in Flint, Michigan, to Donald (a General Motors engineer) and Linda (a teacher) Bolger in 1975. He was diagnosed with Dyslexia in the first grade when it was discovered there may be something preventing him from learning sufficiently. By the fourth grade, his mother decided to homeschool Ben since she was an educator herself. Linda was able to find interesting ways to ease his disability and take the full range of his learning to great heights.

When Ben was twelve, he enrolled in courses at Muskegon Community College and graduated by the age of seventeen with an Associate of Arts degree in 1992. A minor setback after entering Yale Law School and not being able to overcome his dyslexia and dropped out prompted enrollment for additional training geared toward helping him control his learning inadequacies. His journey of obtaining degrees would begin there and thirteen more followed!
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“It turned out to be a great experience. For example, when we were studying history, we got into our pick-up truck in Michigan and drove out to Gettysburg to get a sense of Civil War battles.”
--Ben Bolger

Learning everything
It’s unclear what motivated Ben to drive himself to educate so thickly, however, his success is also dependant on his mother. Linda, who divorced around the time Ben entered Muskegon, has traveled with him to each and every college and university he has enrolled in. Using the technique of reading his assignments aloud in order to complete coursework. It’s also notable before he attended Oxford, he took an internship with the Clinton Administration and Press Secretary.

Let’s take a look at his degree discography:
  • Muskegon Community College (Associate of Arts) in 1992
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Bachelor of Arts in Sociology) in 1994
  • University of Oxford (Master of Science in Sociology) in 1997
  • University of Cambridge (Master of Philosophy in Sociology and Politics of Modern Society) in 1998
  • Stanford University (Master of Arts in Education) in 2000
  • Teachers College, Columbia University (Master of Arts in Politics of Education) in 2001
  • Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University (Master of Science in Real Estate Development) in 2002
  • Harvard University (Master of Design in Urban Planning and Real Estate) in 2002
  • Brown University (Master of Arts in Developmental Studies) in 2004
  • Dartmouth College (Master of Arts in Liberal Arts) in 2004
  • Brandeis University (Master of Arts in Coexistence and Conflict) in 2007
  • Skidmore College (Master of Arts in Humanities) in 2007
  • Harvard University (Doctor of Design in Urban Planning and Real Estate) in 2008
  • Ashland University (Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing) in 2014

Although there is no distinguishable pattern to earning these degrees in way of direction to any certain area of interest, it’s an impressive list. Ben credits his determination and higher education drive to a horrible accident his parents were involved in that nearly killed them when he was two. A drunk driver caused the incident that would put his parents through many years of anguish and physical therapy. He definitely knows the value of life and how fragile it is. He is making the most of it.

After Mr. Bolger returned to America from Oxford, he served a Teaching Fellow at Harvard and has received at least twelve teaching awards. His dyslexia lends to an unusual but effective teaching approach.

His education journey may not be over
Dr. Bolger is actively involved in various projects to promote government accountability, supports the Democratic Party, a public speaker on Dyslexia and learning disabilities and is on the Board of advisors for the Sustainable Endowments Institute that directs focus on research and education propose to facilitate sustainability in college and university endowment practices.

Currently, Ben is a visiting Professor in Sociology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Future plans to complete other degrees are still a possibility.
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