Bill Gates and Another Reason to Homeschool

Other than his net worth of nearly $100 billion, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is known for being a rather down-to-earth parent.

Granted, you likely won’t be gifting your children a cool $10 million, but according to CNBC, he is known to have set time limits on screen time for his three children, and he didn’t jump at the first opportunity to give them cell phones.

“We don't have cell phones at the table when we are having a meal, we didn’t give our kids cell phones until they were 14, and they complained other kids got them earlier,” Gates said.

In addition, the well-known businessman and philanthropist is a big promoter of reading, and for the last seven years, he’s shared a biannual list of his best book recommendations.

“Growing up, I always looked forward to summer vacations because it meant more time for reading,” Gates wrote back in 2012 on his website The Gates Notes. “My dad thought it was kind of funny that I’d check out so many books that the librarians wouldn’t give me new ones until I returned some.”

This year’s list of 5 books worth reading this summer, however, is concerning because of the inclusion of Origin Story: A Big History of Everything by David Christian.

Big History, a middle and high school curriculum that examines history from the Big Bang to the present, has been described as just another reason for homeschoolers to “take the education of our children into our own hands.” The author of this book searches in all the wrong places to describe how he is a part of something huge and wondrous, which we believe can only be answered by the existence of a living Creator God.

In addition to Origin Story, review the other four books that made the Summer 2018 best books list by Bill Gates:

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Described as a touching book about finding a balance between the tragedy and joy of life, this book is a long conversation between Abraham Lincoln and 166 ghosts, including his deceased son.

Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler
A 35-year-old professor diagnosed with cancer provides a memoir about her faith.

Factfulness by Hans Rosling
The subtitle for this book is “Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think.” Among the thoughts in the book is the rule that we should only carry opinions for things for which we have strong supporting facts.

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
This biography takes an in-depth look at the painter and how his interests in engineering and science helped to define him as a true “Renaissance Man.”