Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Description of a family in which partners and perhaps children are of different religions.  

A family that has never been split, as through divorce or separation.  

Legal rights to inherit a share of the estate of someone who has died. If the person died with a valid will, these rights are spelled out in that document, which must be affirmed as valid by a probate court. But if the person died intestate (without a will), the intestate succession laws of the…

A method of evaluating student performance by writing evaluations rather than assigning numerical or letter grades; sometimes called summative evaluation. Informal assessments are used in some alternative schools or other types of experimental institutions and are common in preschool and early primary schools. While providing more information about a student, such written evaluations do not…

A self-directed course of learning in which a student works outside a regular classroom but under the guidance of a teacher, who also evaluates the completed work, often for academic credit (depending on the school setting); sometimes also called home study. Independent study is used in many alternative schools and in some honors classes for…

In family law, a term for juveniles who refuse to obey their parents, such as juvenile delinquents, runaways, or chronic truants. Where parents are unable to exercise parental control, the police, social-work system, school, or the parents themselves may bring the child to court. If found incorrigible, the child is then made a ward of…

The lack of an outer opening for the anus, a birth defect that requires immediate surgical correction. An abnormality present at birth in which the rectum is closed, requiring immediate surgery to allow for elimination. A birth defect in which an infant is born without a fully developed anus. The anus is the external opening…

A type of hearing test sometimes used to assess the kind of middle-ear damage involved in hearing loss. An auditory examination conducted to assess the functionality of the middle ear in instances of conductive hearing loss.  

Alternate name for a type of communication disorder.  

A course in which students focus entirely and intensively on one subject area for a certain period of time, as in a weeklong course where students speak only a foreign language.