Is todays education wrong??

[eliquid]

Apologies for stepping off-topic (and possibly getting too personal), but is that close to the total of how much you pay? For some reason I had imagined that it cost much more, or that there were some sneaky government requirements.

Kids are still years away for me, but if I do become a parent, I'd like them to have a better education than I did.

Yes, other than obvious like having a calulator, pens, paper, etc which cost is NILL pretty much. It was right at $500 give or take $20 total to allow all 3 kids to get their grade level books or online course.

 

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[eliquid]

I would not change it for anything, for the foreseeable future.

It really is awesome, isn't it?

I'll give you an example. My kids spent basically close to 7 hours at school doing "work". Include the mandatory "homework" most of them have to bring home daily/weekly and that could stretch to close to 8 hours a day of that "work".

We start homeschooling and magically they get their work done ( and retained at a better level ) in 2-3 hours a day. Also, when I take a trip or vacation I can take them with me without fear of asking permissions and explaining why the kids were absent from school for a week or 2, plus they take their work with them and get it done while on vacation/trips since it only takes 2 hours a day or so and they aren't "behind" and have to "make up" work that would present itself in a normal public school environment.

Also, they can work on any subject they like within the curriculum when they choose. We can even "make up" SOME of our own too at times. They can revisit subjects. It's ultimate flexibility. We tend to not make up our own, but if I wanted to teach them entrepreneurship with Fastlane principles, I certainly can and they would get credit for it.

The credits are real credits, not some fake diploma mill shit. Many of the homeschooled kids we know get into colleges and universities just fine and they are big name, not some small private no-name schools. We know one specifically that recently got into Harvard.

It's just ultimate flexibility.

Example:
I have one child that just loves a certain subject. Now I am not saying this is the correct way to do things, but they basically devoured the info in that subject book in a few days and that was all they did for those days. It was crazy. Now they spend a few hours a day on the other topics.

My kids hate math. I did too. They had a very hard time with 5th grade math. They are now in the 6th grade though. We made them retake 5th grade math all over again for the first 3 months of last semester so they could really "get it". Now we are making them do 6th grade math currently ( normally they would have done just 6th grade math this last 3 months and now the next 3 going forward ). We are "cramming" it in, but the magic is they really really "get it" now and are blowing through 6th grade math quite quickly even though we are doing it in a crammed fashion. They will finish right on time like normal, like nothing ever happened.

This is just stuff you couldn't really do in public schools.

Plus, I get to somewhat dictate what they do and don't learn and in what style.

We don't waste time on "normally" mandatory P.E. classes, music classes, 2nd languages and incorrect "facts" in subjects like history. My kids get enough P.E., music, and 2nd language stuff in their own SPARE time that would have been "after school" hours and we get to teach them facts in their subjects that are real and not incorrect or slanted to one view of things.

 

[applesack]

Modern "education" is wrong. That's about all I care to say on that subject. I let my kids pursue what they love and work the rest in as necessary. Most of my kids can speak to eachother in ASL sign langauge, and none of them know anyone who is deaf. My oldest three are considered by most adults to be musical geniuses because of their crazy tenacity to get through Suzuki Method piano and violin. My 15 year old has illustrated the covers of two local magazines and is a shockingly good 3D artist. My 11 year old has a flock of sheep that she manages and cares for. She gets help with shearing and "harvesting" but beyond that she does it all.

Its just as @eliquid above mentioned, let them follow the things they enjoy and give them the tools they need to get there. If the kid hates math, its okay. The kid still needs math. Show him / her how they need it and then give them the tools to excel. I was / am a freaking math genius, but none of my kids have any affinity for it. I still show them how they need it in projects they pursue and give them incentive to work through Kahn Academy or similar... whatever works best for them.

On top of this I always teach them how to ground themselves (principle of freedom). Then what things in life are most generative, and what things are useless. That, in my opinion, is true, effective education.

 

[mayana]

It's just ultimate flexibility.

Exactly! We love this. We do year-round school, since we like to travel a lot. We can take days off whenever we want to. I let my daughter go out of the country (where they also speak another language!) for three months last year to stay with a relative just because it was a good opportunity for her. I never would have been able to let her do that otherwise. She does most of her school online, so she did all of her work there, and even played her musical instrument with a youth group there, and took lessons while she was there. It was fun for her to be so independent. We go wherever we want, whenever we want. It's fantastic. And no begging and pleading schools to accept whatever excuse for missing school

Its just as @eliquid above mentioned, let them follow the things they enjoy and give them the tools they need to get there. If the kid hates math, its okay. The kid still needs math. Show him / her how they need it and then give them the tools to excel. I was / am a freaking math genius, but none of my kids have any affinity for it. I still show them how they need it in projects they pursue and give them incentive to work through Kahn Academy or similar... whatever works best for them.

That's very similar to what we do here. It is working wonderfully for us!

All of my kids speak two languages fluently. The two middle kids are gaining fluency in a third language, and the oldest speaks four languages with varying levels of fluency. They love it, and they would never have time for that if they were spending so much time in class at school.

I'm definitely not a hater of public or private schooling. If it is working for people, that's great. If we lived in a place where the schools are better, I might (?) be making different choices. So I support everyone in how they decide to education their children.

Also, we don't spend any more than $200-$300 a year on the homeschool supplies. Most of the things that we do are free online. I do occasionally have to buy something like a new textbook, but usually I can find things used very easily. I just mention this for anyone who is wondering if it is really expensive to do this. There was also a question about regulations. Where I live, it's so freaking easy. You just fill out an online form once a year. There is no reporting grades or anything to the state. Some states have stricter laws, so people just have to look into it where they live.

 

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[luniac]

I just think education is too much filler and not enough substance. It's a poor value proposition.

 

[G-Man]

I'm definitely not a hater of public or private schooling. If it is working for people, that's great. If we lived in a place where the schools are better, I might (?) be making different choices. So I support everyone in how they decide to education their children.

The biggest concern here for my wife and I was that we know they'll be imparted with a worldview that is not empowering for entering real life. When outside of school do you ever sit a room with 30 people your own age taking instructions from an authority figure at the front? And that's before you even get into how dismally bad they are at teaching basics.

I went to schools so bad that I learned to read and basic math from my mother at the kitchen table. She taught me in 30 mins a day what 7 hrs at school couldn't.

All school does is teach otherwise capable children to get busy looking busy, which might be a great preparation for the stable 9-5 world of yesteryear, but it'll get them eaten in 2017.

 

[Invictus]

Yes, other than obvious like having a calulator, pens, paper, etc which cost is NILL pretty much. It was right at $500 give or take $20 total to allow all 3 kids to get their grade level books or online course.

Good to hear! That's not a bad investment at all.

Thanks for letting me know!

 

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[mayana]

All school does is teach otherwise capable children to get busy looking busy, which might be a great preparation for the stable 9-5 world of yesteryear, but it'll get them eaten in 2017.

I agree with you 100%. Most US kids are getting a terrible education. The average SAT scores for the county where we live (just reading and math) are 470 and 448. Taxpayers are getting an extremely poor return on investment.

We are able to spend almost no money, invest little time, and get a better result. Incredible.