Posts tagged with "education"
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What Unschooling Kids Might Be Missing Out
I have only seen two kinds of responses when someone learns that we are unschooling our daughter. Either they are worried about education or they are worried about social skills. The former manifests into questions such as “how will she manage life without knowing math and science”, or “how will she get a job or go for higher education without a certification” etc. I understand their anxiety in this matter and sometimes even I wonder how we can be so chill about it. The fact of the matter is that I know she can’t get a high paying job, But if she can understand that living happily on a small income is better than seeking peer praise and recognition for a lot of money and living in stress, then my job is done. Or at least that is what I have come to realize after all these years on the planet.
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Right To Education At Any Age
In the Indian constitution we have an article which specifies that children in the age group of six to fourteen years have the right to get free and compulsory education. It is a pretty good amendment to the constitution. But what I don’t like about it is the specific age that is mentioned. Why shouldn’t it be a fundamental right to have education at any age? Some kids or even adults may not be able to learn at a young age, and may prefer to learn at a later age. Of course no one is stopping them for learning, but it may not be free. However, with the advent of technology and internet, learning can be free at any age.
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Our Children's Future Will Be Different From Ours
As parents, we always want the best for our kids. Almost every parent thinks this way irrespective of their background. But how far into the future can we see and make a good enough prediction for our children? After all, our predictions will be based on our experiences which is basically something that happened in the past. How much does the past experience help in predicting the future outcomes? Every generation has a disconnect with the next generation in terms of how they see the world and how they perceive the future. That is very strange given that we all share the same world. How is it possible for the next generation to see the world differently from us?
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The Role Of Luck
Luck has a huge role to play in one's success or failure. We should not forget the role of luck in our lives. I am what I am is primarily because of how lucky I have been in many aspects of life. There are people who are more hardworking than I am and yet don't have the results they deserve.
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Optimal Conditions For Self Directed Education
I spend a lot of time on Youtube trying to learn something or the other. And from time to time I arrive at some interesting videos shared by others. Most recently I watched the talk on Self Directed Education by Peter Gray. I suggest anyone interested in unschooling go watch it.
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Grow In Complete Freedom
When people ask me what is this unschooling thing we are doing, I find it very difficult to answer. Not because I don't know what I feel about unschooling, but because I am unable to articulate my thoughts into words. When you are an unschooled parent, you subconsciously know what it means to you. You can understand why you behave the way you behave or do the things you do given a situation with your child. But it is extremely difficult to explain to others who only understand school or home school.
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Ability To Learn By Yourself Is Fundamental
Some people ask us if we are worried that our kid may not learn much because she is not going to school. Their primary worry is that she may not be able to find a job without education. Our worry on the other hand is that kids these days are spending so much energy on learning things that may not even interest them. And worst of all, they may end up with a job that they don't like to do because they have a degree in an education that wasn't of their own interest.
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Some Useful Educational Resources
In the most recently concluded Virtual Meet-up, there was a lot of discussion about children's education. My colleague and a reader of my blog Naveen B shared a bunch of useful resources. I thought it will help other readers as well so here they are
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Higher Education for Homeschooled Kids
Friends, family, and readers of my blog alike have all asked us this question -- what about your kid's higher education? Interestingly, given the COVID situation, several people have suddenly started showing interest in home schooling. More people have asked us about our experience or advice than before COVID. I am glad that more people are now interested in the topic. While unschooling or homeschooling sounds like a nice idea, there are so many questions in one's mind. One among them is about going back to traditional school/college or university if and when the kid chooses. But before going too far with the subject, lets understand legality of homeschooling or unschooling.
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Should You Save For Kids Higher Education
You know my stance on saving for kid's education. Those who have read my blog or know me, understand that we are unschooling our kid. Most already know that I retired early. I guess early retirement and unschooled kid is probably not a common combination? Or may be it is just my feeling. Because, in this combination, one rarely plans to setup a corpus for kid's higher education. And yet many people ask why I haven't set aside a corpus for the kid.
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