What would we created instead?
If we had to start over now — from scratch — and build an education system for our children, what would it look like?
Pretend our collective knowledge and memory of the educational system was wiped out…
How would we educate our children and the next generation if we had to start with a clean slate?
These are the questions I’ve been asking myself as I think about where our family’s educational journey will go from here.
I’m pleased with the results we’ve achieved so far. But I know there’s more. There’s always more. There’s always another level.
But what? And how?
I want my kids to be ‘smart’ (a fixed mindset, I know). I want them to know lots of stuff. I want them to be intelligent and articulate.
But more than that, I want them to be prepared for an uncertain future. I want them to be happy, well-adjusted, and competent.
I want my kids to do their ‘school’ work and to get an education independent of nagging or forcing because they LOVE to learn.
We’re all born that way — naturally intoxicated with learning about the world around us. It’s like a game we can’t stop playing because we’re eager and driven to ‘level up’.
It’s why little kids get up early and don’t want to go to bed. They’re in love with life and learning!
But something about the system sobers us and at some point learning becomes drudgery instead of like an addictive drug.
What if we could help our kids (and ourselves) keep that drive for growth and development?
What if we could preserve the passion of discovery?
Certainly it would NOT include more worksheets, test prep, or diplomas.
You don’t get a diploma when you learn to walk or talk. You just achieve the ABILITY to walk and talk — and that’s reward enough for the effort required.
What if we created an educational approach that focused on developing demonstrable real-world skills instead giving grades for regurgitated-and-later-forgotten information?
What if we developed methods for delivering real-world problems and experiences for our children to encounter and solve instead of forcing them do hours of meaningless and dreaded assignments?
Because as Thoreau said,
“Knowledge is to be acquired only by accompanying experience. How can we know what we are merely told?”