04/01/2024
NOTE TO MY READERS:
the copied text below is fairly anti-public school.
My page, however, isn’t anti-public school….
it is pro-homeschool. And that’s because public school can absolutely be the best fit for some kids/families. So just take their opinion with a grain of salt.
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“Homeschooling parents (and parents who want to homeschool):
Here are the 7 most important things to remember:
(If you do these 7 things and nothing else, your kid will get a great education)👇
1. Interest-based learning is far more valuable than a generic curriculum.
Children are not one-size-fits-all. Their learning shouldn't be either.
When your kids are disinterested, they'll forget information.
Their retention is far better if you build their learning around their existing interests.
2. The internet is the greatest educational resource ever known to man.
Every book ever written is at your fingertips.
The internet gives your kids access to the best thinkers and teachers in the world - often far better than they'd get in a local classroom.
3. Some of the best resources are available entirely for free.
YouTube is full of interviews and lectures.
Khan Academy has everything you need for an entire K-12 math education.
The internet (plus your local library for extras) is the only classroom your kids need.
4. Kids actually *want* to learn.
Public school makes learning so coercive that kids come to hate it.
But a child's natural state is to want to learn. They're hardwired for it.
All sorts of non-academic things can be learning: play, apprenticeships, entrepreneurial projects, etc.
5. School doesn't have to take more than 2 hours a day.
The public school day takes 7 hours because:
-the model is inefficient
-it serves as childcare
When self-paced, kids can knock out all their work in 2 hours a day, easy. (2hourlearning.com is a great tool for this.)
6. Don't replicate public school at home.
The whole point of leaving the system is to do something different.
Don't reject the things you didn't like, but default to keeping the rest.
Be willing to break the mold of public school altogether.
7. Your kids will get the most value from their passion projects.
If your kid wants to work on starting a business all day, let them.
They won't remember the worksheets as adults. They *will* shape their identity around the projects they completed.
And their interests likely map onto their long-term ambitions as adults (an entrepreneurial child will likely become an entrepreneurial adult, and the childhood practice will be a valuable foundation).”
