s/o Liberal arts ed vs practical

[Harry Nelson in Charlotte]

Liberal Arts Education is not JUST about becoming well-rounded, but mastering the ability to approach most any subject, and be able to read about it, think about it, and "work" in it.

 

I was a Political Science Major in college, and took 2 business courses.

 

If you're going to be a Political Science, History, English, or whatever liberal arts major, you'd better have a plan for making a living. Mine was in the Financial Industry. But, I didn't become a technician, I became a generalist. This allowed my career to progress as my interests allowed. I've been a stockbroker (sales), brokerage operations manager, product development (IT), Relationship Manager (My wife laughed so hard she spit out her drink when I told her I got that job. :). Chief Compliance Officer, Trader, and now Head of Client Services and Relationship Management for an Institutional Investment Management Firm. But, with each new position, my more varied background is what my employers found valuable (and what made me valuable). I've been able to learn new things all throughout my career, while still bringing value through my prior experience. My liberal arts education is to credit with my ability to improvise, adapt, and overcome.

 

But, if you are a liberal arts type of person, then you will have to "manage" your career more than most technical fields.

 

SO, in educating your children, if its clear that college is not in their future, then start in early high school teaching or arranging for them to learn a trade. Then, teach them or arrange for them to learn how to run their own business.

 

If they are a liberal arts person, then fine, but they never can forget that they're going to have to earn a living, and it likely won't be in the specific field of their major.

 

My two cents..

Edited June 1, 2010 by Harry Nelson in Charlotte
Typos

[Harry Nelson in Charlotte]

One other thing

 

Just a trend I've noticed in the thread. Some Liberal Arts majors aren't just for the wealthy. Go ahead and major in 18th century British Literature if you wish, you just have to have the humility and common sense to know that you aren't going to make a living at that unless you go on to get a Ph.D. and teach.

 

Might not hurt to take a couple of business or accounting courses as "electives."

[Kimber]

I am encouraging my children to prepare for jobs in the real world. So I would never encourage my children to get a liberal arts degree. The objective is to get paid and earn a living. So I ask my kids now, What do you see yourself doing when you're an adult? I have to explain to them what I mean. So I say, When you imagine yourself working as an adult, do you see yourself working with computers or in a hospital helping sick people. (So far my middle son wants to work at Outback Steak House, but he let me know I still have to pay if I go to eat there when I visit him.)

 

My oldest son says he wants to study astronomy, I hear physics, both are a little too abstract for me. I will encourage him to pick a job and prepare for the job not just learn the material.

 

So I wouldn't study liberal arts or physics unless there is a job title associated with liberal arts or physics. If you want to teach, then you study to be a teacher and not just study the abstract field of education. If you want to study chemistry, that pretty much assumes work as a chemists, though not always. If you want to study art, then what job are you going to perform with that art degree and make sure you are prepared for the job while you're studying art.

 

People have to eat and earning a living comes first. If you can't eat off the degree, then I don't see the point. And I'm not talking about being rich, I'm talking about survival.

 

Fields like engineering, which is my background, are either all in or all out. My poor husband has to be at the refinery when needed; he can't just call in if there are problems with the equipment and they need technical support. So for my kids I plan to encourage to choose fields where they will have flexibility, especially for my daughter, so she can work if she wants to and still homeschool her kids, if she wants to.

Edited June 1, 2010 by Kimber

[Terabith]

Actually, physics may be more marketable than you think. My husband has a masters in physics and astronomy, and coupled with computer skills, has been pretty marketable.

 

English and theology, on the other hand, not so much. Ask me how I know. :glare: Even if you get a Ph.D, my father is an academic dean, and he says for applications for English professors at a rinky dink school, he'll get hundreds of applications, with people from Ph.D's in English from Princeton. Academia, even with a Ph.D, is not as marketable as one might think. Sigh.

[Kimber]

This sounded cold and I'm not really that cold and impersonal, I was trying to be quick. I should have added that I totally support a liberal education or an art degree as long as you can support yourself while you do it.

 

I have an extremely athletic son who may want to be a swimmer and go for the Olympics (not true now) and if he did, I'd encourage him 100%. But I'd also try to focus on how do you earn a living after you're finished with swimming. Would you have your own business? Would you coach? Just job specific.

 

Hope I didn't sound like a dream squasher.

[Kimber]

Wow!

 

I don't know any physics majors in real life only engineers and chemists, so I'm not sure what options there are with physics so I'd have to do research, or rather he will have to do the research.

[forty-two]

Wow!

 

I don't know any physics majors in real life only engineers and chemists, so I'm not sure what options there are with physics so I'd have to do research, or rather he will have to do the research.

My dad has a physics degree, and works in the space program (systems engineer is usually how he puts it) - he says he's a generalist, as opposed to a specialist. As he puts it, companies hire more specialists than generalists, but they do need generalists, and a good one is worth their weight in gold. It's similar to how a pp put having a liberal arts degree - you have to sell yourself a bit more, but you have a wide range of options.

[Guest]

I think the recent economic crisis has shown us that no job niche is truly safe, truly sheltered from the course of events. This goes for academics (hundreds of newly minted PhDs and many universities have frozen hiring and have fired whole departments) as well as for jobs like auto mechanics (people are putting off having work done and skipping maintenance to save money).

 

My daughter, aged fourteen, is most likely college bound -- she likes physics and literature -- but she also has a part-time job working with horses. I'm not thinking of this in terms of an occupation-specific preparation, but as generally getting some pretty hefty responsibility under her belt, learning to work with a whole variety of other people and animals, while allowing her to be around animals that she loves. When I was a teenager I worked in blueberry fields, on a newspaper route, and volunteering in a hospital transcription lab. I paid my way through college when the hospital hired me rather than see me leave to find paid work elsewhere. I don't do anything like that now and haven't since, but it was utterly worthwhile at the time. Even though I didn't go into any of the areas in which had early jobs, I had a work history and people to write references for me. This is what I'm thinking of with my daughter.

[Jenny in GA]

Wow!

 

I don't know any physics majors in real life only engineers and chemists, so I'm not sure what options there are with physics so I'd have to do research, or rather he will have to do the research.

 

I guess you never watch The Big Bang Theory on CBS? ;)

 

Jenny

[Jenny in GA]

This all reminds me of something a little off-topic.

 

When I worked in the public schools, I had my seventh grade class respond to a journal prompt every day when I arrived in class.

 

One day I had written something like, "What job would you like to have when you're grown up?"

 

I was stunned at how, in each class, boys would come into the room one by one, read the question, then look at me and say, "Well, what job makes a lot of money?"

 

There were dead serious. Whatever I (or someone else) said would make a lot of money, well, of course that's what they would be. Duh. Next question.

 

Maybe that is a male thing, to some extent? I don't remember female students saying the same thing. And I certainly never thought that way, at any age.

 

Jenny

[ScoutTN]

I think that a well-educated student who has finished secondary level already has a solid foundation in liberal arts. Assuming he doesn't have strong math-science skills and interests (which generally lead to more easily employable career choices), he can easily pursue something that interests him and provides a good income and parents and adults should help kids to evaluate the options and make wise choices. Choosing a "practical" major or training track doesn't mean you can't take a class on Shakespeare or keep working on your Spanish or study sociology.

 

We have our whole lives to continue to read and learn about history, literature, music etc.

[TravelingChris]

Kimber and others who don't know- Physics is a very well paying career. We have an acute shortage of US Citizen Physicists and will have for the near future.

[MIch elle]

I am so glad that there are still music majors who dare to dream.

 

My pastor (early 40's) has perfect pitch. He's the only person I know who can sit down at the piano/organ and play hundreds of songs off the top of his head. He's played the piano/organ since childhood and was music director of his church at age 12. His wife is a retired opera singer (early 40's) with a masters in music. She's currently studying to become an RN. Both are talented musicians but music doesn't pay the bills. Music is a highly competitive field for only the best of the BEST.

[Jenny in GA]

Both are talented musicians but music doesn't pay the bills.

 

But for many people, it does.

 

Jenny

[lauracolumbus]

Both dh and I have liberal arts degrees and have never had a difficult time finding jobs. I think the difference is that we also always had practical experience--be it volunteer positions or something else. I went into the Air National Guard at 17 and that carried me a long way I believe.

 

Laura

[MIch elle]

But for many people, it does.

 

Jenny

 

...for the best of the best who give up a lot to pursue music OR do it on the side while the other spouse pays most of the bills or live a simple life of the musician.

[Rosie_0801]

I think you have to look at the age of the person that you are talking about. A 9 year old who is learning about classical music, taking violin lessons, and studying Latin is much different than a 19 year old who is racking up huge college loans learning the same things.

 

I think the younger years is a LOT about exposure to a variety of things and a thorough grounding in some majorly important things (math, writing, reading.) By the time they get to college, I hope that their exposure to a variety of things and thorough grounding in the majorly important ones will allow them to pursue a field that they ENJOY that will EARN them a living.

 

 

Mm. One of the things that struck me when I first read WTM was it took my liberal arts degree and plonked it into the high school years. I believe virtually everyone ought to have a liberal arts education, but virtually everyone should cover it in high school, not at college level. My degree was worth every cent I paid, and am yet to pay, but if I had been, uh, "well trained," it wouldn't have been necessary.

 

I'm an extreme introvert. That combined w/ a liberal arts degree seems like...well, a bad combination.

I think some of us are designed perfectly to be stay at home mums. Shame it doesn't pay in cash.

 

Graduating early would not be a goal in itself, but definitely a good thing, for several reasons. The sooner you can start making money, the more choices you have about everything, from a home, to marriage, to college.

 

You don't need to graduate to start making money. Maybe the culture is different in the US, but I'm going to be very strongly encouraging my kids into a part time job as soon as possible. I know their high school education will suffer in comparison to what I read about here, but it is necessary. Most graduate jobs here require 1-3 years of experience. My kids will need to start building their resumes as soon as possible. As homeschoolers, they have the advantage that they'll be able to try for those little junior office positions, rather than tacking a chicken shop job onto the end of their day. The chicken shop probably pays better, but the experience of the office job will be *much* more useful on their resume.

 

This was an interesting book: You Majored in What? I highly recommend it.

 

my mom really didn't know how to advise me in that area.

That's the bit I worry about. What do I know about? Dh knows about the computer industry. That's only one area, but it's more than I know.

 

Should I hope my children chase the money or the dream.

I think we hope they're the same thing.

 

Rosie

[Impish]

It occurs to me something my grandma said once. In effect, she said that it used to be a job was what kept you housed and fed, and that was considered to be enough, that pride was in the ability to provide...now everyone wants to 'love' their work, AND be paid $$$ for it.

 

If everyone needed to 'love' their work, there would be very few people around in some fields. Sometimes the 'love' is in the joy of a job well done, not the job itself.

 

Sometimes, the dream, the passion, makes a better hobby than an income, and I think its wise to know the difference.

 

Diva is a talented artist...or would be if she had any patience :lol: If she wanted to pursue it, I would, of course, encourage her...but not to the point of excluding a means to keep body and soul together. The number of artists that can feed themselves solely from their art is exceedingly small. I'd encourage her to enter any competition she wanted, to explore what talents she had...all while also encouraging her to find ways to use her skills in another area of employment. Pursue her art on evenings and weekends.

 

Nothing kills a dream faster than starving, or losing your home...especially if you have children depending on you.

[Carol in Cal.]

I took up weaving as a hobby a long time ago, and thought very seriously of making it into a profession. I read "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow." I visited weavers. I looked at what people would buy. I went to workshops taught by professionals, and talked with them about their careers.

 

I finally concluded that to do enough weaving fast enough to make a living at it, I would not be able to enjoy the design process or innovate very much. Or, alternatively, I would need to move completely into art weaving or into serious living history weaving, neither of which interested me all that much. So I decided to keep enjoying it as the hobby it is, and I have! It's been great, and I'm eternally grateful that I did not ruin it for myself by trying to make a living at it.

[Cindyz]

I read all 7 pages and didn't see anyone mention the goal of self employment for their child.

 

I will definitely encourage my son to obtain a degree with an eye toward finding a well paying job, but I look at this as a backup plan. My real goal for him is that he become self employed and become the employer himself. I believe that being self employed will lead to the most amount of life happiness. The potential earnings are limitless, there is more time for family, and the freedom is liberating, plus he is a natural born leader type.

 

Both of my Grandfathers owned their own businesses, my dad has his own business and I have my own business (all different businesses). I did not plan to do so, it just happened that way. I didn't have any type of guidance with my education although they did tell me that I should choose something that would be more profitable. I majored in psychology and received my masters in social work and graduated with no debt as I had a college fund to pay for it all. I had job opportunities immediately out of college but the pay was very low and after working in the social work field for about 8 years, I realized that I was on the verge of burnout and I was done.

 

My college degrees gave me the ability to work with people and to learn on my own how to do all of the things necessary to run a business of my own. For that I am very grateful. I have not worked for someone else for over 12 years now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[OrganicAnn]

The college I went to was a liberal arts college, but they had lots of major/minor combinations that were designed to help kids get jobs. The music/business combo was very popular. Since it was a liberal arts college, you couldn't major in business, but you could minor in it and it was a very popular minor. I like the idea that you can combine the two ideas liberal arts with job skills. Some areas like going to law school, you can come from a variety of majors most are liberal arts.

 

I think the key is to communicate as much as possible the realities of life to kids and let them sort out how they are going combine their interests with jobs, careers, and education.

[Laurie4b]

I think our family is more practically oriented in terms of seeing a degree as related to a job. Ds#1 would like to be a music major and is very talented; we've told him he will need to double major and choose something that would help him support his family for the other major in case he can't support himself with music. Ds #2 and #4 are very practical kiddos anyway. They will likely be engineers. Ds#3 is still unfolding. :)

 

Thinking about this off the top of my head, I am inclined to say that unless your family is independently wealthy, your degree should be something that translates into a possible career. One can always double-major and pursue the liberal arts side of education, or do self-study for pleasure later. I also think that the richness of what we've tried to do in homeschool gives our kids a taste of that they may whet their appetite to pursue more on their own. (We have also tried to provide practical experiences for our kids related to career, though.)

[jld]

I don't know what to say, spradlin. I hear you on the importance of pursuing dreams . . . but at 40, with 5 kids, one with cancer, I know the importance of, as Library Lover said, "steady money", not to mention health insurance. A retirement account helps me sleep better at night, too, as does being debt-free. Not only would I be stressed if I were carrying debt in this economy, but I honestly cannot imagine it at 23, to the tune of 100k, for a degree in religion and women's studies, with a mother who is herself struggling financially.

 

I'll be the first to say that in a perfect world, a humanities degree has absolutely as much value as a technical degree. An art historian has as much intrinsic value as an engineer. But it just doesn't seem to be a perfect world. So in the imperfect world, we are trying to make practical choices that keep some passion involved, so the kid doesn't just give up on life because he's so depressed by what he's doing.

 

If we as a society value the humanities, then maybe we need some kind of socialized education system, like in Europe. There artists can survive on gov't assistance after they complete their degrees. I'm not saying it's what we want to do, but it's a thought. But then Europe doesn't seem to be in any better of an economic state than the U.S., and they may be cutting back on some of their social benefits, too. Dd told me a teacher in France recently told her that higher education may not continue to be free in France. That is really going to rock a lot of people there who are not presently saving anything for their kids' educations, because the state has always helped, and everyone assumes it will always be that way.

[Carol in Cal.]

I read all 7 pages and didn't see anyone mention the goal of self employment for their child.

 

I will definitely encourage my son to obtain a degree with an eye toward finding a well paying job, but I look at this as a backup plan. My real goal for him is that he become self employed and become the employer himself. I believe that being self employed will lead to the most amount of life happiness. The potential earnings are limitless, there is more time for family, and the freedom is liberating, plus he is a natural born leader type.

 

Both of my Grandfathers owned their own businesses, my dad has his own business and I have my own business (all different businesses). I did not plan to do so, it just happened that way. I didn't have any type of guidance with my education although they did tell me that I should choose something that would be more profitable. I majored in psychology and received my masters in social work and graduated with no debt as I had a college fund to pay for it all. I had job opportunities immediately out of college but the pay was very low and after working in the social work field for about 8 years, I realized that I was on the verge of burnout and I was done.

 

My college degrees gave me the ability to work with people and to learn on my own how to do all of the things necessary to run a business of my own. For that I am very grateful. I have not worked for someone else for over 12 years now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

The trouble is health insurance. If that changes, then I'll be all for the business owner model, but otherwise it's just too risky.

[jld]

That's a good point, Carol.

 

Zenz, I think you bring up a great question. Why don't more people start their own businesses? My dh has talked about this for years, but he doesn't have any ideas. With an idea, and some capital, he probably could do something. I can understand how someone in the trades knows from the get go that he wants to own his own plumbing business, or contracting business, or restaurant, but I'm not sure how an engineer gets there. Some fields do seem to lend themselves more to entrepreneurship than others.

 

Maybe dh is just too cautious. His wife definitely is.

[Colleen in NS]

Both are talented musicians but music doesn't pay the bills. Music is a highly competitive field for only the best of the BEST.

 

...for the best of the best who...live a simple life of the musician.

 

My dh is a guitar player with no formal training, no music degree. Lots of performance experience (mostly volunteer), and lots of teaching experience now. He teaches guitar, in students' homes, for a living. Though we are considered low-income, we are able to pay our bills. Our different perspective (that Jane mentioned) is that we live in Canada where we have "free" health care and tax-free child support payments. Our only debt is a mortgage, and we live frugally. I don't know that either of us would consider him to be the "best of the best" - he has just taken something he loves doing, and turned it into an income-earner. What's the simple life of a musician? Well, frugality can be quite complicated, actually. But oh well, the simplicity for us is that we have a fairly stable life even if it's not filled with travel, activities, material extras....

 

Music "careers" do not have to be just for the "best of the best," yet dh has slowly gained a reputation around here as being a good, friendly, and able teacher, and he charges the same as music shops charge for lessons (and their teachers don't even get all that money!).

 

I believe virtually everyone ought to have a liberal arts education, but virtually everyone should cover it in high school, not at college level.

 

:iagree:

 

And I just put your book rec on hold in my library! Looks interesting. Almost everything you talk about here is interesting to me, though. You're very diverse. (and you're worried about guiding your kids?? You needn't be!:D)

 

I read all 7 pages and didn't see anyone mention the goal of self employment for their child.

 

I noticed that, too. Because dh has been self-employed for about 12 years now (he had another business for a few years before turning to guitar teaching), I've become more open to self-employment (it used to scare me). I had a tutoring business in my home for a couple of years. I've read all sorts of self-employment books (love Sarah and Paul Edwards) over the years, and I have some ideas of what I'd like to do when my kids grow up. Also, we talk to our kids about "when you are ready, you can use some of your savings to start up a business of some sort." We talk about different ideas with them, to show them the possibilities.

 

I think more and more that a WTM-style education throughout K-12 will prepare kids very well for a practical and fulfilling future of study and work. I, too, don't think it has to be either/or. Teach 'em to study and think, and teach 'em practical life skills (there are a huge range), and then help them figure out what path they want to start out on in early adulthood. Things will change, but I believe if I prepare my kids with academic and practical skills, they will be able to learn other things along the way, as they pick their way through life.

[Aubrey]

You don't need to graduate to start making money. Maybe the culture is different in the US, but I'm going to be very strongly encouraging my kids into a part time job as soon as possible. I know their high school education will suffer in comparison to what I read about here, but it is necessary. Most graduate jobs here require 1-3 years of experience. My kids will need to start building their resumes as soon as possible. As homeschoolers, they have the advantage that they'll be able to try for those little junior office positions, rather than tacking a chicken shop job onto the end of their day. The chicken shop probably pays better, but the experience of the office job will be *much* more useful on their resume.

 

I started working at 12. I did odd jobs around the church, from childcare to keeping books for a missionary.

 

When I was 14, I got a "real" job at the mall. Minimum wage. I finished highschool at 15, & by 16, I was tutoring college algebra & working as a low-level manager at the same mall store. I got something like 25-50c extra/hr when the mall store promoted me & a lot of flack from other people working there who thought they should have been promoted over me because they were older. The tutoring job, though, paid double what the mall paid. Qualifications were having made an A in the class yourself. I could not have gotten *that* job w/out graduating, & the alternatives available were much more...involved w/ the public, lower-paying, & had nothing to do w/ any future.

 

As long as you have to be 16 to legally work, you might as well be 16 w/ a master's degree working a job w/ 401k, vacation time, & health ins. Kwim?

[FO4UR]

...for the best of the best who give up a lot to pursue music OR do it on the side while the other spouse pays most of the bills or live a simple life of the musician.

 

 

This is what I faced, esp the bolded.

 

I graduated with a BSE Music Ed, found out we were expecting our 1st baby, and was offered my 1st "real job" all within days.

 

I KNEW I desired to SAH with babies from the get-go...I didn't even blink an eyelash turning down the job. I refused to work the long hours necessary for a music teacher, leaving my baby for someone else to raise!!! (Music teachers have far more after school responsibilities than many...atleast responsibilities that require them to be physically AT school.)

 

I think this conversation goes beyond "What do you want to be? and What will pay the bills" to "What are the core values that will shape your world?" Teaching music is what I wanted to do...and it would pay the basic bills...but my CORE values lie with giving these years to my children. Now, I am one of those college grads trying to pay off SL debt as a SAHM.:glare: It's my own responsibility, but I truly was given bad advice on quite a few fronts tbh. I wish I could go back give myself an opposing POV to ponder.

 

I kinda resemble the remark about not being able to buy creativity, but not being able to sell it either...:lol: It's funny b/c in my head, my solution to the problem is MORE of the same education so I can...(drumroll please)...go back to my Alma Mater and TEACH others to be just like me...:lol: I think Aubrey must be my long lost twin!:tongue_smilie:

 

Now, I'm going to be up tonight brainstorming ways to make $$$ as a SAHM with a BSE Music Ed...:confused:

[Aubrey]

I kinda resemble the remark about not being able to buy creativity, but not being able to sell it either...:lol: It's funny b/c in my head, my solution to the problem is MORE of the same education so I can...(drumroll please)...go back to my Alma Mater and TEACH others to be just like me...:lol: I think Aubrey must be my long lost twin!:tongue_smilie:

 

Now, I'm going to be up tonight brainstorming ways to make $$$ as a SAHM with a BSE Music Ed...:confused:

 

Hasn't this been a depressing thread? I've been racking my brain to figure out why, & finally what I've come up w/ is this: my decisions are already made. I can make some decisions now, but they're very limited by life circumstances (4 kids!)...there's so much I wish I'd known 15 yrs ago.

 

But *deep breath* that's how life is. We know some things. We don't know others. We make the decisions we make, & those come from who we are & make us who we are, & since they're a reflection of ourselves, they'll never be perfect, but there will (hopefully) always be beauty to be found in them. Sometimes I look into dh's eyes, & I see us--dreamers, risk-takers, poor in some ways, but rich in passion, idealism, & books, lol--& honestly...as hard as it is to live w/ us, I really like who we are. :001_smile:

[jld]

What do you wish you had known 15 years ago, Aubrey? There may be people 15 years younger than you reading this thread, and they could benefit from your experience.

[FO4UR]

Hasn't this been a depressing thread? I've been racking my brain to figure out why, & finally what I've come up w/ is this: my decisions are already made. I can make some decisions now, but they're very limited by life circumstances (4 kids!)...there's so much I wish I'd known 15 yrs ago.

 

But *deep breath* that's how life is. We know some things. We don't know others. We make the decisions we make, & those come from who we are & make us who we are, & since they're a reflection of ourselves, they'll never be perfect, but there will (hopefully) always be beauty to be found in them. Sometimes I look into dh's eyes, & I see us--dreamers, risk-takers, poor in some ways, but rich in passion, idealism, & books, lol--& honestly...as hard as it is to live w/ us, I really like who we are. :001_smile:

 

 

So true. And, tbh, I am actually doing exactly what I want to do, feel called to do, exactly what fulfills me most for this season in life. I do find myself thinking more long-term lately...if I do this HSing thing right, I'm working myself out of a job (yk, when the kids leave the nest and support themselves) and I will want a career to take me to retirement someday.

 

For my dc, I want them to have the best for them. I don't want to push my dc into a field of study/work, but I will push them in terms of seeing the *reality* of life after graduation. I don't want *life* to push them into a field of work either.

[Aubrey]

What do you wish you had known 15 years ago, Aubrey? There may be people 15 years younger than you reading this thread, and they could benefit from your experience.

 

Well, I'm 30, so I doubt it, lol! But here goes--I knew I wanted to hs, but I didn't think about a career. I knew I wanted to write, but I was told that wouldn't pay the bills. I knew I wanted a degree, & I was told that I'd never work in my field, what degree you get doesn't matter anyway, & so you should do what you love in college, then get a job.

 

I wish I'd had the confidence to pursue a practical writing degree. I wish I'd known *to* get experience in that field, plus how to do it. I wish I'd known the importance of knowing people & that a degree from a great school is primarily valuable because of who you meet there. (Um...that didn't come out right. Besides what you learn, it's important to cultivate relationships.)

 

I wish someone had had a meter running on my student loans instead of just reminding me that I'd have to pay them back. I wish someone had said, Gee. You want to homeschool. Maybe you should think about a career that you can do from home. And then told me what those were.

 

I wish someone had cared that I was good at math instead of insisting that I was better at language. I wish I'd travelled, but then I'd have more student loan debt, lol, so maybe I'm glad I didn't.

 

I wish there had been some kind of financial practical counseling. Honestly, I wish there had been other kinds of counseling, too, lol.

 

I guess in some ways that means I wish I'd known things I still don't quite know but at least know now that I don't know! :D

[Aubrey]

Another advantage of accelerating that I'm just now thinking of: avoiding the awkward middle ground between childhood and adulthood, maybe not completely, but...well, I doubt a 16yo prof would be interested in youth group, for ex., & all the teen angst that goes w/ that age. There's built-in freedom that comes w/ real (as opposed to made up) responsibility.

[Mejane]

As a psych major, I should have paid more attention to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right? Self-actualization is that teeny, tiny top of the triangle that gets attention after all the practical stuff is taken care of. ;)

Edited June 2, 2010 by Mejane

[Rosie_0801]

I started working at 12. I did odd jobs around the church, from childcare to keeping books for a missionary.

 

Beat ya! I was a professional toilet cleaner from age 8. Dad cleaned a childcare centre after hours and I used to help. Half the job for a quarter of the pay, can you believe? I spoke to him about the unfairness of this and he said I could do it for a quarter of the pay or for nothing. No unions when you work for your dad, sadly! :lol:

 

 

As long as you have to be 16 to legally work, you might as well be 16 w/ a master's degree working a job w/ 401k, vacation time, & health ins. Kwim?

 

Ah, see it's legal to work from 14 and 9 months here. I'd be surprised if you can get anything other than a supermarket or dishwashing before 16, but they would make a proper job easier to get when the kidlets turn 16. The Swann articles did bring up the idea of doing college by correspondence. It's not something I'd seriously considered. Dh wishes he'd have done it, but his parents wouldn't have let him. I did humanities and I don't think you can get full value out of something so discussion based without attending tutes. If it is that much cheaper to study by correspondence over here (I haven't looked into it) as the Swann's described, I think we'll be encouraging the kids to do that as much as they can. I would never send my kids to uni full time before 17, but studying uni classes from home could be ok.

 

I wish I'd known the importance of knowing people

Ah, that's a lesson we've been learning this year. *sigh* It beats me how you do this without being a shmuck who only collects people for what they can give them. Even introverts need to know people, painful as it is!

 

Rosie

[angela in ohio]

Bumping this up to add a recommendation. I was listening to Andrew Pudewa's "Educational Paradigm" CD in the car on the way to my academic advising appointment (so exciting, but that's beside the point :D) and it was all about how to balance these very things. He talks about a 'trinity' of things we teach our dc: character, knowledge, and skills. He also talked about how they would look different for every single student. It's a great way to think of it. I found the CD helpful.