Maybe some time away from school won't destroy our kid's lives after all

As we are in the middle of the second term of lockdown for the school year people often ask me how "homeschooling" is going for us and our four children, my reply, it doesn't make much difference for us. Why? About six years ago when our eldest child was nearing school age my wife and I decided to home educate our children. We made this decision for various reasons, and during this time it makes me value this decision even more. Tonight I watched this 2007 TED talk from Sir Ken Robinson. His summary - school is designed for the brain and only half of it. His premise as the name of the video suggests - Schooling as it stands today, well in 2007 anyway, kills creativity by valuing the old reading, writing and arithmetic above all else.

Over the years we have had many people question the value of home education, primarily around socialisation, my response for this is maybe for another article. But our highest priority for our children is for them to explore their creativity and their strengths. While we still spend time doing maths, reading, writing etc, all of this is generally integrated with exploring their creativity - what better way to learn fractions than to bake a cake or volume than filling holes with concrete?

I remember trying to learn my times' tables off by heart at school because as my teacher always said - "You don't walk around with a calculator in your pocket" - little did she know that as a 30 something-year-old in my pocket would be not only a calculator but a dictionary, spell checker, translator and link to any information that I could want or need. Why then do we still think that rote learning information is the best way to teach our kids? A few years ago while completing my MBA I wrote an assignment on the future of work. My primary recommendation - Focus on developing skills that are currently out of reach of automation - For example creativity, inspiration, and courage. This might involve reading good books, studying business skills and engaging in deep conversations about life. An IT worker who spends all of their spare time in a computer risks losing touch with life, something computers are not yet able to achieve. I read this HBR article on great leaders recently where Peter Bregman states "To lead effectively — really, to live effectively — you must be confident in yourself, connected to others, committed to purpose, and emotionally courageous."What we wish to instil in our children is a desire to learn, to explore their creativity and the world around them. Allow them to be bored which often leads to creative solutions to their boredom - that don't involve a screen.

Great Leaders are Confident Connected Committed and Courageous

When I dropped out of school a week before my year 11 exams, one of my teachers at the time said I was making the mistake of my life, that I would never be able to go uni which in turn would mean no good jobs. Looking back I think it was the best decision I made, School didn't work for me, I needed to have my own adventure and focus on things that helped me "live" effectively. I have since found my love of learning, completed postgraduate study, have a wonderful family and community. Not finishing school didn't ruin my life, quite the opposite, so maybe there is hope for those "missing-out" on some school during the pandemic. My advice, find out what your kids love that doesn't involve a screen and explore that with them, dance more than maths, and bake a cake. Also, there is nothing like a bit of tiling to explore one's creative flare...

Disclaimer: There are some brilliant places that offer great resources for kids to learn and we use things like Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/, Duo Lingo https://www.duolingo.com/, and other various documentaries and YouTube Channels (Smarter Every Day, Hydraulic Press Channel, Economics Explained just to name a few). We find these inspire our kids to learn and explore, it still leaves plenty of time for music, dancing, theatre, and building go-carts and houses).