When I home schooled my two youngest sons for several years, I discovered that knowing how to learn on their own was the best skill I could teach them.

My youngest went back to school in 11th grade. That year he made straight A’s and was in National Honor Society. He did go to Community College half a day as well, and worked at Taco Bell in the evenings. (Very full schedule!)

His teachers told me that unlike the other teens in their classes, he knew how to research, study and learn, and glean the important information, from the teacher,books, and other materials without much assistance. He didn’t hesitate to ask questions immediately when he wanted clarification or other people’s opinions to mull over.

Now, please don’t think I just left my kids alone to learn. We did many, many hours of time together working on projects and learning. I just made sure to teach the skills, along with the material, and give them opportunity to pursue things on their own as well so that when the time came that there was no teacher, they could be their own. I encouraged them to discover what their interests were and weave those into their lessons whenever possible.

That experience teaching them helped me so much, that I now am a life-long learner myself. Since then I have continued my own education. I learn everything that I desire to know about when the time is right for me.

There are so many free and low-cost services available. Barter is another way to access learning in a subject someone is interested in. There is nothing wrong with college, but the degree doesn’t mean you are going to be successful or have the right knowledge you need for a certain field.

Well-written books, people, and experiences have proven to be the best
teacher for me. Going to museums, asking lots of questions, immersing myself in a particular area of interest, and being open to finding the answers I seek have all led me to the right resources meant for me.

Great post! I completely agree. Being required to produce a college degree is a form of discrimination. It doesn’t say anything about your qualifications, it says you belong to a club that strives to keep those who don’t belong to it OUT.

But I am hopeful that with soooo much great, free information available to us online things will eventually shift. I look forward to reading “How Web-Savvy Edupunks Are Transforming American Higher Education”.

Thanks for the refreshing p.o.v.

Jeanne

This post was mentioned on Twitter by AlexiaPetrakos: Do You Need a Degree? http://is.gd/6sY3y (via @SandyDfromNJ)…