Love the post...only thing I think I might push on is what the goal even is...I don't think you really lay out it specifically but you seem to nod to it with "Excellent sheep seldom make history." Is your goal to have kids who make history? I have 3 kids and that's definitively not my goal. First, I don't want to set them for unrealistic goals and making history is, despite anyone's gifts, a pretty fucking high and hard to reach goal. But secondly, in a lot of ways, that's not my goal at all. I want kids who are going to be thrive...and for me, that means living meaningful, introspective, generous, productive and collaborative lives where they become the best versions of themselves and are as kind & generous to other people as possible along the way. Having any sort of long-term impact on history doesn't even really factor in as a core aspiration.
things we had fun with in our daughter's education:
reading to her
"adventures" - traveling with her, or letting her travel with her grandparents
giving her the physical tools she needed to pursue interests - climbing gear, film equipment ...
being open to how she wanted to pursue her education (off to boarding school)
encouraging her to "fail faster," get up, dust off and climb back on
biggest mistake we made in our daughter's education:
pushing her into grad school (Duke :))
missed opportunities:
not enough free-range play with other young children (the highlight of my childhood)
I'm sure your kids will do just fine, because you care about them and their education. Leave yourself room for awe - they will amaze you, enjoy it (and don't push them into grad school - it's gotta be their own choice). It happens so fast - prepare to be amazed.
I highly recommend that you look into the Montessori pedagogy. It speaks very clearly to your preferences for freedom within limits, agency, ability to explore down rabbit-holes, valuing learning for learning's sake (hard work), and top down education (Maria Montessori called it cosmic education).
I'd be happy to share some resources etc if you are interested as I am a big fan of Montessori, my two girls have thrived in the system.
Former humanities academic here, now in tech consulting (most of my secret sauce is humanities-based).
Problem with a lot of educational opining is that many of the opiners want to replace that stodgy old Industrial Revolution model with...well, the same one, only it hasn't been tested and has very little accountability. Since the Enlightenment, secular (and most aristocratic!) leaders have assumed that the function of education is to prepare you for leadership, not to get a job. Start there, is my advice. AI, flying drones, bioluminescent mice, whatever--this only matters if you care about jobs. Leaders are gonna be just fine. They will still have exposure to a broad set of frameworks and contexts. They'll still be able to use this pattern bank, including historical patterns, to assess quality and discern good courses of action. They'll still be able to identify problems and decompose them in ways that make them soluble. And they'll have a *much* higher chance of ending up somewhere that leaves them truly fulfilled...in part because they tried a bunch of things because they didn't learn C++ and get a job writing C++. Start now. This takes a while. A lifetime, in fact.
Give your kid this stuff. It doesn't come off a screen, but a page or a conversation.
And don't educate a kid to be a "trickster". That'll make them the sassiest guy on the factory floor. Putting one over on The Man assumes The Man has anything at all to do with what you're doing.
I've been reflecting on this a lot (dad to a 2-month old girl) and also struggle with the standard educational system. I could write my own essay in response, but so far a couple programs I've found that I will definitely be using are Russian School of Mathematics and Art of Problem Solving.
Hi Packy, great article! I have two kids 2 and 5 like yours and after a lot of thinking I decided to educate and bond with them through learning. I help them learn a lot of different activities so they can become better learners and discover their passions. I also noticed that as they become more resourceful they become more confident and are always eager to explore the world outside their confort zone and undertake new endeavours. I just started detailing our journey on substack as well. Here a recent article I wrote about the benefits of learning as an activity https://blog.bondandlearn.com/p/how-kids-can-benefit-from-learning
It always wonders me how ideas seems to be "in the air" and lot of times, we pick up at the same time. Such a great reading! I published an article on this subject last week (thus is in spanish Google Translate is better now). I'm not expert but I'm curious, and this are some of the ideas that I mention:
- Knowledge = understanding not repeating
- Teach to explore and create
- Different architecture
I wish I read this post before, but this is a subject so important. Find incredible that we are not putting more effort on it. Or maybe we are?
A great read , packy. I have been reading up your blogs off and on since last one year and amongst the geeky stuff that I have been reading - this stands out . I think more so because this a question that I have deliberated on too
While trying to admit kids in the best schools in these times - we had to write essays and man these were tougher than grad school or b school essays. But a lot of what you wrote came thru in the essays - independent thinking , curiosity , willingness to make a mistake and learn . I think one area that I feel gets missed out is kid of protective , regulated and manicured environment that our kids live in .. so much so that they are afraid of failures .. learning to live by failures and accept them is one of the hardest I feel .. though structure is important some unadulterated, harmless fun is much needed too - so that they know they can make mistakes ..
A really cool and interesting post. My various jumbled thoughts and musings: I learned to read a couple of years before being allowed to watch TV, and I think it's why I so vividly picture what I read. I generated my own imagery before I got used to the TV generating it for me. Gardening with my mom was a great hands-on part of my education as a child. I'm glad I went camping and got out into the natural world sometimes, rather than just sitting behind a screen. When I was in school, I always wished for a library-like center where I could go and research anything I liked at my own pace, but with mentors available to help when I had questions, and to help me put the results of my research into action. I feel there's been a real move away from doing to thinking about doing... from the practical to the theoretical, and that's not great. Practical classes could counteract that: here's how to implement a recycling program, now let's do it! Here's how to write and release a software program, now let's do it! Wish I'd understood how to start my own business early on. And media literacy/critical thinking seems much more important now than it was when I grew up, since there's such a barrage from all sides.
You can enrich your kids' learning through a program like Synthesis (https://www.synthesis.com/). One of the co-founders was Elon Musk's kids' teacher who started the Ad Astra school. Also, I think they are raising VC, so you'd have a couple reasons to check them out.
Great piece! This topic was one of my 12 favorite problems when I took Write of Passage last spring. I still don’t have all the answers but I think one of the most important things to teach them is simply how to learn. In their lifetime they will have to learn new ways of doing things every few years. So being able to learn is, in my opinion, the most important skill.
I came across the same info as Puja, regarding telling them they worked hard instead of telling them they are smart. I’m constantly trying to drive this home with my daughter. This is a good topic worth re-visiting in future essays!
Just one more thing. We’ve spent the last seven years studying this movement of secular homeschoolers, looking for something more focused on whole child development and not re-creating school at home than traditional homeschool but also more structured, intellectually challenging and integrating mastery-based learning than unschooling.
There are definitely patterns and approaches that are working well for these kids. We’ve summed it up in our “guide to homeschooling and modular learning.” Nir Eyal, who is a homeschooling dad, called it the most comprehensive guide he’s seen on the topic.
I hope you’ll check it out and hope you’ll find some valuable insights here on everything to refining your goals to building a truly personalized , rich, joyful and intellectually challenging education for your kids.
Love the post...only thing I think I might push on is what the goal even is...I don't think you really lay out it specifically but you seem to nod to it with "Excellent sheep seldom make history." Is your goal to have kids who make history? I have 3 kids and that's definitively not my goal. First, I don't want to set them for unrealistic goals and making history is, despite anyone's gifts, a pretty fucking high and hard to reach goal. But secondly, in a lot of ways, that's not my goal at all. I want kids who are going to be thrive...and for me, that means living meaningful, introspective, generous, productive and collaborative lives where they become the best versions of themselves and are as kind & generous to other people as possible along the way. Having any sort of long-term impact on history doesn't even really factor in as a core aspiration.
Always go back to basics.. Some of the best minds like Aristotle and Plato had no tech
and they were great and we still quote them.
The world is going fast but essentials do not change.
Great post! Synthesis.is is perfect for kids aged 7-14. The public education system is outdated and failing, as the past 2 years have shown. Don’t be a karent: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-karent-progressive-ivy-league
things we had fun with in our daughter's education:
reading to her
"adventures" - traveling with her, or letting her travel with her grandparents
giving her the physical tools she needed to pursue interests - climbing gear, film equipment ...
being open to how she wanted to pursue her education (off to boarding school)
encouraging her to "fail faster," get up, dust off and climb back on
biggest mistake we made in our daughter's education:
pushing her into grad school (Duke :))
missed opportunities:
not enough free-range play with other young children (the highlight of my childhood)
I'm sure your kids will do just fine, because you care about them and their education. Leave yourself room for awe - they will amaze you, enjoy it (and don't push them into grad school - it's gotta be their own choice). It happens so fast - prepare to be amazed.
I highly recommend that you look into the Montessori pedagogy. It speaks very clearly to your preferences for freedom within limits, agency, ability to explore down rabbit-holes, valuing learning for learning's sake (hard work), and top down education (Maria Montessori called it cosmic education).
I'd be happy to share some resources etc if you are interested as I am a big fan of Montessori, my two girls have thrived in the system.
Former humanities academic here, now in tech consulting (most of my secret sauce is humanities-based).
Problem with a lot of educational opining is that many of the opiners want to replace that stodgy old Industrial Revolution model with...well, the same one, only it hasn't been tested and has very little accountability. Since the Enlightenment, secular (and most aristocratic!) leaders have assumed that the function of education is to prepare you for leadership, not to get a job. Start there, is my advice. AI, flying drones, bioluminescent mice, whatever--this only matters if you care about jobs. Leaders are gonna be just fine. They will still have exposure to a broad set of frameworks and contexts. They'll still be able to use this pattern bank, including historical patterns, to assess quality and discern good courses of action. They'll still be able to identify problems and decompose them in ways that make them soluble. And they'll have a *much* higher chance of ending up somewhere that leaves them truly fulfilled...in part because they tried a bunch of things because they didn't learn C++ and get a job writing C++. Start now. This takes a while. A lifetime, in fact.
Give your kid this stuff. It doesn't come off a screen, but a page or a conversation.
And don't educate a kid to be a "trickster". That'll make them the sassiest guy on the factory floor. Putting one over on The Man assumes The Man has anything at all to do with what you're doing.
I've been reflecting on this a lot (dad to a 2-month old girl) and also struggle with the standard educational system. I could write my own essay in response, but so far a couple programs I've found that I will definitely be using are Russian School of Mathematics and Art of Problem Solving.
Thanks for another great post!
We are going the unschooling route with our daughter, which checks some of the list and points you made.
Hi Packy, great article! I have two kids 2 and 5 like yours and after a lot of thinking I decided to educate and bond with them through learning. I help them learn a lot of different activities so they can become better learners and discover their passions. I also noticed that as they become more resourceful they become more confident and are always eager to explore the world outside their confort zone and undertake new endeavours. I just started detailing our journey on substack as well. Here a recent article I wrote about the benefits of learning as an activity https://blog.bondandlearn.com/p/how-kids-can-benefit-from-learning
Let me know if you like the approach, thanks!
It always wonders me how ideas seems to be "in the air" and lot of times, we pick up at the same time. Such a great reading! I published an article on this subject last week (thus is in spanish Google Translate is better now). I'm not expert but I'm curious, and this are some of the ideas that I mention:
- Knowledge = understanding not repeating
- Teach to explore and create
- Different architecture
I wish I read this post before, but this is a subject so important. Find incredible that we are not putting more effort on it. Or maybe we are?
https://erikhoel.substack.com/p/why-we-stopped-making-einsteins
A great read , packy. I have been reading up your blogs off and on since last one year and amongst the geeky stuff that I have been reading - this stands out . I think more so because this a question that I have deliberated on too
While trying to admit kids in the best schools in these times - we had to write essays and man these were tougher than grad school or b school essays. But a lot of what you wrote came thru in the essays - independent thinking , curiosity , willingness to make a mistake and learn . I think one area that I feel gets missed out is kid of protective , regulated and manicured environment that our kids live in .. so much so that they are afraid of failures .. learning to live by failures and accept them is one of the hardest I feel .. though structure is important some unadulterated, harmless fun is much needed too - so that they know they can make mistakes ..
A really cool and interesting post. My various jumbled thoughts and musings: I learned to read a couple of years before being allowed to watch TV, and I think it's why I so vividly picture what I read. I generated my own imagery before I got used to the TV generating it for me. Gardening with my mom was a great hands-on part of my education as a child. I'm glad I went camping and got out into the natural world sometimes, rather than just sitting behind a screen. When I was in school, I always wished for a library-like center where I could go and research anything I liked at my own pace, but with mentors available to help when I had questions, and to help me put the results of my research into action. I feel there's been a real move away from doing to thinking about doing... from the practical to the theoretical, and that's not great. Practical classes could counteract that: here's how to implement a recycling program, now let's do it! Here's how to write and release a software program, now let's do it! Wish I'd understood how to start my own business early on. And media literacy/critical thinking seems much more important now than it was when I grew up, since there's such a barrage from all sides.
You can enrich your kids' learning through a program like Synthesis (https://www.synthesis.com/). One of the co-founders was Elon Musk's kids' teacher who started the Ad Astra school. Also, I think they are raising VC, so you'd have a couple reasons to check them out.
Great piece! This topic was one of my 12 favorite problems when I took Write of Passage last spring. I still don’t have all the answers but I think one of the most important things to teach them is simply how to learn. In their lifetime they will have to learn new ways of doing things every few years. So being able to learn is, in my opinion, the most important skill.
I came across the same info as Puja, regarding telling them they worked hard instead of telling them they are smart. I’m constantly trying to drive this home with my daughter. This is a good topic worth re-visiting in future essays!
We teach kids how to become investors using our investoon. https://open.substack.com/pub/investoon?r=9u1l&utm_medium=ios
Just one more thing. We’ve spent the last seven years studying this movement of secular homeschoolers, looking for something more focused on whole child development and not re-creating school at home than traditional homeschool but also more structured, intellectually challenging and integrating mastery-based learning than unschooling.
There are definitely patterns and approaches that are working well for these kids. We’ve summed it up in our “guide to homeschooling and modular learning.” Nir Eyal, who is a homeschooling dad, called it the most comprehensive guide he’s seen on the topic.
I hope you’ll check it out and hope you’ll find some valuable insights here on everything to refining your goals to building a truly personalized , rich, joyful and intellectually challenging education for your kids.
Would absolutely love your feedback on how we can improve this resource for parents like you. https://www.modulo.app/homeschool