Extraordinary Family Life

"We have forgotten what it means to be truly educated... hardly anyone gets a great education anymore. Ideally, all students would be effective self-educators rather than dependent on experts."

WHY a big focus on being truly educated?

Because the world is in turmoil.

And it's likely to get worse before it gets better.

This isn't conspiracy. It's history.

It is a cycle that has repeated itself for the past 500 years (or longer).

It's a predictable as winter following autumn.

We are now in winter.

And it's going to get colder and darker before the spring.

(But the spring will return! Believe in that.)

To endure, survive, thrive, and LEAD, we need to be prepared.

We need to know what is happening, understand why it's happening...

...and consistently learn and apply whatever is needed to thrive, succeed, and to help others do the same.

"When the time to perform has arrived, the time to prepare has passed."

But this cycle is different.

Because we can't go back.

"We have all the habits of a new age. The iPhones. The emails. The social. The ADD clicking of our keyboards. The hand sanitizers. Now we need to develop the instincts.

We need to understand that we're not living at a normal moment. You can't go back from Google to Britannica... What will replace the NYSE? What will improve the post office? What will reshape the world?

Our educational order is not yet wired for this new age."

-- Joshua Cooper Ramo

Yes, history is repeating itself through another fourth turning.

But this time it's different.

This time we're connected to technology that's never existed before -- tech we're dependent on, for good or bad.

The biggest challenge is even though we're drowning in a sea of information...

...wisdom, creativity, and knowledge have become less common.

You can see this in our educational systems (including homeschool).

Their main goal is literacy, grades, test scores, and college and career prep.

These are the 'high marks' of a quality education.

But what are they really?

And are they enough for what's coming?

In 1875, or even 1995, a teenager could expect to thrive with a decent ability to read, write, and calculate.

As long as they could also show up to work on time, follow orders, and do rote work for long hours.

But these 'skills' are no longer enough for our youth to survive -- not to mention thrive.

What they need instead is to be truly educated.

And a truly great education is seldom found in today's current home or public/private schooling options.

A truly great education prepares a person to develop competence and confidence...

...to know how to think instead of what to think...

...to problem solve and innovate...

...to prepare for personal fulfillment, meaning, and overall life happiness...

...to handle setbacks and failures...

...to unlearn what doesn't work, and relearn new things on a continual basis...

...to take initiative...

...to gain tenacity and grit...

...to think creatively and independently...

These are the things that matter MORE...

SO. MUCH. MORE...

...than grades, tests, math, spelling, or any other 'traditional subject' you can think of.

Everything else can be learned or googled.

But if your student doesn't have the qualities from the list above --

-- then they're on a course for failure.

They deserve a truly great education.

Not a mediocre one.