Your Child’s Education

How Not to Parent

I remember one friend who in passing said, “I don’t see my kids much right now, but I’ll be around more when they’re older when they’re fun to play with!” That seemed to be a bad attitude to have. If the kids don’t see you much when they’re young, why will they want to play with you when they’re older? I didn’t want to be that parent.

“Daddy, can I go to school?”

I just dropped my two-year-old off at Modern Megaw Montessori just after lunch. He goes for half days, four days a week. This morning, for the first time ever, he looked up at me and said “Daddy, can I go to school?” And that’s how you break a father’s heart….. Kidding! 

My boy has been going to preschool since last year. My daughter started roughly around the same time. When I was a kid, I didn’t like school, I LOVED school. I really want to help my kids see what I saw in school. So why not give them a head start?

My Conversation With Garth

Before my partner and I had kids, I researched the topic quite a bit. I wanted to know the ins and outs of what good parents did versus bad parents. I remember talking to my friend Garth a lot about parenting. He was one of my first close friends to have kids and we’ve watched those kids grow up over the years. We always looked up to Garth and his partner on how they raised kids. I regularly ask him for advice and go to him in frustration when I don’t know what to do. He’s a good friend.

Stop Saving For University, Spend That Money on Your Child Now!

Many of our conversations back in the day were about what to do for our kids to give them the best chance at life. After quite a few whiskey-influenced debates, I concluded that the way we save up for our child’s post-secondary education in Canada seems to be flawed. And yes, we both are university-educated, but to save up for that for our kids seemed to be a fool’s errand. What will university education look like in 18 years? What if my kid doesn’t want to go? Why not instead spend that money on your child as early as you possibly can to try and give them a headstart?

What is University for?

There’s a great series on the Freakonomics podcast called Freakonomics Goes Back To School that covers what’s changed about the University/College system in the United States. Yes, it’s skewed more so to the US but there’s a lot to take away from the podcasts. I like the question they ask in the first episode, what is college for? And the debate that goes on about the purpose of higher education.

As long as there is a debate, there is no clear-cut answer, hence I want to spend more on my child’s education at the earliest stages possible, not saving for something that they may never pursue.

The 30 Million Words Initiative

This program was started to help lower-income families close the educational gap. The research found that by the time a child reached four, lower-income children would hear 30 million fewer words than their affluent counterparts.

Studies have demonstrated that the number of words a child is exposed to before the age of four is significantly correlated with the child’s eventual IQ and academic outcomes. Furthermore, this early language exposure is correlated with income: children from lower-income households hear, on average, about thirty million words fewer than their peers from more affluent homes during this critical developmental period, leaving them less likely to achieve academic success.

–Thirty Million Words

How The Brain Develops

I love the way the Freakonomics guys summed up the research on parenting. At the end of the day, your kids need to feel loved. If you can provide that, you’re doing a great job. They have MANY episodes on parenting most are here: Freakonomics on parenting.

Kids Can Learn Almost Anything

One of the episodes talked about how the brain develops early on. Kids can learn ANY language early on, if you think about it, kids are little geniuses in their own right (just DON’T tell my kids that). And from the research of Suguta Mitra, we learned that kids can teach themselves some of the most complex topics there is. Don’t believe me? Watch the Ted Talk.

The European School System.

When comparing school systems it is hard not to look to our European friends. Specifically, Finland has been touted as one of the best school systems in the world. And ironically enough it’s not more homework they give, not an early starting time, it’s a combination of several factors. We should be studying this and learning from them.

What Makes the Finnish System So Good?

Teachers are paid as professionals with a Masters or a Doctorate. Kids have more free time, more recess to remain active, and more time outside, even in the depths of winter. Kids start school later and have less homework than the US schools they were compared to. Oh and one big one, NO STANDARDIZED tests! Yup, I stole this last one for my class when I was teaching at university. Tests, and test anxiety only perpetuate the problem of kids hating school. There are other ways to evaluate students to make sure they understand the topics at hand. Want to learn more read 10 Reasons Why Finland’s Education System is the Best in the World.

Stop saving for your kid’s university education, instead, invest in your child’s early education. Read to them, explore with them, play with them, talk to them, sing to them, act out, make funny faces, let them know you are listening and you are present.

More Podcasts that are definitely worth a listen:

Is America’s Education Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem?