On quite a few occasions in conversations with strangers and acquaintances the topic of my education comes up. Very often shock and awe is expressed as I tell them that I didn't quite attend "school".
All homeschoolers follow a curriculum. I had my own. Rather than following the educational philosophies of a bunch of North Americans (ha), I decided to learn what I wanted to learn.
Now this tends to raise questions. Perhaps I missed out on a few "essential" areas of study? Indeed, I did miss out on quite a few areas if you consider physics, chemistry, additional mathematics (a uniquely Asian subject, I noticed) as compulsory life skills.
But somehow I've survived. My knowledge is extremely uneven, that I admit. In the place of equations (the beauty of which I've sadly yet to grasp) I substituted the study of ideas, dreams and doings of (mostly) dead white men. They would be known as history, philosophy and maybe theology. I've picked up what would be called Information Technology skills as well, something which is helping me most tremendously in my current job.
In my current state of busyness I've sadly fallen far short in the schedule of my grand education plan (indeed, who does not?). I remember, of course, that knowledge does not equal wisdom and that learning for the sake of learning is a time-waster that is admirable but a time-waster nonetheless.
But enough about my experiences. To learn what you want to learn. That's a radical thought. Almost like saying do whatever you want to do. Actually, it's the exact same thing. We're too afraid to let our young do what they want to do. And we probably have good reasons for that. But there is mostly bad reasoning behind the current process. I'm not just referring to the local education system of this country (indeed, people in the US [1] and Europe [2] have expressed the same concerns about their own educational systems).
I chose to do what I wanted to do. I have no regrets for not reading the textbooks I was supposed to read and for not going to the classes I was supposed to be in. But I do regret one thing - now that I have looked beyond the teachers and the classroom walls, I only see a vast sea of knowledge I dare not swim in.
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2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
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