Parenting

Parentcaster

I've been a non-formal education trainer for 12 years, running workshops and educational programs for +30,000 children and young adults around the world, and I wanted to share the key things I've learned along my journey, what I believe is wrong with the current education system, and what you can do about it.

🚀 I help teens build incredible things @ beginthejourney.co  
☕ Specialty coffee snob

Let's start with my top 5 on what's wrong with the current education system:

1. It was designed to create workers, not builders and creators—people who can follow instructions, not challenge systems.

2. It's based on theory and memorizing. Kids don't learn how to apply their learnings in the real world.

3. Failure is punished, and there is no space for reflection and learning from it. A red F and a note to your parents shame your lack of short-term success on a worthless task.

4. Creativity and curiosity, which are superpowers in children, are pushed down with tests and grading systems with a single right answer.

5. Kids aren't given agency at school. They don't make real choices or have real projects where they take the lead and can apply and develop their critical thinking. 

These are just some of the issues, that have a huge impact on kids at their different development levels.

2. Teach your kids to embrace failure and build a growth mindset. When things go wrong, ask a few questions about what they learned from it, what they could do differently next time, but also praise them for trying, and for trying AGAIN. You can easily model that with your own examples of failure and perseverance.

3. Give agency to your kids on things around the house, your holiday plan, or how you spend your weekend together as a family. Kids thrive when they're not "treated as kids" (within boundaries ofc). Help them make and execute a budget, let them make mistakes and learn. Kids produce amazing results when supported right.

These are some of the things we do @ The Journey (beginthejourney.co) where we help teens build incredible things, get the soft skills they need to thrive in any space and find their passions. 

Some examples: building e-commerce stores, growing massive communities, or starting non-profits in their communities.

Our teens meet weekly where they learn the systems and mindsets needed to create their own masterpieces, and they get matched with CEOs, founders and subject-matter experts to support them along the way. Mkt challenge? Meet Borja, CEO of a mkt agency. Product doubts? Meet Aparna, head of product at Youtube.

Meet Anna (fake name, real case), a student with ADHD whose dad didn't believe she would profit from the program because of her condition. She was obsessed with slime and wanted to help other people with ADHD, just like it helped her with anxiety and focus. 2 months into the program this happened:

She was the first to sell, a product she had not created yet, applying lean methodologies. Once she got the first payment, she bought the ingredients and crafted and shipped her first product. 

I came to New York City for work, and her family and her came to meet and show me her new ETSY shop product:

Another example is Arush, who at 13 y/o wanted to be the best reader in the world but didn't struggled with writing. When he learned that his solo project had to push him out of his comfort zone, he decided to write a book. He's published it on Amazon and he's now selling + writing his second. (yes, I have img consent)

Here are some things you can do to help your children get ahead:

1. Support your kids to find their passions and purpose from a young age through discovery and project-based learning. You can do this by exposing them to different topics and problems in your community and encouraging them to find real solutions.