As many know, parenting is not an exact science. There is no textbook to raising children nor is there a “right way” to take on this endevor. Because of this, there are a lot of parents who find themselves, quite literally, with a needy child in their arms and no clue what to do next.
While tutoring for a second grader whom I’ve been working with for a few weeks now, I realized that I was never properly trained to work with him. I found myself struggling to decide what a “good parent” would do and I realized, there is no training that anyone could have given me.
It dawned on me then that the subjects taught in schools are all based on higher reasoning: Math, Literature, Science, and History. I found it troubling that very few schools teach subjects with practical applications, for example agriculture, leadership, cooking, philosophy, etc. If these courses are offered, they are usually electives that the student must chose to take.
As sad as it may be, many children gain their only real-world education from schools. If schools aren’t teaching kids how to handle real-life situations, who will? We cannot rely only on parents because, realistically, not every parent will take on the task or is able to.
I was never the kid in school to complain that I would never benefit from learning math or history, but I am starting to think that these courses should be secondary to more practical courses like childcare, languages, and vocational studies.
All in all, kids need to learn as much as we can teach them when they are still young. At least then they won’t find ourselves completely lost when faced with the “real world.”
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