Very interesting. Thank you. I hated school, not because I wasn't intelligent (I have a Masters and am also a qualified accountant (which is also equivalent to a Masters), but because the teachers didn't inspire me, and didn't teach me what I wanted to learn. Furthermore, I didn't like some of the other kids, and found them hard to relate to. Maybe they were uninspired, too?
What I did was to stick my head in books on the topics I wanted to learn about, and ask lots of questions. Consequently, I consider my general knowledge is much greater than that of many other people, and especially of younger people (do they teach them anything in school nowadays?).
The other thing I feel is that I really started to appreciate and benefit from education when I was in my thirties and older. My view is that children are not really mature enough to get the most out of what they are taught. Quite what that says we need to do about it, I don't quite know.
That's the thing. When kids learn what they are interested in, they retain it. They need time to observe and explore and ask questions about things they are interested in. I think most of school now is preparing for the 900 standardized tests.
Honestly, I think kids would appreciate and benefit from it if they were choosing what they were learning. I was a staff at a Sudbury school for a while, and that was my experience, and it's also my experience with my younger two that are now unschooling. When they're not pushed to learn something they have no interest in, they continue to be curious and interested in discovery.
Thanks for stopping by with a thoughtful comment. Very appreciated.