We (Jim here) have four kids and as I’ve watched them go through school, I’ve long had a nagging feeling that much of what they learn in school is “good” but not necessarily “useful.” I’m not of the camp that school is useless or bad or anything like that, I just think it’s a foundation you have to build on.
I’ve long been pushing our kids to have hobbies. We’re not doing traveling sports or anything that involved, but I’d like them to cultivate hobbies so they are creating as much as they’re consuming. We’ll see how that goes but this first article about cultivating agency is a powerful one.
School Is Not Enough [Palladium Magazine] – “In my examples, the individuals were all doing from a young age as opposed to merely attending school. And while they may not have wanted to work, the work was nonetheless something that they, their families, and society felt was useful, purposeful, and appreciated. In a sense, they had useful childhoods. Do children today have useful childhoods?”
Three ways I’m teaching my son about money [Rich & Regular] – “The combination of questioning and Dad voice was overwhelming and after repeated failed attempts to utter a coherent word, he resolved to hang his head in shame, cry for thirty minutes straight and hide in his room. He knew he did something really bad and he genuinely feared I would be upset with him. And if we’re being honest…I was upset. But there was no point in piling onto the weight he was already carrying on his tiny shoulders. Recognizing this was a teachable moment, Kiersten stepped in to console him and we all had a long talk about the word expensive.”
How to Invest if You’re Sitting on a Pile of Cash Right Now [A Wealth of Common Sense] – “I would love to be able to tell you how to invest this money — be it index funds or blue chip stocks or real estate but I can’t. You can’t just wing it by putting your money into something and hoping for the best. You need an overarching investment philosophy to follow.”