Mindset
Your Child Needs More Than School: Three Kinds of Education
There is a reason I have refused to outsource my children’s entire education to school.
I believe in school.
Praise, Amara and Mma attend school, and they will continue to receive a formal education. But as a father, I have come to understand that school is only one part of learning.
Praise, Amara and Mma attend school, and they will continue to receive a formal education. But as a father, I have come to understand that school is only one part of learning.
If all I do is pay school fees, buy textbooks, check results and ask, “What position did you take?” then I have handed over too much of my responsibility as a parent.
This Sunday, I want to share three kinds of education every child needs.
1. Home education: Who are you?
Before a child learns Mathematics, Chemistry or English Language, they are already learning something else: who they are.
What does our family believe?
How do we treat people?
What does our faith teach us?
What do integrity and hard work look like?
How do we respond when we fail?
How do we treat people?
What does our faith teach us?
What do integrity and hard work look like?
How do we respond when we fail?
A teacher can help a child grow, but these lessons cannot be left entirely to school. At home, we have the chance to talk through our values and show our children how we live them.
That is why I talk with my children.
I buy them more books than clothes.
We discuss books, money, business and God. We also talk about mistakes, relationships and things they see online. Sometimes I agree with their perspective; sometimes I correct them. Both are part of education.
I buy them more books than clothes.
We discuss books, money, business and God. We also talk about mistakes, relationships and things they see online. Sometimes I agree with their perspective; sometimes I correct them. Both are part of education.
I want my children to know more than the history of other people. I want them to know the history, values and expectations of their own family. If we do not take time to teach our children who they are, friends, social media, celebrities and strangers will be ready to offer their own answers.
2. Life education: What can you do?
A child can earn excellent WAEC results and still struggle to manage money, communicate an idea, handle rejection or solve a customer’s problem.
So I look for ways to expose my children to life beyond the classroom.
They read books and tell me what they learned. They spend time around my business and hear some of my conversations. They practise content creation, shooting and editing videos.
They read books and tell me what they learned. They spend time around my business and hear some of my conversations. They practise content creation, shooting and editing videos.
Recently, one of them read my book and decided to use it to practise sales and marketing. He set up a tripod, recorded and edited a video, and sold more than 100 copies.
That was education too.
That was education too.
A customer can teach a lesson. A failed attempt can teach another. The market can become a classroom, a mentor can become a teacher, and a difficult problem can become an assignment.
Our children need early exposure to communication, technology, creativity, leadership, service, money and problem-solving. We should not wait until they graduate from university before asking, “What can you do?”
3. School education: What do you know?
Formal education remains valuable. It gives children literacy, numeracy, academic foundations, structured learning, friendships and access to professions that require qualifications.
But school cannot teach everything a child will need. It may teach accounting, while we teach stewardship. It may teach English, while we help our children speak with confidence.
It may teach Economics, while we show them how money works in a household or business.
It may teach Economics, while we show them how money works in a household or business.
I want my children to have both education and experience. I want them to learn at school, at home and through real life.
As parents, our responsibility is bigger than paying school fees.
Take a journal and think about these questions:
Take a journal and think about these questions:
- What is my child learning at home that school cannot teach?
- What practical skills am I deliberately helping my child develop?
- Who is shaping my child’s beliefs about money, work, faith, relationships, success and failure?
Education is more than the transfer of information. It is the formation of a human being.
School may help prepare a child for an examination. Family must also help prepare that child for life.
My goal is not simply to raise graduates. I want to raise children who know God and know themselves; who can think, create, communicate, earn, manage, lead and solve problems for others.
I am the Billionaire Mechanic. I practise what I teach and share what I learn along the way. Please, don’t just send your children to school. Take an active part in their education.
NC
About the Author
Engr. Ndubuisi Chidomere, MNSE is a Nigerian engineer-turned-entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Pamtech Group, a diversified conglomerate operating in automotive, oil & gas, media, and innovation sectors. He is a Forbes Business Council Member and thought leader on African entrepreneurship.
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