John David and Abbie Grace 3: Rapture Pending

[luv2laugh]

It really depends on what the child wants to do. I’m also a fan of gap years as not all 17 year olds know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. I cannot tell you how many people were sitting in my classes taking post-bacc courses after working in a different field for awhile.

If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, dentist, veterinarian, nurse, teacher, professor, engineer, psychotherapist, etc. you will need to go to a 4 year college + more schooling.

If you want to do a trade, college isn’t necessary. College isn’t a requirement for all jobs. Look at the Duggar family.

I want to encourage my kids to shadow people and really explore what they want to do first.

In addition, some companies only target their hiring to top colleges. A factor in determining if college is worth it or not is what the college’s ranking is, how the college’s placement rate is into certain jobs, and if it’s an accredited 4 year school. 

[feministxtian]

6 hours ago, justoneoftwo said:

I'll admit I'm elitist, and I do hope my LO goes to college.  Why?  Because I was lucky enough to be able to go and I loved it, I loved what I learned, I loved the people I met, I loved the educational opportunities that had nothing at all to do with getting a job.  I thought it was great, I grew as a person and read the classics and all that.  Was it a good economic decision?  Probably not.  If thats not his thing then its not his thing, and thats fine.  Its not for everyone and I only hope he does it because I hope he shares some of my interests.  

When it comes to preparing you for life or making a tun of money (especially if we look at return on investment) college in general isn't the best idea, and the school I went to is a terrible one. (or was, they are changing some things)

Why does your kid have to have your interests? How old is your kid? 

You can read the classics if you're so inclined WITHOUT a classroom. Me? You can't pay me enough to read that shit. Horrible sci-fi channel disaster movies and Discworld novels, hell to the yeah. Shakespeare and the "classics", fuck that noise. 

You can find educational opportunities all over the damn place. Find what you're interested in and learn about it. I mean, between youtube, Khan Academy and The Great Courses, who the hell needs to pay for any of it? Not a single thing I'm interested in was born in a classroom. NOT A SINGLE FUCKING THING. You can grow as a person every fucking day (and if you don't, just keel over and die already). 

My kids are, in many ways, just like me. Mostly disinterested in classroom learning (none of them graduated from high school) but love to learn...in their way. My kids are intelligent as fuck, don't give a good goddamn about classrooms or even people for the most part. They live in their own heads most of the time. They share many of my interests and have interests of their own too. As I said above, 1 of my 3 will graduate from college. She's in debt up to her eyeballs. One of the other two, if he stays in CA may go ahead and get a degree...or he may not. The other one probably won't darken the door of a classroom any time in the near future...he doesn't need it to make money hand over fist. 

So, yes, you're elitist and probably would look down your nose at my uneducated ass, and my kids' uneducated asses...if it makes you feel better, go for it...in the meantime, I'll be playing with some designs and ideas I have for a thought experiment I'm involved with. 

[xlurker]

Uggg college debt!  And this is my debt as a parent.  Oldest went to a small, very selective, very pricey private college.  It also has very deep pockets so cost us next to nothing with a small loan. She has recently gotten her second degree and plans to pursue a master's degree soon.  She will be making in the 6 figure range, with limited debt.  Youngest chose to go to a public out of state college.  She was offered the same deal at same school as #1, but they did not offer the major she wanted.  And while being exposed to that major has provided her with a career that she adores, it is not a lucrative career.  She loves going to work, and will work 12 hours days and smile if necessary.  I believe her career is more of a calling to be honest.  However, the debt both she and I carry from that choice is overwhelming to say the least.  Would I change her choice of schools knowing this change in career path would happen?  No, she would not have found this path had she not gone there.  She is young and has a life time to work on the loans--and me? Heck, I'm old and you can't get blood out of a stone  

[justoneoftwo]

4 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

Why does your kid have to have your interests? How old is your kid? 

You can read the classics if you're so inclined WITHOUT a classroom. Me? You can't pay me enough to read that shit. Horrible sci-fi channel disaster movies and Discworld novels, hell to the yeah. Shakespeare and the "classics", fuck that noise. 

You can find educational opportunities all over the damn place. Find what you're interested in and learn about it. I mean, between youtube, Khan Academy and The Great Courses, who the hell needs to pay for any of it? Not a single thing I'm interested in was born in a classroom. NOT A SINGLE FUCKING THING. You can grow as a person every fucking day (and if you don't, just keel over and die already). 

My kids are, in many ways, just like me. Mostly disinterested in classroom learning (none of them graduated from high school) but love to learn...in their way. My kids are intelligent as fuck, don't give a good goddamn about classrooms or even people for the most part. They live in their own heads most of the time. They share many of my interests and have interests of their own too. As I said above, 1 of my 3 will graduate from college. She's in debt up to her eyeballs. One of the other two, if he stays in CA may go ahead and get a degree...or he may not. The other one probably won't darken the door of a classroom any time in the near future...he doesn't need it to make money hand over fist. 

So, yes, you're elitist and probably would look down your nose at my uneducated ass, and my kids' uneducated asses...if it makes you feel better, go for it...in the meantime, I'll be playing with some designs and ideas I have for a thought experiment I'm involved with. 

Does he have to have my interests, no of course not.  But he is 2, and I do hope to share things I love with him.  I'm sure you hoped to share things you loved with your kids too.  I happened to love school, I hope he does too at least some.  If he doesn't, then I'll be fine with that and support what he wants, but when he is 2 I can hope that he likes things I like, and when he doesn't I take him to see the construction trucks in our neighborhood and learn what they are called so I can tell him.  

I actually don't look down on people who don't go to college (unless they are like some of these fundies and seem to think that not knowing things or not having curiosity is great).  But I also do value education for its own sake, for people who enjoy it or find value in it.  I'm sorry my original post was rude.  

[Rachel333]

I don't see anything wrong with hoping your kid is interested in something that's important to you as long as you'll accept it if they don't.

[louisa05]

Wow. This devolved quickly. 

Not everyone needs a four year degree does not equal that four year college sucks and anyone who goes is a moron who doesn't understand the world and is drowning in debt and is an elitist and hey, you can read the classics outside a classroom....

Geesh. 

[feministxtian]

27 minutes ago, justoneoftwo said:

 But he is 2, and I do hope to share things I love with him.  I'm sure you hoped to share things you loved with your kids too.

I don't remember hoping for much with my kids. They didn't carry my hopes and dreams. I wanted them to be decent people, self-supporting, and happy with their lives. They grew up knowing what i loved and hated. My oldest knows that I give her shit for loving Shakepeare...and she gives me shit for hating it. However, she didn't have it pushed down her throat in school, she never made it far enough to have to take English lit. She grabbed a book at the library and went from there. #1 son won't even read directions. He's never been into reading and that's cool. He's got a multitude of other talents that I encouraged him to exploit. #2 son decided to pick up the guitar...I encouraged him in that and he's a better rhythm, lead and bass player than I could ever hope to be. 

The thing is, I never transferred MY hopes and dreams to my kids. I let them be themselves. I would have preferred they had graduated from high school, but...it just wasn't worth fighting them anymore. They all got GEDs with very high scores. and 2 of the 3 were accepted into colleges. One of the 2 quit. 

In many ways, they are a lot like me, interest wise...but it had more to do with what they were exposed to than trying to push anything on them (not that it would have worked anyway). I think that most kids will grow up to share interests with their parents (unless you had my parents)...but don't push YOUR hopes and dreams on them. 

@louisa05 never said 4 year college "sucks". Said its not for everyone and I'm OVER people dissing Abbie for getting an LPN.  You wanna go to college? Knock yourself out. However, college is not the golden ticket to $$

[Coconut Flan]

We have our official dead skunk!  I think it all traces back to someone saying Abbie went to college and was a nurse and someone correcting that misapprehension without value judgement and downhill we went.  Who knew an internet forum could not allow people to have different parenting viewpoints?  

 

 

[cindyluvs24]

What may be frustrating later on is when they see some drone who sat in the seat, got their 120 credits and a degree.  That person may not be any "smarter",  but they have the piece of paper that the hiring manager wants to see.  

[Hashtag Blessed]

26 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

@louisa05 never said 4 year college "sucks". Said its not for everyone and I'm OVER people dissing Abbie for getting an LPN.  You wanna go to college? Knock yourself out. However, college is not the golden ticket to $$

Who dissed Abbie? All that poster said was that it was "not college" which is an objectively true statement.

[Rachel333]

I posted about how I thought some of the "it's not college" comments can come across as diminishing what Abbie has accomplished, but at the same time I really didn't get the impression that people were seriously criticizing Abbie for not having gone to college.

For a lot of people college isn't all about making money either, so I'm not a huge fan of people bragging about how much money they make, whether they went to college or not. It's one thing to correct misconceptions about the earning potential of people who don't go to college, but I've seen a lot of people (in general, not necessarily on FJ) say things to the effect of, "I'm making so much more money than those dumb suckers who went to college," and that just seems unnecessary. It's a tricky issue, though.

[QuiverFullofBooks]

So...

• shoes in the house: what all decent people do, or filthy and disgusting?
• wedding receptions: anything less than a full meal is shameful, or cake and mints are fine?
• peanut butter: tasty and nutritious, or spread of Satan?

[Rachel333]

1 minute ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

So...

• shoes in the house: what all decent people do, or filthy and disgusting?
• wedding receptions: anything less than a full meal is shameful, or cake and mints are fine?
• peanut butter: tasty and nutritious, or spread of Satan?

And apparently we can add baby birthday cakes and nursery decoration to that list. 

[metheglyn]

3 minutes ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

So...

• shoes in the house: what all decent people do, or filthy and disgusting?
• wedding receptions: anything less than a full meal is shameful, or cake and mints are fine?
• peanut butter: tasty and nutritious, or spread of Satan?

Wait, that's what the peanut butter war was about? I've never seen the original threads and thought it was crunchy versus creamy!   (Not getting involved in that one, thanks!)

[Rachel333]

1 minute ago, metheglyn said:

Wait, that's what the peanut butter war was about? I've never seen the original threads and thought it was crunchy versus creamy!   (Not getting involved in that one, thanks!)

It wasn't really about peanut butter, it was about whether schools should ban peanut butter for everyone if a student is allergic. The discussion got really ugly, and it's one that we've avoided ever since.

[metheglyn]

Just now, Rachel333 said:

It wasn't really about peanut butter, it was about whether schools should ban peanut butter for everyone if a student is allergic. The discussion got really ugly, and it's one that we've avoided ever since.

Ah, thanks, that makes more sense. Regardless, I fully support avoiding another war, they're not good for anyone.

[singsingsing]

I actually prefer SunButter. Fight me. 

[SamiKatz]

20 minutes ago, Rachel333 said:

And apparently we can add baby birthday cakes and nursery decoration to that list. 

And the proper way to use cutlery.

[Bad Wolf]

@Coconut Flan. Thanks. I haven't heard that for years.

[Hashtag Blessed]

10 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

I actually prefer SunButter. Fight me. 

Almond Butter 4Lyfe! 

[SapphireSlytherin]

So, I'm looking for a new nail polish color. Anyone? Bueller?

[Snarkasarus Rex]

Toilet paper: over or under?

[OldFadedStar]

On the whole college discussion, 

My husband is currently in the military. His job in the military is extremely transferable to the outside world, he can make 6 figures easily. He is a science type guy. 

One of the perks of being in the military is the GI bill, they pay for your schooling and give you money for housing while you are at school after you get out of the military. Another benefit is TA, or tuition assistance, while he is in. 

There is a college that will take his military training and transfer it into credits. So at this school, all he has to do is take about 40 credits of gen eds to get a bachelors degree. 

He was telling me that he wanted to use his GI bill to get his bachelors in a field he really wanted to after he got out of the navy next year. I told him that it wasn't a good idea and that he should just use the TA and get a free bachelors degree then save his GI bill for getting a masters degree. I told him that it really didnt matter what he got a degree in, as long as he had one he would have a step up in the world.

He will be graduating in December I think with a bachelors degree. He is very glad for the recommendation i made to him. While I sit here with a useless bachelors degree from a private college

[ihaveanexamintwodays]

I've decided, in the past ten-ish minutes or so, that my kids are not living under my roof full-time at the age of 20 if they are able-bodied and able-minded enough to avoid it. Either they can try college, which I will help pay for, or get a job and an apartment and go from there, which I would also encourage them in. Or whatever other option, that gets them OUT, on their own, exploring their OWN adult selves, haha. Once they have HS diplomas of course - because with a doctor and a teacher as parents, they're just going to have to deal with it whether they like it or not. #reality 

Oh, and whoever up-thread barked about how everybody can explore their own interests on their own, no classroom needed? yeah, 'cause *lots* of people with (or even without...) full-time jobs have the time & mental ability to teach themselves to read Chaucer, speak Spanish, build furniture, play cello, or a multitude of other things. Idk, the logos in that just didn't seem to make sense to me. 

[Audrey2]

48 minutes ago, Snarkasarus Rex said:

Toilet paper: over or under?

Over. Under is for barbarians!

Okay, I'll behave now.