PANDEMIC TO PRODUCE CHANGES IN EDUCATION

#education #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #teachers #students
It’s tough to go to school during a pandemic.
As a result, online learning at home has become not just popular, but necessary.
Education could change forever as a result.
Maureen Downey, education columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, writes that a college education is the most successful path to the middle class for students.
But going to college has changed during the pandemic, she writes in a column published Sept. 22, 2020.
She points out that every year, 500,000 high school students graduate in the top half of their classes, but don’t get a certificate or degree within eight years of graduation. She was quoting Anthony Carnevale, director of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. Carnevale conducted a virtual forum for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education.
The pandemic-induced recession, leaving many parents with lost jobs etc., may present a problem for sending their kids to college.
In another issue, Downey, in a Sept. 29, 2020, column, posed the question: “Will COVID concerns cause more teachers to flee?”
She says that readers have sent her emails calling teachers “crybabies” for resigning, rather than risk bringing COVID-19 home to their families. She writes that some emails called teachers “un-American” for making their students wear masks in school.
What should we make of this? First, education has become a huge expense for both taxpayers and parents. If parents fear for the safety of their children, it’s no wonder they are opting to keep children at home. The opposite of that is also true. If parents don’t fear for the safety of their children, and encourage them to go to school and conduct themselves as if no pandemic existed, why not have schools open as usual?
If teachers don’t feel safe in school, why would they keep their jobs if forced to go to school? Is how little they get paid worth the risk? Certainly, most teachers want to be in school. They love it. It’s what they do. But they do not want to be there, in many cases, with a rapidly spreading disease running through the building.
Therefore, a potential teacher shortage, and a potential drop in public revenue from the recession, it’s likely some remote learning will take place in the normal course of life, once the pandemic is gone.
If college is your thing, or your child’s thing, how cool would it be if you, or your child, could take a course with Professor X in a faraway institution, and have teachers or graduate assistants grade the work at the institution to which you, or your child, have matriculated?
Finally, if college is not your thing, or if you or your family would have difficulty affording it, what if there were a way to become very successful, potentially make a great income and not have to go through the college experience? There are many such vehicles out there for those willing to check them out.
If you’d like to learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
In short, look for more permanent changes in education as a result of the pandemic. Don’t expect education, or life itself, to be entirely as it was prior to the pandemic. We are officially on guard. Don’t let that guard down. Expect a new normal, whatever that is. Roll with it.
Then, think about your own situation. What do you want from life? What are you willing to do to get it? Remember, as you ponder that, what was “secure” probably no longer is. You may have to think totally differently about your future.
Disease can, and will, change lives. Make your attitude such that you look at those changes as good, rather than bad.
Peter

WHAT IS COLLEGE’S JOB?

#college #StudentDebt #education #tuition #CollegeAlternatives
“Parents once sent their children off to college for an education.
“Now, parents expect colleges to provide maturation.”
So writes Maureen Downey, education columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was discussing recent suicides on the Georgia Tech campus with a professor there. Her column appeared in the Dec. 24, 2018, edition of the AJC.
Yes, parents want kids to learn calculus and whatever else is likely to land them a job, she writes, but they also want colleges to turn their kids into respectable adults, and to address any mental health issues the kids may have, she writes.
“Just because schools say they provide these (maturation) services doesn’t mean they do it well,” Downey quotes the professor.
“When I attended the President’s Convocation after arriving at Georgia Tech, we were told to look to the left and right – at least one of you will be gone – more like one-and-a-half,” Downey quotes William S. Bulpitt, a 1970 honors grad from Georgia Tech.
Back in Bulpitt’s day, the pressure was enormous to stay in school . Those who flunked out likely got drafted and sent to Vietnam, Downey writes.
Today, college campuses have counselors that students can see, to save parents from paying dearly for private counseling – not that college tuition is a really cheap alternative.
Also, today’s teens suffer more with anxiety and depression, and have fewer coping skills than those in generations past, Downey writes. The causes are numerous: over-involved parents, unrelenting and sometimes unkind social media etc.
When the kids get to college, those mental health struggles intensify, Downey writes.
First, let’s analyze why kids go to college, whether or not they are well suited for it. Parents want their kids to get a good job, and they are told that the best way to do that is to go to college. If they can’t swing it financially, they borrow the money. Many often end up graduating, or sometimes never seeing graduation, with a big debt to start their adult lives.
Instead of sending a teen-ager who is ill equipped to deal with college to college, why not help them find a vehicle that will help them earn money – potentially a lot of money – without incurring the expense, or debt, of college. There are many such vehicles out there to help people, regardless of education, earn money spending a few part-time hours a week. To check out one of the best, message me.
Certainly, the college experience can be worthwhile, even spectacular, for the right person.
It’s not just the education, but the camaraderie, the extracurricular activities and the ability to live away from home for those who choose, that make college great for some.
One can’t eliminate the academic or social pressure, but the young adult has to be prepared for it, and the right person needs encouragement from parents, faculty and peers.
In short, don’t assume your son or daughter is suited for college. At the same time, don’t put unnecessary pressure on the student to go to college. If you send your child to college, make sure it is for the right reasons.
Don’t presume the degree your son or daughter would get, presuming he or she stays long enough to earn it, will yield the employment results you, and they, expect.
There is no shame in not going to college. If your son or daughter chooses not to go, make sure he or she is acquainted with ALL the ways available to make a living, or even, perhaps, a fortune. The money you might spend, or borrow, to send a child to college may be better utilized in setting up a retirement account for the child — or yourself.
If your child goes to college ill equipped, the school may not be the best place for the student to deal with his or her problems.
Peter

SCHOOL CHOICE NOT A PANACEA

#education #PublicEducation #PrivateEducation #SchoolVouchers #CharterSchools
Advocates for school choice – that is, allowing parents the ability to choose where to send their children to school, vs. being forced to attend their neighborhood public school – have argued that putting the power in parents over how their children are educated will provide the best education results.
As parents, one could certainly argue that having the ability to choose schools is desirable. But how to give parents such choice has come under scrutiny.
Of course, for the well-to-do, choice has always been there. They have the resources to send their children to any school they want – public or private.
For the not-so-well-to-do, school choice has come in two forms: vouchers and charter schools.
Vouchers are taxpayer-funded certificates that can be used to pay for private-school tuition. These vouchers deliberately siphon money from public schools that desperately need it. Remember, as discussed last week, education is compulsory in America. Private schools can pick and choose their students. Public schools, largely, cannot.
Charter schools are considered “public” schools, but operate with less regulation, as long as they can show performance. They are usually operated by non-profit organizations, away from the local Board of Education. These charter schools, which can also pick and choose students, have had a mixed record. Some have closed. Some have thrived.
New legislation on school vouchers has cropped up in Georgia, according to Maureen Downey, education columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She discussed this in a March 26, 2019, column.
“The resurrected legislation, which now has a lower cap on the number of student who could used the vouchers – passed the Senate Education and Youth Committee … and may reach the Senate floor,” writes Downey, who points out that the legislation has the backing of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
The Georgia lawmakers point to success of vouchers in Indiana and Louisiana, even though neither state has seen big leaps in academic achievement as a result, Downey writes. Yet, she continues, Massachusetts, the nation’s highest-performing state for academics, excels by concentrating on improving teaching and curriculum, not by offering vouchers.
As for charter schools, USA Today reports that many charter schools have closed, while some states have not created a new charter school in years. The first charter school in Nevada is set to close in the spring. “In New Jersey, the charter system is making real estate investors rich,” as they use federal money to build school buildings to sell (to) the charter schools at a hefty profit, the article, also published March 29, 2019, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says.
We all WANT choice in education for our children. Sometimes, it’s just not practical. Sometimes, individual choice deprives the community of much needed resources. Students will have different levels of achievement in school, but no one wants some to have more opportunity to succeed than others.
The best solution is to make sure your community has good public schools, with appropriate funding to improve teaching and curriculum. Certainly, there should be private, or even charter, options for those students who may want to specialize in a tailored curriculum, or be educated among students with similar beliefs.
Remember, too, that no matter how much a student is educated, no matter their background, or which schools they attended, there are vehicles out there that will allow anyone the potential to really succeed financially. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
We can tinker with education. We can offer gimmicks to make it seem as if we have some options. But there is no substitute for a good, well-funded public education system that EVERONE benefits from. It’s up to each community, and its residents, to make that a priority.
Peter

WHY WE NEED PUBLIC EDUCATION

#education #PublicEducation #PrivateEducation #SchoolVouchers #CharterSchools
Public education is getting bad grades.
Wouldn’t it be better to put education in the private sector?
After all, the education bureaucracy is bloated on all levels – federal, state and local. It eats through a lot of tax money and, in some areas, produces dismal results.
We need school choice, the viewpoint goes. It’s better to give vouchers to families and let them choose where to educate their children.
Why should families get stuck sending their children to inferior, neighborhood public schools?
These arguments and questions are consistently forthcoming from public education foes. Recent studies have shown mixed results when comparing student achievement in public vs. private schools.
So why the big push against public education? It seems some people hate that public school teachers are well protected by their unions. It seems that people hate that principals and other administrators are making six-figure incomes in many places, while they, who pay their salaries, are making far less.
Teachers, and probably administrators, in many private schools make far less than their public-school counterparts.
So why can’t one use the tax money he pays for public education to pay for private education for his children, if he chooses?
There’s a reason we have public education in America. That reason is that education here is compulsory. That means every child has to go to school somewhere.
If education were privatized, those schools, as they do now, will pick and choose the BEST students, and reject the ones that might cause trouble – or who they believe might cause trouble.
So if education were entirely privatized, where might those students rejected by private schools get the compulsory education they have to have?
Where would the students whose families can’t afford the private tuition go?
The public school teachers, because they have to take all comers, have a more difficult job than those in the private schools. Private schools should definitely be an option for families who want to, say, educate children around certain religious beliefs, or whose children may have special needs or who just want the prestige of having their children go to a certain school.
But, public education should be the center of any education policy. It should be properly funded and teachers, and other school employees, should be properly paid and treated with respect.
It’s certainly OK to look for efficiencies. But many governmental entities, for largely political reasons, have given public schools short shrift for years. Teachers are now fighting back with strikes.
Remember, too, that good students will succeed no matter what school they go to. It’s the challenging students, who need the most help, who should be at the center of education policy.
While we’re on the subject, do you think all students should go to college? College is not for everyone, but there are ways for children to succeed as adults without going to college, if they are not college material. There are vehicles out there that allow anyone, regardless of background or education, to earn a potentially significant income without having a traditional job. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
Remember that public education is a necessity, much the way police and fire protection are. Don’t give it short shrift. Don’t believe that the private sector can do EVERYTHING better. Because it is compulsory, American education should remain in the public domain.
Peter
(Next week: A look at vouches and charter schools)

PRIVATE SCHOOLS BETTER THAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

#PrivateShools #PublicSchools #education #QualityEducation
A new study has turned conventional wisdom on its head.
While most think that private schools do a better job educating students than public schools, the study shows it not to be true.
Valerie Strauss tackled this subject in a Washington Post article that was also published Aug. 7, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The University of Virginia researchers looked at data from more than 1,000 students. It found that “all of the advantages supposedly conferred on private education evaporate when socio-economic characteristics are factored in,” the article says.
The study also found no evidence to suggest that low-income children or children in urban schools benefit more from private school enrollment, the article says.
“You only need to control for family income and there is no advantage,” the article quotes Robert Pianta, dean of UVA’s Curry School of Education. Pianta conducted the study with Arya Ansari, a postdoctoral research associate at the university’s Center for Advanced Study for Teaching and Learning.
Pianta also says that kids who come from homes with higher incomes and parental education achievement offer young children, from birth to age 5, educational resources and stimulation that other children don’t get, according to the article. These conditions presumably carry on through all school years, Pianta concludes, according to the article.
Let’s break it down further. Some private schools can offer what public schools can’t, such as religious education. It may be worth the parents’ expense to see that their children get that religious education along with academics.
But for those parents looking purely at academics, there is probably no need to incur the expense of private education.
Certainly, there are other reasons, too, to consider private education. Safety may be one. A private school may incur whatever expense is necessary to make sure there are no unwanted visitors in school.
Those parents who cannot afford private education, over and above the taxes they pay for public education, can rest assured that their students likely would not do any better academically in a private school.
Certainly, there are private schools designed for children with special needs – though most public schools have solid programs for those students.
In short, unless there are special circumstances, a student will probably do no better in a private school. The key is how much parents value education, and how willing they are to work with their children outside of school.
We like to measure education on what kind of job a student can get after graduation. If you have a student who is unsure what he or she wants to do with his life, there are plenty of vehicles out there through which they can earn a potentially good income while they are trying to figure out what they want. To learn about one of the best, message me.
Educating children, so they can turn into good, productive adults, is perhaps the greatest task we as a society are challenged with. Governments in many areas have been reducing education funding over the years, for a variety of reasons.
But, aside from parents, there may be no more important people in a child’s life than his or her teachers. Parents can support their child’s school in many ways. The most important way, though, may be to put a high value on education, and help the child learn the importance of education from the day they are born.
Peter

ACADEMIC FRAUD?

#education #AcademicFraud #college #CollegeDebt
Only 37 percent of 12th-graders tested proficient or better in reading. Only 25 percent did so in math.
Yet, the high school graduation rate is better than 80 percent.
Columnist Walter E. Williams, who writes for Creators Syndicate, quoted these figures from the National Assessment of Educational Progress’ 2017 report, also known as The Nation’s Report Card. His column on the subject was also published April 25, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He also writes that not only do 80 percent of high school seniors graduate, 70 percent of white high school grads were admitted to college in 2016, as well as 58 percent of black high school grads. Here, he quotes the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Colleges, then, have to provide remedial courses, dumb down their courses so ill-prepared students can get passing grades and/or set up majors with “little analytical demands so as to accommodate students with analytical deficits,” Williams writes.
Williams’ conclusion: there is academic fraud being committed at all educational levels.
“How necessary is college anyway?” Williams asks. “One estimate is that 1 in 3 college graduates have a job historically performed by those with a high school diploma,” he writes.
We’ve all heard the stories, particularly in recent times, of students coming out of college and hitting the job market with degree in hand, college debt on his or her back and slim prospects not only to earn an income appropriate for his or her education level, but even to find a job at all – at least one in a field to match his or her education.
There is a teacher shortage, however not every college graduate is fit or prepared to teach. Besides, many of them might think that teaching doesn’t pay well enough for them to cover payments on their college debt, let alone any other life expenses. (Some loan programs allow college debt to be written off if the student goes into teaching for a certain number of years).
The pressure is on most children from grade school to go to college and get that degree, so they can get that good job. The pressure is so intense that families – ultimately, the students – go into debt to pay for that education.
They then spend some of their most productive work years paying that debt off, and probably delaying things like buying a house or saving for retirement. In the extreme, these graduates move back home with mom and dad and stay for several years, thus delaying their parents’ progression toward retirement.
As Williams points out, the cycle is that many students get through high school ill prepared for college academically, yet go to college anyway. They really can’t afford college, yet they view it as an investment into a great career. Again, as Williams asks, “How necessary is college anyway?”
First, if a student isn’t prepared to cut it academically in college, it’s perfectly OK not to send him or her, especially if you are going to saddle that student with a massive debt upon graduation – presuming he or she can get TO graduation.
Then, if they wind up waiting tables or doing some menial job that doesn’t require a college degree, what was the point of the education, or the debt?
Fortunately, for a student like that, he can take his menial job, work as many hours as he needs to and, in some of his off hours, pursue one of the many ways to earn money without taking a second W-2 job. Many such vehicles can eventually provide an income that could surpass any income from not just the menial job, but also from a job that would be appropriate for one with a college degree.
But, to pursue this, the student has to be willing to check out such a vehicle. If you’d like to examine one of the best, message me.
Otherwise, one could struggle to get through high school, get into college and take a lot of “gut” courses or major in something that will not have much value on the open market – and pay dearly to do it.
No education is really wasted, but one must have eyes wide open about the economic potential — and cost — of what one wants to study. Try to enjoy school at all levels, if you can, then look for ways to support yourself, and perhaps help others do the same.
Peter

SOFT SKILLS? RATHER, CREATIVITY

#SoftSkills #education #creativity #boldness
“What I find missing (when college grads don’t land jobs) is any sense of creativity. If you are going to get something, you have to think about what is an interesting and bold way to get it.”
So says Ted Dintersmaith, a former venture capitalist turned education advocate. He was quoted throughout The Atlanta Journal-Constitution education columnist Maureen Downey’s June 11, 2018, column.
Downey writes that Dintersmith recalled how impressed he was with a young entrepreneur seeking to meet him. The student pleaded with Dintersmith’s assistant to allow him to sit in the office so he could grab a moment with Dintersmith as he walked to his car.
Dintersmith’s two decades as a venture capitalist brought him much success. He came to believe that success demanded both innovation and entrepreneurship.
In other words, if you go through channels to find an opportunity, you probably will not hear anything back. If you do something outside the box to get someone’s attention, that person might be impressed enough to hire you.
This type of thinking may differ greatly with what you’ve been taught since childhood. Remember your parents or other advisers telling you, “don’t make waves,” “do everything properly,” or, even, “do what you are told to do?”
Today’s society put value on wave-makers. Even if you are getting a W-2 job, with a set job description, you have to show some entrepreneurship in that role to get noticed, or get ahead.
Conduct yourself with the attitude of, it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.
America must re-imagine education, Downey quotes Dintersmith, so millions of people aren’t stranded by an economy that prizes creativity, innovation and invention.
Of course, as a practical matter, we still need people toiling at tasks that require a set job description. It’s tough to think outside the box if you wait tables, wash dishes or do some other minimum-wage work. In that case, though, you’re creativity and innovation must come to the fore as you imagine yourself in the near future doing something other than what you are doing.
For students, the best path may be to give more meaning to a high school diploma by requiring students to work in real-life challenges, for an organization or community, Downey quotes Dintersmith. He has seen teachers doing this in places like North Dakota and Hawaii, she writes.
Schools will change, “one classroom at time by teacher-driven, well-thought-out small steps leading to big change,” Downey quotes Dintersmith.
Maybe you, today, are following your parents’ advice and cherishing the security of following a set of rules. But, perhaps, you long for something more.
If you are bold enough to look for something better, something that rewards your boldness, something that requires you to look at something completely different from what you thought you would do in life, there are many such vehicles out there. To check out one of the best, message me.
Otherwise, if you are doing something that bores you, that doesn’t reward you the way you think it should, or that eats away at too much of your life, look for a change. Perhaps not today, or tomorrow, but put a goal in front of you that says something like: I’m only going to do this for X years at most. Then, start looking for a change that will better suit you.
Remember, as Dintersmith advises, just sending a resume, or filling out an application, and waiting to hear something probably won’t cut it, no matter how impressive your qualifications are.
If the opportunity is worth pursuing, don’t hesitate to visit the employer and ask to see a person of influence. You may have to do some research to see who that is, but, in the process, you may actually meet someone who can formally introduce you.
Be bold. Be creative. Go after it!
Peter

DON’T COSIGN YOUR GRANDCHILD’S STUDENT LOAN

#SchoolLoans #CosigningSchoolLoans #EndangeringRetirement #StudentLoans
Students looking to go to college might hit up one or more grandparents to co-sign for a student loan.
Personal Finance columnist Liz Weston recommends against it, for the most part. She discussed the topic in an April 29, 2018, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Here are Weston’s reasons: late payments will trash the grandparents’ credit; if grandparents have to take over payments (perhaps because the student, presuming he or she graduates, may not find a job immediately, or has to take a low-paying job), the strain on their finances can endanger their retirement.
Of course, this could be a moot point if the grandparents are independently wealthy.
So, if you are considering co-signing a student loan for your grandchild, or the child of a friend or relative, consider this scenario: the child graduates from school with a five- or six-figure debt, and can’t find lucrative work – or, at least, work that would match what he or she studied. If you’ve co-signed a loan, the debt collector will notice that and come after you almost immediately, because there may be a house or other assets they can tap quickly.
If you are a student, do you want to put your grandparents, or other friends or relatives, in that position?
If you are the grandparents, or other co-signers, do you want to mortgage your future for the sake of that student? At least in theory, the younger generation should be working to help the older generation, not the other way around.
If you are distant from the student, and co-sign a loan because your friend or family urged you to, how much do you think the student would care that he or she has saddled you with this debt? Many students believe college loan debt is something they can blow off temporarily until they get financially settled. If the debt collector has already been repaid by a co-signer, the student may not be obligated to repay you. What lesson(s) does that teach?
It all goes back to the reason a student chooses college in the first place. Certainly, students with good grades and a clean record should actively consider a college education. Perhaps that student can opt to start his or her education in a low-cost community college, and graduate up to a four-year school.
That would ease the college tab a good bit. But as the student and parents think about the student’s future, they have to consider what the student will do with the education, and whether what they do would be worth the investment (or expense, depending on how you look at it).
Another idea: defer admission for a year, and have the student get a job that will allow him or her to save a good chunk of money for college.
Also, does the student have the discipline, ambition and tenacity to do well in college, in spite of temptations that could distract him or her? A smart student with no drive is like a shiny car with no engine.
And, if the student has the drive and smarts for college, but chooses a field of study that will be enjoyable, but not terribly lucrative, perhaps the family should consider a vehicle that will help the student pursue his or her passion, while earning a potentially good income with a few part-time hours a week.
There are many such vehicles out there. To check out one of the best, message me.
Weston, in her column, goes on to advise grandparents, and other co-signers, how to deal with the problem if they’ve already cosigned.
Here’s her warning, if you are in too deep: “Talk to a bankruptcy attorney. Student loans are extremely difficult to erase in bankruptcy court. …. If you don’t have any assets other than retirement funds, and your only income is from Social Security and pensions, you may be “judgment-proof. That means, if you are sued, the creditor can’t collect anything.”
Try not to get yourself in that situation. If you are asked to co-sign, say no, firmly. Your grandchildren, relatives and friends may be disappointed. If they are, so be it. You will have done the right thing by you.
Peter

WHAT YOU COULD DO WITH YOUR SUMMER-JOB MONEY

#saving #investing #SummerJobs #stocks
It’s summer, and students (college and high school) are getting jobs as lifeguards, cooks etc. that pay an average of, say, $10 a hour.
In practical terms, most of those students will sock away a good bit of what they earn to pay for college, or some other higher education.
But Rubicoin, an educational investment app., calculated what you could do in the future if you decided to invest that money in the stock market.
Adam Shell wrote a short piece for USA Today on the study. The article also was published June 8, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Rubicoin calculated how much money a worker earning $10 an hour in a 25-hour workweek for 13 weeks, each summer for the past four years, Shell writes.
“If they invested half of their before-tax pay equally on Aug. 31 each year in the four FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google), the $6,500 investment since 2014 would be worth $15,899 today, Shell quotes Rubicoin. If a student favors a bigger bet – investing in Netflix alone – it would have been worth $22,639, or $19,544 if they invested in just Amazon.
Certainly, these FANG stocks have skyrocketed recently. Doing that now, when they are at high prices, would be impractical. Doing it then, when their prices were relatively low, would have been a big risk for a student.
Perhaps planning your financial future would be better after your education is finished. Every dime you earn should be saved for the expenses for school – unless, of course, you come from a wealthy family and can do what you want with what you earn. Most students, however, are not in that position.
So, here’s another thought: what if you could take a percentage of what you earn in ONE summer, invest it in something that might give you the kind of bright financial future that no one will take away from you? A small investment, plus some part-time effort on your part throughout your life, could lead to an income stream that could allow you to never worry about money again.
There are several such ventures out there that could do that. To check out one of the best, message me.
There are few financial advisers who would recommend that a student invest a chunk of his summer income in stocks – despite their potential – would be a big risk.
Young investors should start out conservatively. They should move gradually from a bank savings account – get out of that as quickly as you can – to conservative funds, to stocks with some potential as your nest egg grows.
The important message from Shell and Rubicoin is to start saving your money while you are young. The more you can do at a young age, the more you will have as you get older.
Remember that the job you think is secure now may not be so in the future. Having the discipline to save and invest carefully, with the proper advice, will hopefully prevent devastation later in life.
In short: when you are off from school in the summer, work (more than 25 hours a week, if you can). Use that money to invest in your education. When your education is finished, continue the pattern of saving a certain percentage of your income, progressively investing over time.
If you use the money before retirement, make sure it is for something like buying a house. Don’t blow it on vacations and other non-durable items. Keep saving for a retirement that could come before you want it to.
Remember: the little things you do when you are young will give you more options in the future.
Peter

WHY ASIAN PARENTS HAVE THEIR KIDS’ BACKS IN SCHOOL

Why do students of East Asian descent do so well in school? Because parents are the primary educators.
So concludes Maureen Downey, education columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her column on the subject was published July 31, 2017.
While American parents are concerned with how engaging their child’s teacher is, how much homework their child will have and whether their child will be able to balance school and other activities, such as band or soccer, in East Asian countries, parents are worried about one thing: whether their child will learn, Downey writes.
The Asian children’s success will depend not only on their own effort, but that of their parents, she writes.
That difference may explain the performance gap between American students and those from East Asian countries, Downey writes.
According to a research scholar on East Asian education, this lagging performance by American students will not change unless we upend two beliefs: teachers are responsible for student achievement and parents play a supportive, rather than primary, role in their child’s education, Downey writes.
Cornelius N. Grove, author and researcher on East Asian education, has challenged the assumption that school performance is determined by innate aptitude, Downey writes. He says children bring – or don’t bring, in the case of some U.S. students – a receptiveness to learning and a moral and cultural imperative to excel, Downey writes.
Students who fail an algebra test here might say, “I’m just not good at math,” Downey quotes Grove. East Asian students use failure to figure out what they don’t know and redirect their study plan, Downey quotes Grove.
One could argue that while education is important, so are other things in life. The balance American parents look for in their children is a worthy endeavor. We want children to have a life, to do things that kids do, to enjoy growing up and not be put in a pressure cooker.
On the other hand, some parents can be too loosey-goosey, fret about the child’s self-esteem, etc.
Those old enough may remember when parents sent kids to school, let them figure out what to do, perhaps had one or two conferences a year with teachers and that was it. Some parents were disinclined, or perhaps even incapable, of helping with homework.
Still, “we have masses of young people (In the U.S) who aren’t able to do simple math, who have trouble reading a sentence,” Downey quotes Grove.
Yet, she quotes him, “we are not short of entrepreneurs in this country.” If your child is an entrepreneur, and is looking for something to apply that trait that could earn him potentially a lot of money, there are many vehicles out there that may fit him or her. To check out one of the best, message me.
The bottom line is that parents have to find the happy medium in which their child can excel in school, and still be a kid. The parents have to devote a higher priority on education, and not leave everything up to teachers and schools.
The children have to want to learn. A parent who cultivates a child’s desire to learn is parenting at its best. So let your kids be kids, let them do what they enjoy, yet still have focus on education. Perhaps the parents can take a leading role in increasing school performance of American children.
Peter