Wednesday, January 23, 2013

High School

Do those words scare you? Two small words that entail so much. Especially if you are schooling your child at home. I go through phases. Today high school doesn't worry me, we will just keep doing what we are doing and progress in difficulty a little each year. Other days I wonder if we can make through all the higher math and science that needs to be accomplished if Grace decides to go to college. Currently she has no desires to go to college. Grace wants to hit the ground running when finished with school. Academics are not her thing, never have been her thing and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Grace loves to draw, create, and perform. Yes I know she can go to college for these passions. But guess what she doesn't want to wait that long. She wants to create a career in art immediately. Matter of fact her and hubby are hoping to participate in two art festivals this year to get her feet wet. We have even talked some about in her apprenticing at an art studio in a couple of years. I know that many people will gasp at the thought of not encouraging your child to go to college, but guess what, all these kids that are graduating from college now have a boat load of debt and no employment prospects. If our fine arts cooperative continues to grow she can teach classes with the cooperative and maybe handle some of the administrative duties to earn some money as well as a part time job. I have learned over the years earning a big salary does not make you happy. Getting to wake up every morning and do what you love and are passionate about does make you happy. Over the past couple of weeks my husband has told Grace that his goal for her is to not have a job when she becomes an adult. That may sound completely foreign to many folks, but he basically wants to get the point across to her that she has talent and if creating art makes her happy, go out and create. Find a way to make your dream happen.

4 comments:

Nicole said...

I agree with this completely, Diane. I am not encouraging my children to go to college unless they are just naturally bent on an area that would benefit them to attend college. Kyndal is going to cosmetology school this summer (it's always been her passion). Dawson will likely go into the army. He may make a career of it. Or he has talked about working for my dad who has his own construction company (doing plumbing) and take it over when my dad finally retires completely. I kind of see Eli (age 9) doing something more mainstream. But I see Brynne being a wife and mommy. All of these things are important. I would never push my kids to go to college "just because" and incur all of the debt and stress associated with it. I just want them to be happy. I would rather teach them how to live frugally and with content than how to make a bunch of money that will only bring them misery.

Good for you!!

Erin D - The Usual Mayhem said...

We've been giving a lot of thought to this too lately. M I suspect will be an entrepreneur as she already has her fingers in lots of pies as she follows her interests. K plans to become a nurse and work part-time so that he can follow his passion of wildlife photography. D is too young to tell but I'm guessing it'll be something that requires a lot of movement!

I think that formal college education will be all but obsolete by the time our younger ones reach that age anyway.

Deb said...

Excellent, Diane. Brave and Awesome. Good for you guys.

Sue Elvis said...

Diane,

"Getting to wake up each morning and do what you love and are passionate about does make you happy." I agree! It sounds like your daughter has found her passion. She is very talented. I enjoyed looking at her drawings in another post.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and stopping to say hello. You made my day by leaving a comment.