This is one questions often asked of us? I am sure this is a real concern if out world-view if driven by qualifications alone and forget to look at interests, skills, and talents. How many of us adults are truly and 100% happy what what we are doing right now? Parents needs to overcome their own insecurities and see their children for their talents and even their dreams.  Anyway, here is a reply on an email we would like to share with you.

We leave it to our children whether or not they want to go to college. There are other options and paths to pursue other than the usual ones. And that does not mean they will never attend one because higher education can be pursued in adulthood when the person is more mature and ready for it. What
the advances in technology today has created is greater choices for people to choose, whether in education, work or lifestyle.

After completing Form 5 in 1982, I chose not to go to university because I knew it was not for me. I was already giving piano lessons at 15 and I knew I wanted to teach. So I pursued my music teaching diploma and passed it at age 19 and was earning good money then. I continued to teach and learnt to fine tune my playing skills from reknown teachers in Ipoh and later in KL. There are those who furthered their music education in England or US which I did not do. Financial constraint was one (I had 2 younger brothers studying in England then whom I partly helped to finance) and my interest in other areas developed over the years, not to mention marriage and children! Motherhood transformed me totally from a typically reserved piano teacher to a much more open and courageous mom, wanting nothing but the best conditions
for my children to grow up in. And I rediscovered my true self and am not afraid to push the boundaries of personal achievement. Hence I was brave enough to publish my collection of hymns that I had been composing over a period of 10 years! And my latest is the Learning Beyond Schooling Book.

I’m telling you this because both my husband and I are non-graduates and we are able to learn through experience and gather and add upon these experiences with a wide variety of exposure to different areas of interest. 

Besides music, we have also pursued teaching English to school-going kids at our bookshop/library/mental math/music & english centre! Those were the best time of our life before the kids came along! So we are talking from our hearts and experience on learning following our passions and know for sure that this way can be just as meaningful and rewarding. Maybe more! And when the time is right, and our hearts willing, nothing can stop us from pursuing our degrees or doctorate in whatever interest that holds us. We’d probably find it easier with our life experiences behind us 🙂

As a homeschooler, the sky is the limit! One homeschooler spends so much time with his car-builder dad that he is quite an expert in the field at a tender age of 15! A Canadian boy who wrote a fantasy trilogy which is now made into a movie – he was in his teens when he wrote the first 2 books and he homeschooled. I don’t think he went to college! An Ipoh teenager has been honing her skills in drawing Anime at home and is now earning money being commissioned to draw and sell them online. She plans to start an Anime school after she finishes furthering a course in Japan. There are numerous examples of young people who can start working on their dreams without having to wait until an “approved” age to do them!

If you like to email us, write to beyond.schooling@gmail.com