Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

This photo shows a new set of “experimental” or “practice” Easter Eggs made by my kids, in our Lagos home, based on a movie we watched, and other learning resources I compiled for them. Our plan is to produce special Easter Eggs to give out during Easter to buyers of cakes, doughnuts and chin chin the kids will make and offer for sale.

We’ve added more products to the range of pineapple peel based cakes baked without an oven, and the drinks also made using the peels, that I began making in Cotonou

See photos and details on this page (click to view)…

I’ve been screaming in my best practice parenting articles and the book (Kukuru Danger – see www.lulu.com/sdaproducts) that parents are BEST positioned to give their kids the balanced EDUCATION they need to succeed in the real world.

It so happens that I diligently and passionately practice what I preach with my own children, and that includes teaching them life skills and more recently academic subjects (maths, english etc) in a formal home schooling arrangement.

Why am I going so out of the way to do all this?

First, it’s because I’ve found that the quality of teaching provided in most conventional schools today, which greatly depends on the quality of available teachers, has dropped waaay beyond the point that I can afford to do otherwise.

And this trend, in most cases, remains the same regardless of the fees paid in each institution. The decay began decades ago, and now the school system is suffering the effects. On top of that the curriculum taught by most conventional schools is increasingly obsolete, and out of sync with the needs of today’s society.

In my audio series titled “A Formula Schools Should Teach But Don’t: Why Brilliant Students Struggle to Succeed In the Real World”…I stated that the “schooling” I got failed me, WHEN I went beyond the controlled environment of paid employment, to become self employed.

That experience, which is not unique to me, confirms what has been said that formal schooling as originally conceived is geared towards preparing its products to enter salaried employment.

To find the success I increasingly enjoy today, I’ve had to DUMP a lot of what I learnt via formal schooling and learn via self tutoring what I discovered to be crucial for achieving reliable long term success in life.

My painful journey to find success made me VOW TO GIVE MY KIDS THE KIND OF BALANCED EDUCATION THAT WOULD PROTECT THEM FROM SUFFERING AFTER SCHOOLING like I did!

That’s why I’m coaching them to learn and operate a complementary set of micro businesses under the umbrella of a FAMILY BUSINESS we will all be a part of.

Look at the teeming numbers of young people who – post formal academic schooling – are walking the streets in search fast vanishing jobs, with certificates in hand today…

Consider the fact that graduates and NYSC members are now being asked to take entrepreneurship classes…

Add to the above, the fact that even employees are now being challenged to think and act entrepreneurial, if they want to retain their jobs…

They all provide definite signs that empowering your kids the way I propose is the best way to really show that you love them.

Sending them to some expensive fancy school alone may not be enough to prepare for reliable lifetime success within or outside paid employment!

Valentine’s day, celebrated TODAY, is about LOVE. If you really LOVE your kids, I urge you to give serious consideration to what I’ve said above, and ACT to give your kids a better chance at success.

A Warning: What I propose is NOT popular, and doing it is likely to make those who know you criticize you at some point. Trying to do things differently from the majority, often causes that to happen.

Here’s something to encourage you:

In the long run, when the POSITIVE benefits begin to accrue from your actions taken with a long term real world relevant vision in mind, the same critics WILL turn round and applaud you.

Trust me…I’ve been there countless times, and I KNOW from personal experience, that this is true.

Happy Valentines Day!