In our family we approach education from the perspective of helping our kids build their career from the earliest age possible. I’ll share year by year what it looks like:

Ages 2 to 4:

We read stories together about people who do great things.

Ages 5 to 9:

Ages 5 to 9 we help our kids understand that they can create something of value or add value to something to generate wealth. This understanding of the power to create value sparks an entrepreneurial mindset that is the foundation of future success.

Here are ways we did this:

– At age 8 Isaac learned to take 50 cents worth of glass, stone and metal beads, create a bracelet using beautiful designs and color schemes and then sell the bracelets 2 for $15.

At age 10 Isaac learned to use my scroll saw to take $8 worth of pine and turn it into 10 wooden swords that would sell for $10 to $15 each.

-at ages 5, 7 & 9 I got a booth at a winter festival for Leah, Ember and Lilly where they could each sell a their handmade crafts that were perfect stocking stuffers. They each took low cost materials and made a variety of items to sell, they made hundreds of dollars.

– At age 5 Rachel would pick out children’s books at yard sales, usually 10 to 25 cents each, and resell them for $2 to $5 each at a farm store we volunteered to help out with.

– At age 7 Esther had a bath salts business, taking 30 cents worth of salts and essential oils, packaging them up pretty to sell for $4 each.

Ages 9-12

At around age nine the focus of school begins to shift from play, exploring, experimenting, learning to read, and starting tiny businesses to a focus on the child’s passions, hobbies and career dreams.

Whatever each child is passionate we begin to allow them to dive deeply into that passion so they can become experts on the topics they love, and learn relevant skills and knowledge.

We allow them to study and research that passion so diligently that they need to begin using high level learning materials to satisfy the level of curiosity that they develop, often reading adult level materials and getting involved in real world experiences based on their passions. For Laura, at age 11, we built an aviary so she could have a bird sanctuary for her rescued birds. Our son Joseph needed a piano. Our daughter Abby needed a kiln for her pottery hobby. Ember needed a garden. Chrissy needed tons of yarn. I would also participated with the kids in these hobbies and enjoy learning alongside them.

At this point we provide field trips, volunteering opportunities, training and provide the child with a personal library and access to documentaries about that topic. We get them some professional quality tools to help them explore, and lessons if possible.

We focus on basic academic skills related to the child’s passion. This is the model of learning through age 13. The kids are welcome to change their focus as they either spark a new interest (one thing often leads to another, or they get bored because that interest was not really their element.

Ages 13-20

In the early teen years the child is encouraged to embrace a passion and begin to turn it into a career. For their birthday we celebrate the theme related to their career dream. This is the key: the kids know it’s coming!

They know leading up to this day that if they want to start a business they need to propose a vision to us parents and we will spend over $1000 to invest in what they need to launch, and we will pair them up with an apprenticeship, coach, courses, masterclass or trusted friend who had succeeded in the trade or calling they want to pursue.

I have paid $100 a week for private lessons or coaching – one on one from an expert. We do this instead of college, and it’s much more affordable.

Instead of traditional high school math, my kids learn economics, civics, business, marketing, social media skills, consumer and business technology, and leadership. We get their books on these topics at the FedEx office book rack, and we use the Uncle Eric Series by Blue Stocking Press.

Ages 13-18 each of my kids are permitted to let go of any expectations related to education that steal time from their business development, career goals and training. And we don’t give them phones and devices until those things are essential for their business marketing work.

They are not free to use devices in an unlimited way, the devices are locked down to eliminate time wasting behavior, they also have time limits and only run approved apps. The goal is for the teen to not be distracted.

We don’t ever give the kids money or buy them things they want, unless it’s Christmas or a birthday, but even on these days our gifts are empowering and often related to their passion. And now, we give the gift of time.

It has been said that it takes about 10,000 hours to become world class in your trade. Between ages 13 and 18 the kids are diving into their work, business, skill building and experience- and getting in their 10,000 hours.

They get jobs or create jobs to generate funds to support their passions and callings. They often pay for their own mission trips, camps, travel, and such. We often pay for educational expenses.

In my experience they have all built businesses that be one sustainable to support them before age 20. Not only are my children incredibly skilled, they are confident, happy, and live low stress lives with a focus on relationship.

During the teen years we do have required reading for our children, and they participate with the whole family during morning devotions, and social studies discussions, and we eat meals together where we have wonderful conversations.

The older kids help teach the younger ones, and everyone is responsible for different parts of our home, to keep them clean and to contribute at meal times. We give each child a lot of experience learning through hospitality and missions. We also give each child an opportunity to participate in the family business to be able to produce books about their passions and earn some passive income through publishing.

Our kids usually have a major project before graduation that sometimes requires a larger investment, not always. Sometimes they need a setting where they can accomplish their goals. Isaac needed a recording studio and film-making equipment- he generated the income to pay for it at age 17.

Esther wanted the family to move to Hawaii so at age 16 she could launch her photography business in a very strategic way. It worked out!

Anna needed to go to Poland and LA to produce her first album.

Naomi needed us to move to a farm in Indiana where she could get horses.

Rachel and Susie needed us to turn a barn into an art studio.

Laura needed a camera and phone and a job at a bakery at age 15 so she could fund her many travels as a teen travel blogger. The rest of the kids generally didn’t get phones until 17.

In our experience, each child has followed a unique path, based on their own gifts, passions, callings and unique opportunities. We don’t put them on the same track, requiring them all to do the same thing. Each one thrives and shines in their own way, and we are delighted to avoid paying for college! By investing early in their career dreams they are able to become exceptionally skilled and achieve a level of maturity and ability that is not common in today’s teens and young adults. They are capable of supporting themselves while living their dreams, well before their 20’s.

People may think that our methods are expensive or require too many life changing actions.

What this method does not require is the expense of a degree (often $100,000+). We don’t have to send our kids off alone to other states and cities, uprooted from their families, friends, community, church and the lives they have built… to detach completely from the foundation we built in childhood. At college our children are often trained in a pattern of thinking that isn’t congruent to the values of our family, often causing depression, disillusionment and detachment for the young adult.

We will do whatever it takes to build the lives of our children on a strong foundation, and rather than uproot them, we simply provide them with wings, and they can land back at home whenever they desire.