The Jonas Family
College. Every parent thinks their kids should go to college. And, many want them to rush into it immediately after high school. Is college the right path for EVERY kid? Is college worth its cost these days? Did you know that the cost of tuition is BY FAR the highest inflationary item of them all – health care is a DISTANT second! We have a home-schooling family co-hosting #DadChat tonight. Jim and PJ Jonas are the parents of EIGHT kids – and Brett is the oldest and they will bring their thoughts to this edifying topic!
Some things to ponder (from Jim):
1. It is NOT as valuable as it was for those of us over 35ish.
2. It is often treated as grades 13-16, that is it is just what you do until you can figure out what you want to do.
3. Like grades K-12, it has become a CRAZY bureaucracy (state schools) and or business (the rest) where education is NOT the focus, merely a marketing prop.
4. It is a HUGE value (despite it’s flaws listed in #3) for people who KNOW they want a career in certain, specific professions like Medicine or Law.
About PJ and Jim (from Jim)
PJ & I met at the University of Virginia where we earned 3 degrees between the two of us, graduating in 1994. A lot has happened in 20 years! We got married, had 8 children and established a family goat milk soap business. That business, goatmilkstuff.com, supports all of us as we homeschool, work, worship, and play together, by helping people worldwide have chemical-free products for their skin made with the milk from our healthy herd of Alpine dairy goats.
Our family has been featured in Oprah’s magazine, on the TODAY show, with Dr. Travis on “The Doctors”, and many other media. As our oldest, Brett approaches “college age”, we have had many discussions about the value of college now, and how it may be different from 20 years ago.
We’re excited to be hosting #DadChat to learn what you have to say about it! You can find us on most social media platforms, including twitter, as @goatmilkstuff (PJ), @goatmilkjim (Jim) and @Booksquirt (Brett). Colter (@IAmTheBirdDude) may also be joining us as he looks ahead to the possibility of college in a few years. Emery, Fletcher, Greyden, Hewitt, Indigo, and Jade don’t have twitter accounts… yet!
Some more thoughts from Jim with some comments from me in parentheses:
~~ Seems most trade courses in high school have been dropped due to budget cuts.
~~ Trade schools, seem to be thriving. Again, great for people who KNOW they want to go into the SPECIFIC trades they’re studying. (And, great for those who don’t necessarly know because at least they come out of it with a marketable skill!)
~~ The “alternative” to college is to take charge of your own learning.
~~ College is about plugging into a program that ends with a stamp of approval from that institution that says you completed the program. (Given the variety of nonsense majors, how VALUEable is a degree anymore?)
Support this week’s #DadChat by encouraging others to join our discussion and our community. Here are some suggested tweets – but feel free to craft your own:
Is College for EVERY kid? Let’s discuss the harsh realities at #DadChat Thursday!
What happened to a decent, affordable college education? Let’s hash it out at #DadChat tomorrow!
Did I hear Community College instead of a six-figure Ivy League school? YES! #DadChat Thursday.
This week’s #DadChat transcript
