[mquander]

My contribution: If you're doing this, and you have a smart kid, for God's sake, buy a lot of books, buy every book you can think of and put it in your house. I can point at three quarters of my interests and trace them straight back to books I picked off the shelf when I was 10. My parents had a lot of books, but even so, I ended up having to re-read the ones that were interesting to me instead of pushing further and learning more as a kid.

I think that if Amazon.com had existed and someone had given me a $500 gift card to last the duration of my childhood, I would be a lot smarter and better-educated than I am today, having established a better foundation.

[edanm]

This is the thing I'm most excited about for the future of the internet. Forget Amazon - anyone with an internet connection has access to audio and video lectures, notes and classwork from Harvard, MIT and others. Almost anything you want to learn can be picked up online, and (illegal though it is) any book you want to read can be found online.

But the best part is, this hasn't sunk in yet. So few people understand that the world has gotten to a stage where you can get a university-level education by yourself, based on what you feel like learning, from the comfort of your own home.

I love this for two reasons. Firstly, I imagine that 20 years from now, when this fact starts changing the world, that the world will be a much better place for it. And secondly, as a person involved in tech (and entrepreneurship), I have the ability to take part in the creation of this brilliant future. A great time to be alive, I think :)

[whyenot]

But the best part is, this hasn't sunk in yet. So few people understand that the world has gotten to a stage where you can get a university-level education by yourself, based on what you feel like learning, from the comfort of your own home.

But you can't, at least not in the biological sciences, unless your home has an autoclave, ultracentrifuge, laminar flow hood, etc. Same could be said for civil engineering, chemistry, or any other discipline with a lab or field component.

[DennisP]

Suppose there were facilities to rent lab space by the hour?

You'd need some formal training on safety issues but maybe you could get educated a lot more cheaply then with the full university system.

[forgottenpaswrd]

Exactly, or have robots, hydraulic presses, lathes, material, physics and chemical laboratories...

Books are ok, but you need practical experience too, and some things are too expensive to buy yourself, needs to be shared someway.

[helveticaman]

But everyone can afford a computer that is very powerful by historic standards.

[vyrotek]

While I agree, I still think there's an important part missing. Testing and Application. While studying topics that you have chosen out of interest is fun, I don't think most people have the discipline to really learn something. That is, until there is an expectation that their knowledge will be tested in some way.

There is lots to learn out there, but I wish there were better metrics to help even just myself understand if I really have learned what I claimed to have been 'studying'.

Perhaps there's an idea in here somewhere. A wiki of tests and exercises which you can use to self-measure your knowledge? You could allow anyone (newbies to experts) to submit tests. Then you could be Vyrotek certified for under-water basket weaving. Not that it would be worth anything to anyone besides yourself.

[jiganti]

Isn't the fact that you are interested in something motivation in itself? In school, you're required to take tests, an extrinsic motivator that implies your life will be better later if you buckle down and learn things you might not particularly love. But reading on your own when you could choose to do other things means that there's an intrinsic motivation, a satisfaction from just acquiring the new information.

[whyenot]

Better yet, get them a library card. It will open up a whole new world, especially with inter-library loans, and is a whole lot less expensive. Really, it's like pouring gasoline on a fire :)

[pbhjpbhj]

> I can point at three quarters of my interests and trace them straight back to books I picked off the shelf when I was 10.

But that's largely because of your particular character another child (as you were) would have benefited little from the same books and been disengaged and miserable. Instead they might benefit from a bench, tools and materials that would lead them to gain skills that could bring them later into construction or engineering or something practical.

[mquander]

I agree, I bet that many children would benefit a great deal from that. Eight hours less at school is eight hours more time to expose a kid to as many cool things as possible.

That said, I think that encouraging a ton of reading of something is almost definitely going to be a good idea. Everyone with a mind should be reading.

[pbhjpbhj]

I read vociferously as a child, reading top-junior (10-11yo) books when I was in infants (5-6yo). Mainly fiction though.

My wife was not interested in reading (apparently) at school, indeed she only really started reading for interest after we got married.

We both have science degrees.

>Everyone with a mind should be reading.

I'd find it strange, but I don't think this is absolutely necessary. I find nothing wrong with the idea a blind tetraplegic (who can't read braille or text) could be a great scientist, philosopher, ...

[bugsy]

In unschooling circles, acquiring interesting books and materials and leaving them laying about for kids to find or ignore is called "strewing".

[Qz]

$500 would have lasted me about 6-8 months when I was a kid...