I listened to a podcast months ago about “schooling backwards” and I can’t stop thinking about it. I wish I could remember whose podcast it was as I would love to go back and listen to it again. It really made me think. What struck me as so interesting is how they were discussing preparing your children for life after high school. The gist of what I walked away from this podcast with was that whatever field your child is interested in pursuing start looking into the requirements for this field now and then educate them for that field. Basically, if your child wants to attend MIT, find out now (now being middle school or high school), what the requirements are for that school and the courses they will likely take and have your child start fulfilling those requirements. Initially, I wondered how it would benefit my 10-year-old to satisfy some of the requirements of MIT when she may or may not get into it or even still want to attend in a few years. The more this podcast resonated with me the more I started buying in to this concept. If I start having her complete, for instance, volunteer hours now, that will only benefit her in any life choices she pursues, so why wait? If she is interested in engineering, let’s see what the requirements are for an engineering program and let’s start taking some courses or camps in this area. She might learn early on that the picture of what she had in her mind is very different from that career path. She may also learn that she loves that field and and we all gain a very clear focus. I would rather spin my wheels now with her than when it may be costing me $50,000.00 a year. It’s official… I need to go check out the MIT website.