It seems like lots of people measure your education by how much math you know, or the grade number you’re in.
Like yesterday I was asked a big multiplication question by a ten year old girl. I honestly didn’t know it, so I said so. She kind of looked at me smugly, so I asked her if she knew how to raise baby chickens? Of course, she said no. So who can we say is smarter? The one who knows how to raise chickens or the one who knows how to do big multiplication problems? Seems to me what one lacks the other has.
If I really have to do a math problem, and I don’t know the answer, I’ll either sit there and figure it out myself or get a calculator.
I’m not good at math anyway, but hey, at least I can do the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 
Filed under: Baby Chicks, General | Tagged: addition, answer, baby chickens, calculator, grade, home school, home schooling, homeschooling, knowledge, math, measure, multiplication, problem, school, subtraction, understanding, unschool, unschooling
Do you have any idea how many people I have run into (used to work at food shelf/soup kitchen) who have been through American public schools, some of them graduated, who CANNOT read, who cannot do functional math, who are totally ignorant of anything but their stomach and whatever junk is on tv? Formal education is no guarantee of anything, except spending a lot of time in school. Now, I would consider myself a big advocate of education. Both of my parents were teachers, I almost was!, and I have benefited greatly from my education, all the way through a Bachelor’s degree. However, that is not the “only” way. Like you said, what one lacks the other has. And the thing is, you seem like a motivated, intelligent young lady. I am sure your parents have seen to the basics, and you are bright enough to figure out if you are lacking in some area and learn what you need to learn. I think many if not most people in modern society just cannot imagine living any way but the way they do, and their self-worth is based on society’s measures. The coolest thing about going further with education though, is that however much more you learn, there is the glory of God. I have enjoyed reading books by a man who was (is?) a university physicist. Talk about smart and educated! He was also an atheist. He kept studying and kept learning and became more and more uncomfortable all the time because he finally could not deny God any longer–He was too obvious in every intricate detail of the universe. He has now written books explaining to the non-scientist (like me!) how all this fancy physics stuff they are discovering confirms Biblical truth over and over again. I don’t need that sort of “proof” myself, but it is so awesome to see some of the details of God’s creation from that perspective.
PS: my college roommate was homeschooled. Knew her whole life she was called to be a missionary doctor in Haiti. Also, she is dyslexic. Got through college even though there was no way her family could afford it, got through medical school, and she IS a missionary doctor in Haiti. Nothing will get in the way of God’s plan!