Infants in the right stage of development are absolutely enthralled during my classes.

They stare at my face (especially my mouth).

They hang on my every word.

They giggle and coo and drool and are generally very happy throughout the 30 minutes that they are sitting in front of me.

But those who are beyond the sitting-and-listening stage and on to standing/scooting/walking (I call them the “movers and shakers”) need a completely different kind of setting for language learning.

From December, I’ll be offering a new series of classes designed for the older, more active learner.  These ten-to-fourteen month olds are beyond Lucky Baby but not yet ready for Lucky One.

Lucky Little One.  Should be fun!

Okay, I already wrote a whole book about that, but at this time of year (back to school) I tend to do a lot of head shaking about the angst expressed by parents and students who still believe they have to do things the traditionally hyper-competitive way.

That’s so Old School, but I’m not going to launch into my tirade here.

Instead, I’ll share a happy email I received this week from a student who is thrilled to be on a different track.  (Psst–her parents are pretty excited, too!)  I’ve edited it and removed identifying info, even though I’m guessing Rosie would be delighted to go public.

Here’s some of what she said:

Hello Mrs. Frost,

My name is Rosie.  I am 18 years old and thanks to your book, I am a global student.

I graduated American high school in three years (it turned out that I had enough credits – was only missing one unit of PE credit) and did a Rotary Youth Exchange my senior year to XXXX, France.  There were certainly nay-sayers; most of them kids my age telling me that I would regret missing prom, football games and graduation.  But I am very lucky that both of my parents were behind me supporting me 100%.

I also want to add that by reading your book, I discovered Rotary Youth Exchange.  Thank you so much!  Since my freshman year I loved my French classes and wanted to leave and see the world as soon as possible.  However all of the going abroad programs were always too expensive for my family and although I held a few part-time jobs it would have been a long road earning the $10,000 to $12,000 .  After reading your book I immediately called my local Rotary club and started the application process.

My exchange was the best and the most difficult year of my life so far.  I never once regretted going even when I was dealing with major language problems, a new school in a new country, and a completely different culture.  During my exchange I passed the French high school diploma exam - le baccalauréat, in order to go to their university.

That’s what I’m doing this year.  I am going to my first year of college in France.  And I think that’s really cool!  My tuition for the entire year is so cheap that I paid in cash (187 euros) while my friends back home will have thousands dollars in debt at American universities.  I have to hold back my wanting to do spontaneous cartwheels whenever I talk with my friends back home – I have to keep reminding myself that it isn’t polite to gloat.

Needless to say my parents are delighted about the cost (or I should say the lack thereof) and very proud of me.

My next plans are to travel as much as possible while I’m here – little Ryanair airplanes and couchsurfing here I come.  Next year I plan to transfer to Germany to learn German for two years until I graduate.  I will finish one year in advance of my American friends, trilingual, and with very little debt compared to them.

I can not tell you how much your book has changed my perspective on what I can do in terms of my education.  Suddenly it’s my education and not an education.  You saved an extremely bored high school girl from the wheels and cogs of the College Board machine.

Thank you so much,
Rosie

After two years of getting these messages almost daily, I am still so excited to see kids like this leapfrog over their peers with tremendous enthusiasm and direction.  It doesn’t take slavish devotion to the college admissions rules to get a great education.  Those who listen to their hearts, pay attention to the options and seize their best opportunities are the ones most likely to thrive before, during and after the college years.

And the ones like Rosie who find their own path?  Their experiences and enthusiasm far outweigh the “prestige” of the hoops jumped through by their more mainstream peers.

Rosie is making her own luck–and playing by her own rules.  Cheers to Rosie and the other Bold Schoolers who are celebrating their freedom to get a great global education on their own terms and time lines.

It still thrills me to get email messages from parents and students who have read my book, The New Global Student.  I’m lucky that I get that thrill several times a week, and since it’s August and everyone is refocusing on school, I’ve been getting a lot of mail from parents lately.  Many are taking the ideas in the book and running with them, happily discovering resources that are changing the lives of their kids.

This week, I heard from a single dad whose two teenage daughters had been living with their mother for the last few years and were failing in high school despite being smart and doing well throughout their elementary and middle school years.   (This is a common refrain I hear from single parents whose kids are going through a tough transition in the family while navigating the extra work and social challenges of high school.)

Here’s an excerpt from his message to me:

I just wanted to write a brief note to say THANK YOU for your awesome book. It had such an impact that I bought 5 extra copies to lend/give to other parents and educators AND a Kindle copy for me to take when I travel.

Three months ago, it became necessary to recover custody of my two teenage daughters from my ex.  She had completely neglected them in every way…especially their education. The 16 year old had failed 9th grade twice and the 15 yr old once! They were both A students during the first 5 years that they lived with me…then struggled terribly during the last 5 years with her.

I had no idea how I was going to get them caught up, let alone motivate them to want to continue on to college. Then, in my frantic flurry of research for a “Bold School” method of educating my girls…I found your book!  It was a life saver!

Because of your book, my views on the GED (among countless other things) were re-framed and it became the best option for my daughters. They were both excited to take the test.

Your ideas caused me to continue my research on how to transition them to college and get them start started online… and at an amazing college program… Harvard University Extension School ! Yes! THE REAL HARVARD! They have an open enrollment program… skip the traditional enrollment process and the expense! Undergrad Courses only cost an average of $1000 per course. (about the same as a public university) They offer Associate and Bachelors Degree programs as well as Graduate Degree programs. Anyone can enroll…anyone.

So thanks to you, my daughters’ education and future has been snatched from the pit of failure. Not only will they finish their secondary education, but they are now registered as students and are excited about starting their first class at Harvard next month!

Deeply grateful,

R

Great, huh?  In addition to being thrilled about the Harvard online option this resourceful dad sang the praises of k12 and a great site I often recommend:  Khan Academy Find more distance learning options by cruising through guides to online schools.

Maybe you loved high school, or maybe you just managed to get through it. Either way, your son or daughter may be having a very different experience than you did, and it’s important to listen to their concerns.  The world has changed, and your job as a parent is to help your student thrive in it.

Whether your kids are struggling through the consequences of a divorce or just ready to consider a more personalized and fulfilling path through high school, I invite you to look into the many fantastic alternatives available.

You never know what a little digging might reveal–and how it could change the life of your child forever.

Psst:  You might start by checking out the inspiring student stories in my book.

And I was thinking that there would be a palpable sense of being down at the heels, but in Tokyo, the girls were dressed as stylishly as ever, things were super clean and bustling, the stores were busy and decorated for Christmas, and it all felt terribly prosperous. I realize this is a surface impression and that a nation’s economy can be in extremely dire straits while citizens go on about their business (hello, USA), but overall, it seemed more positive than I was envisioning it.

There have been other surprises. I knew about the politeness and efficiency, of course, but it still made me grin to have a taxi driver praise our Japanese to the high heavens and apologize for a slightly sudden stop that required him to back up a few inches so as to not enter the crosswalk area. I knew about the impeccable service, but it sill amazed me that every single store clerk, restaurant waitperson and even random uniformed workers were so immaculately attired and meticulous in everything they did, from (artfully) wrapping my paper shopping page with plastic on a rainy day to presenting my morning breakfast set (natto, raw egg, rice, nori, tea, miso shiro) with everything just so on the tray. Sure, I expected the Shinkansen to be as impressive as ever, but I couldn’t get over the beauty of the countryside as we sped along the tracks—the glorious colors of the late fall leaves, the leaning towers of bamboo, a snow-capped Mt. Fuji looming in the distance.

Granted, we’re not coming here with a fresh-from-the-States perspective. We’re coming from a year on a farm in rural Uruguay and five years in Latin America. And that’s why the culture shock really hits us.

On Thursday morning, we took a walk around our new neighborhood, a mostly residential area with modern Japanese-style homes, lovingly-tended gardens (the old ladies were out in force this morning, fussing over their flower pots despite the low temperature), narrow winding streets, and an imposing temple just around the corner. There’s a rice paddy behind the 7-11 (the store closest to us), a couple of coffee shops (old style) and a dazzling grocery store that dumbfounded us as we strolled the aisles and admired the beautiful displays of produce—and the unexpectedly low prices, as in cheaper than Uruguay (with its IVA tax) or Argentina (with its inflation).

Our first night, we took a hot Japanese-style bath, ate our sashimi, split a beer and were conked out by 9 pm. Unfortunately, we woke up at 1:30 am. It’s taking us a while to get adjusted, and despite popping vitamin C hourly, going from relative isolation in a summertime drought to 28 hours of plane travel and a cold winter drizzle is taking its toll.

We are marveling at the eye-popping availability of everything imaginable. We shake our heads and grin as we attempt to absorb the sheer vastness of the consumer choices. We did some grocery shopping at that gorgeous store (broccoli, tofu, bok choy, niida, spinach) and on Thursday morning spent two hours combing every aisle of the Kahwa, a Home Depot type of store a short distance away. At one point, I walked down a garden center aisle giggling as I eyed the dozens of sizes and types of stakes—bamboo, fake bamboo, green plastic, black plastic—in every conceivable size and shape. Back in Uruguay, there were absolutely NO stakes available to buy to stake our tomatoes—we were told that everyone (the very few who dare to grow tomatoes, anyway) uses whatever they have on hand. Tom sawed a long piece of rebar left over from the construction into several sections and used that, but several more rebar-less plants are doomed to droop. In the spring, I had to special order a tray for starting seed—at the only feed store in town—and at Kahma, there was a section with dozens of shapes and sizes of starting trays and a plethora of potting mixes and plant tags, not to mention an entire row of shears, scythes, and other high-quality and well-designed garden tools.

Granted, any Home Depot in the States—or a similar store in other countries—would have similar offerings, but because we’ve been in rural Uruguay, visiting one of these stores has made us realize how much more innovative we’ve had to become to handle even the most basic tasks. Here, it’s just so darn easy, especially if you have a car and money to spend.

In our part of Uruguay, it’s been a struggle to buy sheets, kitchen items, furniture, clothes, you name it—and so, in general, we just didn’t. And you know what? We got used to it. It seemed comfortable despite the spareness of the furnishings, the blank walls and the less-than luxurious accouterments. And of course, we saved a lot of money because there were just so few things to buy, and we got out of the habit of thinking we should solve our problems by going to the store to buy a solution. Now, that year of simplicity is beginning to look more like deprivation—and we’re trying to hang on to the joy we felt watching the sunrise and listening to the birds, the peacefulness of gazing at the rolling hills and the delight of waving at passing gauchos on horseback or the drivers of 70-year-old trucks on the road. We had so many happy times there despite our lack of access to material goods. No—we had happy times because we were so far removed from material goods and the striving that tends to go along with a consumer lifestyle.

It’s clear that being back in a consumer society (and specifically this one) means we will face an interesting challenge. I think that spending a year living so simply will help us abstain from purchasing things here, but it may take more resistance than we expect. I hope we can keep our apartment as spare as it is now, but I know how things tend to creep into a household when everything is right there, reasonably priced and tempting.

I wouldn’t say we’re giddy—we’re a little too sleep-deprived for that—but we’re definitely filled with excitement. More than that, we’re recognizing that we’re here for a reason and it’s up to us to remain open so that we can do our very best to fulfill our roles.

I hope we can give everyone even more than what they hope to receive from us. In the meantime, we’re filled with gratitude that we’ve been given this opportunity to be here.

It’s great to be back.

I’m heading to Japan in just a few days.  It will be my first time to return to the country in 22 years!  I’m excited about the sights, the food, the craziness, the teaching—everything.

But what thrills me most is the opportunity to play with creativity while filling a most important role in the lives of a few young children.  And though I may sound lighthearted about going to Japan to play with preschoolers, the truth is that I am taking this opportunity very seriously.

Some might look at Japan and say that the Japanese are outrageously creative—others would say the culture itself discourages ingenuity and innovation.  What interests me is how our 21^st-century attitudes and lifestyles nurture or impede the development of creativity at every age.  I’m especially intrigued to spend time with young children who are still naturally guided by their right brains even as the language/logic/left side is beginning to gain dominance.  Those who have spent years developing right-brain education techniques understand that children can be taught to maintain a strong right-brain orientation and that it is easier to do so if they begin the balancing act at between three and five years of age.

That’s preschool.  I’m about to be surrounded by preschoolers who are at this most critical stage of development, and I am really looking forward to watching, absorbing and learning how I can help them harness and strengthen their natural inclination to be creative.

I’m also fascinated (and concerned) by how young children are showing increasingly less imagination and self-regulatory behavior.  Comparative studies are revealing that young children now (ages 3, 5 and 7) exhibit dramatically less self-control than did the peers of their parents and grandparents.  They are, on average, two years behind children of the same age sixty years ago in terms of their ability to perform tasks requiring self-control—such as simply standing still or remaining silent for short periods.

One way that young children learn self-regulatory behavior is through imaginative play and specifically, the self-talk that guides their actions.  This is practiced only when children are given time to play in ways that do not involve adult-led activities or toys with prescribed uses.  A young child will pick up a cardboard tube and say, “This is my magic wand and I’m going to cast a spell on all the animals and turn them into rabbits.  Emily is a rabbit and she is going to eat the lettuce in the garden.  Evan is a dog and he is going to chase the rabbits away.”  Of course, this only happens when a child has been given an idea of what a magic wand is, what a garden looks like and the fact that some animals eat lettuce and some chase rabbits.  The child needs a few facts upon which to build an imaginary world, but not many—the really important part of the process is the creation of roles, rules, outcomes and the use of self-talk to guide the entire process.

Children learn through role play how to wait—ideally, Emily will not eat the lettuce until given the cue that she has been turned into a rabbit and is ready to hop and nibble, and Evan will not chase Emily until given a cue that she is now a rabbit eating lettuce and he is a dog with a duty to chase her.  Emily will say to herself that she is turning into a rabbit and then she will eat the lettuce, and Evan will tell himself that he is turning into a dog and will then chase the rabbit.  Though seemingly inconsequential, these role-playing activities have a profound impact on social skills and the ability to recognize and respond to cues.  Children playing in mixed age groups benefit most as they learn from older kids what is expected of them as they play their roles.  Young children who are not raised with siblings and/or who have limited access to imaginative play time with other children do not have the same opportunities to practice creating, describing, dictating and following roles and rules.

We adults use self-talk to calm or motivate ourselves and to solve problems, and happy and successful children do the same thing.  Those who have not learned to develop self-talk  as a skill at a young age have been shown to be more likely to have trouble in school (both academically and socially); they lack problem-solving abilities as well as self-control.

I don’t know what Japanese preschoolers are like these days.  Maybe they are dramatically different than the young children I taught 27 years ago.  Maybe not.

I’m curious to see how free they feel to engage in imaginative play—and how able they are to control their urges.  The added challenge, of course, is that I am also providing an English-only immersion environment in which self-talk may or may not be conducted in English.  This makes it tricky but is also an intriguing opportunity to see if perhaps self-talk in English can take hold even if they have not begun to develop this skill in their native language.

Will I be able to help them develop language skills and lay the foundation for the creation of self-regulatory behavior?  It’s a tall order—and it’s all wrapped up in what appears to be nothing but free play!

I recognize that I’m being given a golden opportunity to nurture the most important skills that young children develop, and I feel both an enormous sense of responsibility to do it right and a deep desire to engage in the process using every creative bone in my body and as much self-control as I can muster.  After all, my role is to step back and offer loving support and very gentle guidance.

Kids will figure out how to play if we provide the right environment and get out of the way.  I hope I can give them exactly what they need to thrive—and nothing more.

Doug Lansky is the guru for solo travel. He contributed a nice piece in my book about how he set out on a six-month trip and ended up being on the road for ten years–during which he was paid to write a syndicated column with millions of readers and served as the host for a travel show on television. He also wrote several books, including his hilarious anthology of crazy signs and a guide for those traveling around the world on their own.

These days, he has a sweet life in Sweden with his wife and three little girls, and spends time each year in the U.S. offering his hilarious “Get Lost” lecture on college campuses.

Learn more at http://www.DougLansky.com

One of the things I find fascinating about living in Buenos Aires is how expats choose to make a living. Of course, plenty of English-speaking expats do the English teacher thing, but the truth is that just because you speak English doesn’t mean you’ll be a good teacher. For many, that option lasts just a few weeks or months. (Others, like my daughter, truly love it, have a great background in linguistics and can make decent money teaching private students. She has several doctors, business owners, a military guy doing a report on GPS systems, and even a mafia-type guy with a gold necklace, minions and a toy shop which is just a front for other activities that make him millions–or so he says. Interesting stuff.)

One of the common jobs for new expats here in Buenos Aires is working in the burgeoning outsourcing market. Americans don’t always lose jobs to outsourcing. Sometimes, they are the recipients of those outsourced jobs. And though it’s not likely that they’ll make a ton of money, they can make enough to fund their lifestyle abroad.

There are a few call centers here handling everything from tech support to health insurance claims for American companies, and they hire both locals and expats who speak English. Another company here hires native English speakers as quality assurance people for their medical transcription company. U.S. doctors record their patients’ symptoms and treatment details, send these recordings each evening down here, and Indian workers transcribe these. Then, the expats here in BA check for accuracy between the recordings and the written version and send these back to the doctors in the States by morning.

One of the most interesting outsourcing jobs I’ve heard about lately is one for virtual dating assistants. An American-owned company hires Americans here to assist their clients in the U.S. who want help handling their online dating process, from screening and matching to setting up actual dates.

There are plenty of freelance writers here finding all kinds of ways to bring in a little money on the side. Some use American websites that outsource writing projects. One site pays writers $15 per 250-word article and allows them to select from a wide range of topics for online clients. That wouldn’t pay the bills in the States, but here, a part-time writer (especially a quick one) can make several hundred dollars each month–enough to cover rent.

Of course, there are “real” rather than virtual jobs here as well, but most expats have come here to escape their old way of life. They’re seeking more flexibility and looking for ways to learn new skills that can allow them to live comfortably wherever they may choose to go. If you’re creative, willing to try new things, and okay with living a not-at-all-lavish lifestyle, Buenos Aires can be a great place to ride out the recession while gaining language skills and learning about a different culture.

Who knows? You might even get inspired to start an outsourcing company of your own.

Recent research supports what exchange students and expats have known for years: living abroad stimulates creativity.

This video summarizes the study, but here are the high points:

1) spending time abroad stimulates creative problem-solving skills

2) it does not appear to be simply a matter of creative people being more likely to live abroad

3) short-term travel doesn’t count–it’s really about spending significant periods of time immersed in another culture

4) “significant” may vary–for those who are truly immersed, there may be more benefits than for those who remain in a cultural bubble for a longer period

5) it’s possible to have a cultural immersion experience in your home country if you happen to have a community in which you can connect deeply

6) the earlier you go abroad, the more you are likely to be affected by and benefit from the experience

As I put it in The New Global Student: Go early, go solo, go long, go deep. In my next book, I’m looking at how moving abroad stimulates creativity and writing about what happens when new expats rediscover their talents and possibilities abroad.

You can bet that employers are paying attention to this study and that they’ll be looking for employees who have spent time abroad–and looking for ways to ensure that their current employees have more opportunities to spend time abroad as well.

Blake Boles has written a remarkable how-to handbook that is destined to change the lives of young people across North America. In College Without High School: A Teenager’s Guide to Skipping High School and Going to College, he offers a step-by-step plan to help students envision their best educational experience and make the most of the time they would have spent in high school.

We didn’t have Blake’s book when our youngest daughter was figuring out how to do high school differently. As a freshman, she spent a year as the only foreigner at her high school in Mexico, and then started taking Spanish classes at a local university in Buenos Aires alongside college students from the U.S. After a great semester of college courses, enrolling in high school seemed like a huge step backward, so she took advantage of some wonderful opportunities to work with tutors and mentors and then spent a summer in Oregon taking a full load of college courses while preparing for her GED tests. That fall, at 16, she enrolled as a freshman at an American college in Buenos Aires, and the following year, she got a nice scholarship/grant package when she transferred as a junior to a private college in upstate New York at the age of 17. She spent the summer doing an independent research project in Argentina and is excited to complete her BS this December just two weeks after she turns 19.

But that’s just her story. Her three older sisters also pursued alternative routes, and there are many, many ways to prepare for and get into college without attending high school. Blake’s book is full of tips and stories to help students plot their own best path.

I had the chance to interview Blake between his sessions leading the Not Back to School camp for teens. He shared some thoughts about the book.

You had an epiphany in college while majoring in astrophysics. Tell us about that—and where it led you.

Since early in high school, I had a passion for physics. Getting high grades in my math & science classes and watching the movie “Contact” also nudged me in that direction. So, I entered UC Berkeley under the astrophysics major and studied it diligently for two years. It was in my third year that cracks started forming in the edifice. In quantum physics I started to see that astrophysics was really just hardcore math, and I began to question my motivations for becoming a professional astronomer. Luckily, that same semester a friend from a 1-unit elective class handed me a book by famed public-school-teacher-turned-homeschool-advocate John Taylor Gatto.

Like a chainsaw, Gatto quickly cut through every assumption I held about the necessity and benefits of regular public schooling. I consumed his book in three days and immediately did a Google search for related authors, which led me to Grace Llewellyn, The Sudbury Valley School, Summerhill, and John Holt. Within two weeks I saw that my passion for astrophysics, genuine but faltering, was no match for the immense intellectual curiosity I held for alternative education. I scoured Berkeley for a design-your-own-major option, argued and pleaded, and eventually got my way. For the next two years I studied alternative education exclusively, following a plan of my design. My curriculum included volunteering at a local “free school”, reading Gatto’s gigantic Underground History of American Education, taking numerous upper division education courses, and designing and leading my own elective course for undergrads (entitled “Never Taught to Learn”). The intellectual and emotional high that I derived from self-directing my college studies was the major epiphany of my young adulthood, and it set the foundation for later writing College Without High School.

What advice can you give to students who have parents who remain unconvinced of this alternative path to a college degree?

Parents should be rightly skeptical of anyone peddling college admissions snake oil–there’s a lot out there. My ultimate response to skepticism is: Look at the evidence. Look at MIT or Stanford’s online admissions guidelines for homeschoolers. They don’t want high school diplomas. They don’t want some perfect equivalent of 4 years of high school classes. They want teens who have taken personal initiative and designed meaningful, independence-building activities for themselves. They want teens who have boldly explored the realms of business, international travel, and college-level research prior to convincing themselves that they actually need college. Traditional high school is very often a handicap in pursuing these character traits. And while not every college has explicit homeschool admissions policies like MIT and Stanford, the logic remains the same: colleges want dynamic, innovative teens who leave the cookie-cutter approach behind for greener pastures.

Skeptical parents often compare their child’s college preparatory journey to their same journey of yesteryear. It’s important to realize that high school diplomas don’t hold nearly the same cachet today as they did a few decades ago. Community colleges are much easier to get into as a teen, and dual- or early-enrollment programs abound. The biggest bureaucratic hurdles exist in public college admissions, but an easily obtained GED can soothe those ruffled feathers. These facts are the kind of evidence that parents should seek out to decide whether their fears are founded or unfounded.

What tips do you offer to students who have been in public or private schools through the 8th or 9th grade and are now considering preparing for college without high school?

My book is actually written for just those teens: the ones who have attempted to diligently follow school’s path but have only met disillusionment and boredom in the process. (Middle school is usually when this sets in.) A majority of the teens interviewed in my book made their unschooling decision in 9th grade.

What’s most important for a teen making the transition away from traditional school is to identify, as specifically as possible, their personal dreams and goals. Read the books that have always caught your eye in the bookstore. Take the train to visit your friend three states away. Build a computer in your garage or spend six hours a day writing music. Unschooling should be a “moving toward” something, not “moving away”. Once these values are clear, they should start pursuing them ruthlessly–and then figure out how college prep can be mixed into the brew. Following this order (interests first, college prep second) is vital for maintaining enthusiasm and self-motivation as an unschooler.
If a teen doesn’t know what truly excites them (as often happens with first-time school refugees), a short “deschooling vacation” might be in order. This is a period of time during which no structured academics are required, no schedule is followed, and parental nudging is kept to a minimum. The point is for the teen to push through the “no one is going to tell me what to do” barrier and enter “I have to motivate myself” land.

Though you encourage students to get creative about designing a personalized college-prep education, you suggest they prepare for and take standardized tests like the SAT or AP tests. Why not continue their alternative approach by finding other options for admission?

The SAT is certainly not required for all college admissions as a homeschooler., but the vast majority of traditional schools require at least one traditional academic achievement indicator (SAT, ACT, GED) and often more (SAT Subject, AP). The good news is that these tests have always existed independently of high school, and for that reason, it’s easy to prepare for them as a homeschooler. Grab a few SAT study guides, figure out exactly where your weak spots are, review hard in those areas, and take the test when you see fit. It’s a self-directed and results-oriented approach to college prep.

In view of the financial challenges facing many families, what’s your advice for those who need to reduce their college costs?

Community college is a golden bullet for financial hurdles. Many of the college-bound unschoolers with whom I work start community college around age 16, gather a significant number of transferable credits (or an Associate’s degree) by 18 or 19, and have lots of cool adventures along the way. Then they’re ready to apply (or transfer) into a 4-year school with sophomore or junior standing, saving thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

What options do you recommend for those interested in increasing their knowledge of the world and themselves?

As you argue excellently in The New Global Student, international immersion provides teens with an incredible wealth of self-knowledge. But many teens don’t want to participate in a packaged tourist program that carefully clings to the beaten path, and many parents won’t let their teens leave the beaten path alone. The solution lies somewhere in the middle–in finding a program that provides some modicum of safety and structure while providing teens with ample time to explore a new culture and learn from the common travel mistakes that they’ll inevitably make.

To find such opportunities, I recommend that teens first explore Idealist.org and search for volunteer positions specific to their age and desired location (using the “advanced search” feature). Often these programs provide a host family, English-speaking support network, and both structured and unstructured time. Another option (for those who don’t mind getting their hands dirty) is WWOOF: World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. In exchange for a small number of hours of farm work each day, students get to enjoy total immersion in the rural life of a foreign country. Both volunteering and “WWOOFing” offer the coveted combination of low cost and high immersion that a globetrotting teen seeks. There are also, of course, my own Unschool Adventures (http://www.unschooladventures.com) and Homeschool Leadership Retreats (http://www.homeschoolleadershipretreats.com) that strive to offer a similar experience.
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I highly recommend Blake’s book to any middle school or high school student seeking more excitement and engagement in their educational journey. Smart parents should buy this book for their kids and be bold enough to encourage them to forge ahead in new ways. To learn more, visit http://www.CollegeWithoutHighSchool.com

President Obama shared some advice with America’s schoolchildren (or some of them, anyway) and I’m happy that he encouraged students to work hard and stay in school. He had some sound long-term suggestions.

But as any parent knows, kids don’t think about the long term. They think about lunchtime or recess or tomorrow’s quiz, but most elementary school students do not ponder the possibility of quitting school. They assume that things will work out and they’ll stay on track until the day they graduate from high school.

It’s great to plant those powerful seeds of responsibility and commitment in the minds of our kids, but what they need most is the daily nurturing of habits that will contribute to their success. And while schools can certainly do their part to promote good habits and kids can step up their efforts, parents are the ones who are teaching (or not) their kids to become outstanding citizens who value education.

So, I’d like to offer the following list of ten wishes that would make a big difference both today and in ten years in the lives of our students. You’ll notice that every wish is aimed squarely at parents, those most experienced long-term thinkers. After all, they’ve been dreaming of the future they hope their children will have since before their sons and daughters were born.

1) I wish that parents of preschoolers would cancel one of those weekly must-do activities (swimming, gymnastics, soccer) and take their kids to the local library instead. (Instilling a love for reading and discovery is the key to creating lifelong learners.)

2) I wish that parents would impose bed times for their school-age children. (A lack of sleep has a profound effect on young students’ learning ability and brain development.)

3) I wish that parents would make dinner time an inviolable period during which the family sits down together for relaxed conversation. (Regular family dinners are one of the most powerful indicators of future student success.)

4) I wish that parents would model healthy eating and exercise for their children and include active recreation into their family’s regular schedule. (Obese students are far more likely than their normal-weight classmates to drop out of school.)

5) I wish that parents would spend less time driving their kids to sports practices and more time taking them to art classes, music lessons and cultural experiences. (Students who study music do better academically, and those who are exposed to other cultures have a greater appreciation for those of different backgrounds.)

6) I wish that parents of middle-school students would encourage their kids to find and develop their own strengths rather than sign up for the activities their friends are doing. (Middle school students who know what they’re good at develop greater confidence at an age when this quality can dramatically alter their life choices.)

7) I wish that parents of middle-school students would encourage their kids to develop and share their own opinions. (Kids spend a lot of time with their peers at this age, and the influence of adults is greatly needed in order for them to see issues from a more mature perspective. Those family dinners are crucial at this age!)

8 ) I wish that parents of high school students would encourage their kids to deepen and celebrate the qualities that make them different. (High school students who see themselves as “individualistic” or “independent” are more likely to excel in the areas they find interesting—and this leads to a clearer sense of direction.)

9) I wish that parents of high school students would send their son or daughter abroad for at least a few months prior to graduation. (I’ve written a book on the benefits of the high school exchange or other experiences abroad and made recommendations for the most affordable options—less than $4,000 for an entire year with plenty of full scholarships offered. Spending time abroad at this age is the most brain-boosting and transformational opportunity available for young people and far more advantageous than another same-old semester or year of high school.)

10) I wish that parents of high school students would become savvy mentors rather than crazed coaches or fearful protectors. (If parents commit themselves to wishes one through nine, this will already be the case and their kids will be confident, competent and compassionate young adults who are truly ready for college or anything else they choose to do.)

Teachers, schools and presidential advice matter, but without consistent parental support and encouragement, kids will not have the skills and habits they need to maximize their potential. If we want our sons and daughters to prepare for their most thrilling and fulfilling opportunities in the 21st century, we need to make these wishes come true.