Today early learning centers or institutions designed to help give your child a head start seem to be popping up everywhere. I agree with guiding and helping learning naturally when they are young but some parents seem to think that they can help their child have a happy future by making them smarter, trying to force learning upon them. I admire the parents interest in trying to give their child the best start to life, but they have the wrong approach.

Schooling was originally invented to train the military many millennium ago. This later expanded into schooling as we know today, but still enforcing the same concepts of here is information, here is how the world works, conform to our model and you will be OK.

This is generally translated into, go to school, get good grades, get a good job and that is all you can accomplish in life. Early learning centers are giving the impression of making them smarter while they are younger which will lead to better school grades and hence a better job and a more successful life, but this is not what actually happens. It will instead most likely hamper their ability to be successful.

Below is a list of people you will most likely know of, who succeeded in life without much education. In fact most successful people I know did not have much formal education but had real life education.

Richard Branson (Multi-Millionaire)

• High School Dropout
• Dyslexic

Bill Gates (Multi-Billionaire, 2nd Richest Man in the world)

• University Drop Out
• Numerous Arrests when 19

Tony Robbins (Multi-Millionaire)

• No college education
• Broken home

Rupert Murdoch (Multi-Billionaire)

• Dropped out of university to take over family business when his father died

W. Clement Stone (Multi-Billionaire)

• High school drop out

Albert Einstein

• Failed entrance exam to university
• Quote: “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”

Will Smith

• No college/university education

The main point I wanted to show here is that instilling a love of learning and drive or passion to succeed or try anything is more important than being taught or forced to learn. Each one of the above individuals are extraordinarily successful and yet have very little “formal” education.

They all learnt by going out into the real world and living it. Understanding what goes on and showing action, determination in pursuit of their dreams is what made it all a reality. Sitting in a room, reading off a board or being shown flash cards is not the way to a happy life.

Let your children learn the world by experiencing it and enjoying it. They will be more adept to handle the world and rise above it, if they have actually been exposed to it.