🐴 6 reasons kids say they 'hate school' (#135)

What to tell a learner who's struggling in their school. PLUS: How one family is homeschooling for (nearly) free this year.

Author

Charlie Deist
February 21, 2025

IN THIS EDITION:

🍎 Why hating school might signal exceptional potential
🍎 The Forest School that let its students design their new campus
🍎 Inside Augusta's bold move to personalize public education

If you enjoy this edition, forward this email to a friend! First time reading? Subscribe and learn more at OpenEd.co.

💡 DEEP DIVE

6 REASONS KIDS SAY THEY ‘HATE SCHOOL’

"I hate school so much I wish I could disappear."

No parent wants to hear these words. But if you’re in this situation, wondering how to help a young person who expresses this sentiment, there’s hope: a student’s struggle with traditional schooling often signals exceptional potential rather than a problem to fix.

Consider this: Many of history's most successful individuals had difficult relationships with traditional education. Einstein's teachers claimed he'd never amount to anything. Richard Branson dropped out at 16. Their struggles weren't indicators of failure, but rather signs that the standard system wasn't designed for their unique ways of thinking and learning.

Here are six key reasons children express hatred for school:

  1. Under-challenged learners: Like Formula 1 racers forced to drive at bicycle speed, gifted children often receive lower grades due to boredom rather than inability.

  2. Different learning styles: While we accept that adults learn differently - through reading, listening, or hands-on experience - we somehow expect all children to learn the same way, at the same pace, in the same room.

  3. Twice-exceptional students: Brilliant minds often come with unexpected challenges. Einstein struggled with shoelaces but excelled at complex mathematics.

  4. Deep thinkers: When a child asks "Why do we need to learn this?" they're sometimes demonstrating sophisticated metacognition, not defiance.

  5. Natural innovators: Creative thinking can look like disruption in traditional settings.

  6. Environment mismatch: Sometimes the learning environment simply doesn't align with a child's needs.

The current education system was designed during the Industrial Revolution to create compliant factory workers. But we're now in an age where the biggest companies like Google, Apple, and Tesla are dropping degree requirements in favor of demonstrated abilities and self-directed hires.

The good news is, parents have more options than ever before to personalize their kids’ education. From flexible schooling to self-paced digital programs and project-based learning, education can be customized to fit each child's unique needs and interests.

The bottom line: Your child doesn't hate learning. We’re all wired to learn. They just haven't found their way to learn yet. When we understand this, a child's struggle with traditional schooling transforms from a source of worry into an opportunity to discover their unique path to success.

The Morning Routine Rebellion – Parents are increasingly questioning the 6am wake-up calls and morning battles. Naval Ravikant's viral clip about family schedules ignited some debate about whether traditional school routines are "tearing families apart."

Kansas Goes Personalized: Augusta Public Schools partners with OpenEd, bringing personalized K-8 learning statewide.

Student Architects: The Forest School lets students design their new campus (and lands both property and funding)

Community Impact: OpenEd students turn passions into service through the Stephanie Hess memorial program

🛠️ TOOLS & RESOURCES

That’s all for this week!

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

P.S. If you’d prefer to just receive the weekly edition, you can change your subscription settings here.