🐴 Are you crushing your kid's dreams? (career expert reveals 7 mistakes parents make)

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📍 A quick note for our Utah families

We’re hearing from a lot of Utah families with questions about the recent changes to Utah Fits All (UFA) home-based program, especially around ‘25-26 scholarship applications, new spending rules, and what’s actually approved.

If you’re one of them, or just exploring your options, we put together a simple side-by-side comparison to help. It covers funding, timelines, curriculum rules, resources, activities, support, and more — so you can make the best decision for your family.

View the comparison here

And if you know a family trying to figure this all out, feel free to forward this along. We’re here to help however we can.

—Isaac Morehouse, OpenEd CEO

💡 DEEP DIVE

ARE YOU PROJECTING YOUR FAILURES ONTO YOUR KIDS?

Ken Coleman, bestselling author of Find the Work You're Wired to Do and host of Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman, recently shared a question on the OpenEd podcast that might make you uncomfortable:

"Does my opinion, my belief or my desire for them have anything to do with regrets in my own life?"

It's a dark question, Ken admits. But parents need to ask it because of how much influence they have over their kids' futures.

The stakes are real. A 27-year-old woman once called Ken’s show, miserable in her job with no direction. Ken he asked what she'd dreamed about as a teenager.

"Working with horses," she said.

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When he asked why she didn’t pursue that, she said it was her parents’ response:

"You'll never make any money doing that and you'll struggle your whole life," her father said.

The woman broke down crying on air. "I love my dad. He's a good dad. I don't think he meant anything by it, but he crushed my heart."

There’s a fine line between tempering a child’s more fantastical notions and squashing their dreams. (We haven’t met many astronaut firefighters lately, but with the way things are headed… who knows??)

This projection of parental regrets is just one of seven mistakes Ken brought up in the interview. Others include pushing well-roundedness when the world rewards specialists, fixing weaknesses instead of developing strengths, and believing degrees guarantee success when 81% of employers now prioritize skills.

The new student edition of Coleman's book includes the Get Clear Career Assessment that identifies what he calls your "three wires"—talent (what you do best), passion (what you love), and mission (results you care about). When these align, work doesn't feel like work. It’s how you

Read the full article: 7 Things Career Expert Ken Coleman Says Parents Get Wrong →

🔨 THIS WEEK'S MOST-CLICKED TOOLS

MathCelebrity - An AI tutor used by 8 million people – upload a photo of the problem you’re working on, and it walks you through it (without giving the answer away). "Why can't my teacher explain it like this?" Step-by-step solutions instantly.

Charlotte Mason Essay Writing Guide - Brandy Vencel's modernized approach to Mason’s classical wisdom. "Composition should not be taught; it should be the outcome of spontaneous interest."

64 Free Harvard Courses - From CS50 to Chinese philosophy. No application, no tuition. Your teen can now be a Harvard student from the kitchen table.

Life Skills Now Camp - FREE June 9-13. 100 workshops from CEOs to chefs teaching real skills. Ages 5-18. Help your kids find the work they’re wired to do!

Dreaming Spanish - Short-form storybased Spanish language videos, free on YouTube.

Teacher AI - AI foreign language tutor. $1 per 30-minute session. Switches to your native language when you get stuck, and helps self-conscious learners let loose and make mistakes!

Ken Coleman's Student Assessment - Find the Work You're Wired to Do. 10-15 minute assessment measuring talents, passions, mission.

Ramsey Finance Curriculum - OpenEd approved vendor. Foundations in Personal Finance: Homeschool Edition $89.99 ($70 when purchased through OpenEd).

Recess.gg - Where 7-year-olds build AI games with global peers.

Montessori on Agency Thread - @melissa's modern reread: We don't protect children by deciding everything for them.

Stanford x Alpha on AI Learning - Dean Dan Schwartz and MacKenzie Price on how AI enables personalization, not automation.

📊 THIS WEEK'S TOP TRENDS

81% of Employers Now Prioritize Skills Over Degrees - Ken Coleman cited this LinkedIn data in our interview: "Adaptability is the #1 soft skill employers want—for two years running." Google, Apple, IBM have dropped degree requirements. Skills-based hires stay 34% longer.

AI Tutors Eliminate Learning Anxiety - Xiaomanyc's viral demo shows AI solving education's emotional problem. Top comment: "Perfect for me. Social anxiety holds me back." The barrier isn't content—it's fear.

Art History Grads Now Beat Engineers in Job Market - Federal Reserve Bank of New York data: computer engineering unemployment (7.5%) more than doubles art history grads (3%). BlackRock is hiring humanities majors for adaptability.

The Anxious Generation Data is Staggering - Haidt's research: 50-200% increase in youth anxiety since 2012. Kids get 192 phone alerts per day. Face-time with friends dropped from 122 to 67 minutes daily.

20-Minute Walks Transform Kids' Brains (h/t Sahil Bloom)

Teacher's Viral Exit Interview Exposes System - @ok.audryy on why she quit: graduation inflation prevents real learning. The system rewards passing kids who can't think critically.

1962 Fitness Culture Shows What We've Lost - Viral clip of La Sierra High students doing 20-foot rope climbs. Documentary "The Motivation Factor" explores when PE actually meant something.

Career Exploration Goes Global - Inspire High: 87% of students report clearer values after 40-minute sessions. 121% boost in self-esteem. Career day reimagined.

📖 BOOK REVIEW REWARDS STILL AVAILABLE!

Thanks to the 60 reviewers who've made Open Education #1 in Homeschooling and Parent Participation! We're still giving rewards for the first 100 honest reviews:

Choose your reward:

• FREE OpenEd t-shirt (Ed the horse or logo)

• $10 Amazon gift card

Leave a review then fill out this form to claim your reward!

🔨 TOOL OF THE WEEK

GET CLEAR CAREER ASSESSMENT: A COMPASS FOR CONFUSED TEENS

Ken Coleman's Get Clear Career Assessment isn't another personality quiz that tells your kid to be a forest ranger or accountant. Instead, it's a 10-15 minute deep dive into what Coleman calls your "three wires"—the unique combination that points toward fulfilling work.

The assessment measures:

• 12 talent categories - What you naturally do better than others

• 15 passion categories - Work that makes two hours feel like 20 minutes

• 6 mission categories - The results that fire you up

Then, it generates a “personalized purpose statement” that brings all three together. No vague statements like "you should work with people!" Real clarity.

What parents are saying:

• "I gave it to 2 family members who just graduated high school. I hope they find it as useful as I did." - SB

• "I was miserable at my current job... until I took the get clear assessment." - AW

• "It serves as a guideline to help you find where/how to apply yourself instead of telling you what kind of job to get." - LW

With 81 reviews and a 4.7-star rating, parents praise how it motivates without dictating. book includes the assessment code, plus Coleman's framework for turning results into action.

Perfect for teens asking "what should I major in?" or young adults feeling stuck. At $34.99, it's cheaper than a single college application—and might save years of wandering.

Get the Assessment + Book →

🤔 PARTING THOUGHTS

"The world was telling me I was a loser... I would sit there, 13, 14, 15 years old, and think: 'I'll show you all.'" - Gary Vee got D's and F's, now mentors Fortune 500 founders. Some kids turn labels into fuel.

We remember 95% of what we teach others, but only 10% of what we read - Edgar Dale's research explains why your kid forgets Friday's test but remembers every Minecraft detail they explained to friends.

"Nobody goes to Lowe's for a well-rounded sander" - Ken Coleman's perfect analogy for why we should stop raising well-rounded kids and start sharpening their natural edges.

That’s all for this week!

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

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