🐴 *Tuttle Twins* author on the two modes of learning

Connor Boyack's simple analogy exposes a major flaw in the way we teach. PLUS: Kids building real businesses, not resumes.

Author

Charlie Deist
May 28, 2025

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IN THIS EDITION

🍎 Why "just in case" learning fails in a "just in time" world
🍎 Teen CEOs prove memorization isn't preparation
🍎 What Tuttle Twins teaches beyond the textbook

💡 THOUGHT

Your refrigerator breaks. What do you do?

You don't panic about not memorizing the manual. You find what you need when you need it.

Connor Boyack, author of the wildly popular Tuttle Twins series, calls this "just in time" learning.

"The traditional school system works on the 'just in case' model," he explains. "Just in case you become a rocket scientist, memorize the quadratic equation now."

But is that how humans usually learn?

Again, when your fridge breaks: what do you do?

“You pull up YouTube. You call Uncle Bob. You figure it out."

The real world rewards those who can find and apply information when they need it.

📊 TREND

14-YEAR-OLD CEOS DON'T WAIT

Sanil Chawla was 16 when he hit a wall. "I was under 18, so I couldn't file legal paperwork or get a bank account on my own."

He didn't wait for adulthood. He created Hack+, a nonprofit that provides free fiscal sponsorship to student founders. Now it's helped 926 students launch organizations and raise over $1 million.

Caroline and Isabel Bercaw started making bath bombs at 11 and 12. Today Da Bomb generates $20 million annually.

Langston Whitlock coded SafeTrip, a medical transport app, at 17. It raised $2 million with $3.4 million in revenue.

These kids practice "just in time" learning daily:

  • Problem appears

  • Solution needed

  • Knowledge acquired

  • Business built

They didn’t study entrepreneurship for years. They learned by doing.

🔨 TOOL

TUTTLE TWINS: STORIES THAT STICK

What it is: The wildly popular educational series that's sold over 6 million copies and spawned an Angel Studios show – teaching complex concepts through adventure, not lectures.

How they work: The Tuttle Twins don't preach about entrepreneurship – they live it. Through their adventures, kids absorb lessons that textbooks can't teach:

  • Problem-solving under pressure. When the twins' lemonade stand faces competition or regulation, they adapt. Kids see resourcefulness in action.

  • The power of persistence. Failed ventures aren't endings – they're data. Characters dust off and try again with better strategies.

Featured deal: America's History Volumes 1 & 2 Bundle – Original ‘source documents’ from 1215-1791 (not watered-down textbook summaries). $432 Now $118.88 (72% off!)=

That’s all for today!

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

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