Very High. Good University. Successfull Well Paid Career. However if it doesnt work out like that I will still love dd and support her choices as best I can. Without high educational aspirations I think some options are far more difficult although not impossible. You asked, Im being honest, I know it will be a very different opinion to many x
When DD1 was born 19 years ago, I thought she’d do Uni & become a lawyer or doctor!
Ha she had her own ideas! She is going to go to Uni but to study Art, hates anything that involves lots of paperwork but has a natural born artistic talent.
So my aspirations are now? Like any parent I want them to do the best they can & enjoy it
As high as he can achieve, I believe a good education opens door. you can always choose not to use it, but many many things in life can only be achieved with one…(surgeon, lawyer, teacher, accountant to name just a couple) and whilst I will love and support my son in doing whatever he wants as long as he is happy, until he is old enough to choose what he wants to do, I believe that it is my duty as a parent to try and keep his options open…and that includes as good an education as poss.
If my son wasnt academic I would still encourage this (as high as he could achieve) with so many people getting degrees etc etc it will get harder and harder to get any job including those that dont require a certain level of education, as there will be lots of people with a higher education applying for them aswell.
I want them to be happy. As long as they can read and write enough to be able to get through an apprenticeship/on the job training - then I will be happy. I would only recommend uni if it is a course that will get you a job at the end of it. I know of so many people (me included) who have done a degree which will get them nowhere! A graduate job would only suit people with management personalities unless it is in a field which results in a job (ie nursing/radiography/teaching etc). I think if they choose a career which means lots of hard academic work/uni etc then that is their choice, but if they choose to be a road sweeper then that is also their choice.
In other words, I have NO educational aspirations for my child. They can already read and write and enjoy books. That’s enough for me - anything higher is a bonus. x
Really I just hope he ends up doing something he genuinely enjoys. I went to uni and my brother dossed about for years. He has just built his own eco home near the Cornish coast, which is utterly fab and which if he sold, would enable him to live mortgage free for the rest of his life. I on the other hand have never found a job I really enjoyed, haven’t worked at all for the last 7 yrs and am totally dependent on my husband having a job and providing for me. It is probably no surprise then that I am not convinced that university is the answer to future success. Of course, it depends what you make of it, but I think it is much more important to find what you are truly interested in and a lot of kids don’t know at 18yrs old. I also find the cost of going to university completely terrifying. I still have some of my student loan outstanding 14yrs later and mine was tiny in comparison to nowadays.
Having said that, despite not being great at applying himself, DS is a very bright little boy and if he did choose to pursue and academic route I’d be so proud and just keep my fingers crossed that he made better choices than I did.
Me and hubby really want Whooshy (currently still in my belly) to be happy. We feel it is more important to have her/him be happy than then follow a certain path that is laid out for them by either us, or society.
Alongside that, we would hope that what ever they choose to do with their life it is with a positive impact in mind on either others, or themselves, not just for financial/material gain.
This is our general ethos, and is supported by both of us feeling that the general course that is mapped out for children and teenagers is way to structured into preparing them for a career that in all honesty, is very unlikely to be what you really want to do for the rest of your life when you are 14, or even 18 with university.
We feel its much more important to find themselves and decide on their path from there than choose a career that they later regret i.e use their free chance at university then discover that they have another path but are trapped into not re-training due to financial constraints.
Saying all of this - I was very driven - I knew I wanted a ‘career’ in primary school and was asking for homework then, so if that is the path that they want to take, then we will support them fully - so long as they are happy.
However - if they declared a burning desire to work for some multi-national capitalist corporation I may get a little twitchy
Really, what Autumn says really resonated with me. I want them to find fulfillment and pursue joy in their lives.
To that end, I want for them to have a wide range of basic practical and academic skills, and from there to follow their true passions, give their all to go where they want to go, be willing to persist when things look bleak, and chase answers. I want them to be free to take an unconventional path, and I want them to feel just as free to work jobs as a means to an end. I believe they will find a way to live and make a living that suits them as individuals.
I did my first degree by distance learning and finished debt free and with 5 years practical work experience, which although in an area of work I’m not too keen on, has given me the skills to be able to pick up temping when required since. I did my degree ina subject I really adore, and at some point I’ll do another distance course to do higher study in the same subject, hwne finances permit! I think there’s a lot to be said for the distance learning route if it suits you.
Watching B I think that he likes figuring out the logic in things. He’s been good at fitting pipes together when dh has done plumbing, and was shouting instructions at some electricians we had round the other week. But at the same time he loves the outdoors and talking about how nature ‘works’, so I imagine these things will make him happy as he gets older, but if not, then whatever he’s interested in, I’d encourage that.
Cub (yet to be born) most moved on the day I spent working in a youth court - I hope if this indicates anything, it shoews an interest in a future in the law, rather than a future in offending!
Very High. Good University. Successfull Well Paid Career. However if it doesnt work out like that I will still love dd and support her choices as best I can. Without high educational aspirations I think some options are far more difficult although not impossible. You asked, Im being honest, I know it will be a very different opinion to many x
Lol I bet DH would answer like that! I however, just want Cerys to enjoy what she learns, and to pursue whatever subjects she finds most interesting and fulfilling to whatever level she chooses. However, I would like her to be competent at maths and English more than anything else, and to have an appreciation for the beauty of languages, including the language of mathematics.
I dont think I have any! I’ve never really considered that before but have just had a think when I read the question…......I dont have any educational aspirations for my children at all, and that feels good actually I hope that they all lead happy lives and are able to find jobs/careers/paths in life that they find fulfilling but I am not remotely concerned about what level of education etc they achieve. I have a degree which I only gained when my boys were small mainly just for interest and I have not gone on to use it for work, and my brother has only done his degree/masters and now phd as a mature student so I guess they have their whole life to figure out what they would like to do and change their minds and do something else, I will watch with interest and love
I know as long as Jake’s happy then I’ll be happy too, the same with Ruby when she’s older. I do however feel inclined to encourage my children to entertain the idea of uni if nothing else but for the importance of all the extra curricular learning that all too often shapes one’s future. I don’t mind if they study an academic subject or not, as long as it’s something they love. I always wanted to study drama and music but due to moving homes and schools 4 times during my senior years my grades marginalised me out. I would love to have the opportunity to have had the self-exploration at that age, but alas I was working 3 jobs to pay rent on a flat at the age of 18 after leaving the house of my abusive father. I know my children will never suffer the same fate so whatever makes them feel happy and loved is fine with me.
By educational aspirations do you mean so they can have a sucessful career or just for their own personal fulfillment? I want my two to have a broad education where they learn to think for themselves and not just follow the crowd. I would like them to have academic aspirations but equally think its important for them to learn to express themselves through art, or growing things or making things or whatever takes their fancy. Basically I want them to be happy and follow their dreams. Already at age 5 I can see my son being a gardener or an environmentalist or something outdoorsy maybe even a biologist as his interests seem to like in that direction. My daughter at age 3 seems very art orientated. But we shall see. I do think they are going to grow up in a world more difficult than ours to survive in not just economically but with the climate problems and I think practical skills are going to be invaluable in the future maybe even more so than academic education.
I would hope that they have a passion for learning though out their lives, not stopping when they have reached their goals, whatever they may be. I suppose I have assumed that they would go to uni, only because that is what DH and I did, and for me, it was really where I started learning about me, and what really interested me (hence two attempts at uni!!).
I have no ideas what paths they may choose to follow, at the moment ds1 is saying he wants to move to Cornwall, surf and write books. Sounds good to me!
I hope they find what makes them happy, whatever that is. Although I admit I’d struggle if they decided to go into the armed forces!
Chris and I both agree that Uni is only really useful when it leads to a specific career and that there are some careers where starting at the bottom at 16/18 can be a better way to progress. However, we’d support them if they wanted to go to University just for the love of studying a specific subject too.
I hope that they all lead happy lives and are able to find jobs/careers/paths in life that they find fulfilling but I am not remotely concerned about what level of education etc they achieve. I have a degree which I only gained when my boys were small mainly just for interest and I have not gone on to use it for work, and my brother has only done his degree/masters and now phd as a mature student so I guess they have their whole life to figure out what they would like to do and change their minds and do something else, I will watch with interest and love 
