Hollywood superstar couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt , who have vowed that they won’t wed until gay marriage is legal, aren’t exactly the poster children for Middle American family values.
But conservatives may find their views on K-12 education forthright and refreshing.
In an interview with The Independent, a UK publication, Jolie dishes: “I do think we live in a different age, and the education system hasn’t caught up with our children and our way of life.”
What conventional school system could keep up with multi-millionaire, A-list celebrity, paparazzi-chased parents of six who globetrot the world as movie stars and humanitarians? But she’s right. The tired, one-size-fits-all, 8 to 3, five days a week, mandated schedule is stuck in the industrial era, not the internet age. And due to all that distracting nonsense that students have to endure in classrooms (from bullying to watered down curriculum to limited physical activity) warehouses and schools have become virtually indistinguishable.
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Brangelina, as the duo are known in the entertainment media, homeschools (with the help of tutors) the older children. The six Jolie-Pitt children are Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne, ages nine through two. Three of the kids are adopted, and three are homegrown.
Jolie also seems to subscribe to a “world is my classroom” philosophy that is popular with unschoolers.
She states, “But we travel, and I’m the first person to say, ‘Get the schoolwork done as quickly as possible because let’s go out and explore.’ I’d rather them go to a museum and learn to play guitar and read and pick a book they love.’ “
They also aren’t above enjoying old-fashioned fun. Pitt explained to USA Weekend, “Angie and I do everything we can to carve out some semblance of normalcy for them, to re-create the kinds of moments that were special for us. It’s not unusual for the kids to be covered in paint. We have mud fights. It’s chaos from morning until the lights go out, and sometimes after that.”
What an unusual experience these children are receiving, even if the family is being criticized as “nomadic,” and how fortunate they are that their parents are using their wealth to stimulate their minds.
Maybe Brangelina can become “Goodwill Ambassadors” for the contemporary homeschooling movement, especially now that they’ve also fessed up that their children are causing them to reconsider their cohabitating ways.
Marriage for the sake of the kids? Next thing you know Jolie will be speaking at a Tea Party gathering with her dad, actor Jon Voight.
