I agree with you Don. My father grew up in rural Arkansas and attended a one room school house with his eleven siblings. His memories of school were delightful. He recalls every student learning at their own rate, older children helping the younger ones, and the days being flexible according to the work schedule at home. Back then learning your trade at home took precedents over the what they called "book learning" yet they manage to do both. The teacher also knew that for families to survive bringing in the crop and tending to the animals was paramount. Lunch was cooked in a kettle with contributions from the everyone's home gardens. My father always wondered why we did not continue this tradition he so fondly remembered. He said their priorities were more practical then but also based on the individual and their circumstance. Children were expected to learn a skill or trade so that they could support themselves and hopefully a family as early as age 16. Every child had a jobs to do on the farm, increasing in responsibility each year. By the time he went to school my father could drive the tractor. By fourteen he ran the farm in his fathers absence. While many of those early skills are not necessary today, we still need skills in running the household and should be looking towards our independence at an earlier age than we do now.
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