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The Homeschool How To
I don't claim to know anything about homeschooling, so I set out on a journey to ask the people who do! Join me as I chat with homeschoolers to discuss; "why are people homeschooling," "what are all the ways people are using to homeschool today," and ultimately, "should I homeschool my kids?"
The Homeschool How To
#174: The World Schooling Dad Who Says American Education Is Getting It Wrong
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Rapkat was born in northwest China, fled to Malaysia at five, landed in Brooklyn, bounced through public, private, and charter school, married at seventeen, attended a coding bootcamp, got a remote software engineering job — and has been homeschooling and world schooling his five kids across Europe and Asia ever since.
In this episode we talk about why he thinks getting straight A's is actually not a good sign, what "learning to learn" means and why it matters more than any subject, how he intentionally teaches his kids to let go of possessions every time they move, and why he believes seventy percent of your kid's school day is completely invisible to you as a parent.
We also get into AI, the real cost of using it, and what he says most people get completely wrong about it.
If you've ever wondered what education looks like when you strip away every assumption — this one will stay with you.
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Why Cheryl Chose Homeschooling
SPEAKER_00I didn't plan to homeschool. I started asking hard questions, realized how little control parents actually have, and made the hard decision to leave a government job to homeschool my kids. Now I interview other homeschooling parents to learn how this all works. I'm Cheryl, and this is the Homeschool How-To podcast. Let's learn this together. This was a super cool episode. Anytime I get the opportunity to talk to somebody who's lived in multiple countries, I take it. Rapcat fled China at age five. He bounced between public, private, and charter schools in Brooklyn. He taught himself to code, and now he homeschools his five kids. Well, basically living out of a suitcase in Southeast Asia. It's so interesting to hear what he has to say about the American education system. If you're new to homeschooling or just thinking about it, I know it can seem so overwhelming because most of us have to work. I get that. We can't all just unpack a suitcase and go off to another country. But it is possible, and people are doing it. I have talked to over 200 homeschooling families and specifically pulled out all of the ways these families are working and homeschooling. And I put everything concise together in a course for you. If you want to check that out, you can grab the link in the show's description or head to the homeschoolhowdo.com for more information on my course how to work and homeschool. All right, let's hear what Rapcat has
Rapcat’s Worldschooling Origin Story
SPEAKER_00to say. Welcome and with us today I have Rapcat. Where are you calling in from?
SPEAKER_02I am actually in Malaysia right now, Kuala Lumpur.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, well I can say I've been. Is this do you normally travel around? Is this part of like the homeschooling process for you?
SPEAKER_02Basically, yes. We've been traveling for about five years now. Full-time traveling.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so where are you from originally?
SPEAKER_02Uh originally I am from Turkestan. It's it's in northwest China, so it's not an independent country. I was I was born there, and then at the age of five, we actually with my parents and my older brother, four of us, came to Malaysia actually. So we lived in Malaysia for about four to five years and then uh went to America in 2008.
SPEAKER_00Okay. And then did you go to regular like public school here in America?
SPEAKER_02I went to all kinds of schools. So I went to public school, private school, and charter school.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00How did that differ from school in China?
SPEAKER_02In China, I actually just went to first grade for a few months. So uh I don't have much experience of the schooling in China, but in in Malaysia, I went to an international school, which was very different than schooling in in
Applied Learning And School Skepticism
SPEAKER_02the United States.
SPEAKER_00Alright, I'd love to hear about how it was different because I mean I just find it so intriguing to hear how other countries are educating their students because I'm like, this can't be the best way here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it's it's more like academic, like it's it's definitely uh let's say you're comparing like middle school or even high school students. The students in Asia they have it much more harder than we do in America.
SPEAKER_00Do you think that that works out better for them in the end? Like they have an advantage, or do you think like quality of life might be hurting?
SPEAKER_02I have a very different uh perspective on on education. So, of course, the the typical like people always talk about Asian parents and like students. In in a way it does for for some students, but I wouldn't say that's like kind of standard for everyone just because it's more harder or more academic. I think it depends on the student, and also just because you're taking a lot of knowledge doesn't mean you're like outputting the same knowledge that you intook and something called like applied learning. So just because you're learning something but you cannot use it in real life in your day-to-day when you grow up or when you graduate uh high school or college, then then I don't see a value of keep on just learning instead of actually applying what you learn, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_00It does, because if you just think of like if you learn about how to do an oil change on your car from a textbook, okay, that's fine. Those are the steps or what's involved. But if you actually like learned how to physically do it with your hands and were like, okay, this is relevant to me. I have a car, I might need to do this one day. Yeah, can you do it? Or did you just learn about a textbook and you can't, you know, that's the end of it. That makes a lot of sense. And I don't think people think about that enough. Now, you have your own kids that you're homeschooling now?
SPEAKER_01Yes, we have five kids.
SPEAKER_00Five kids? You look pretty young.
SPEAKER_01I I am young. I was married at 17.
SPEAKER_00Goodness, all right. But look at you, like now you're thriving, homeschooling five kids traveling around the world. What made you decide that you guys wanted to homeschool or road school, world school?
SPEAKER_02For me, I think I always wanted to, even when I was young, because so my parents they basically fled China for me and my brother's future and education. So, like the time we had in Malaysia, he my my father he did whatever he could to put us in a good school, so international school, it was not free, very expensive. Same thing in in in New York, in Brooklyn, he put us in a private school. In the beginning, we had to go to public school right away. So it was a lot. Fifth grade, I graduated from public school. Six, seven, and eight, I was in private, and then end of eight, all the way through high school, I was in charter school. So I kind of saw it all, and doesn't matter if it's public, private, or charter, the some problems are still there in the education school.
SPEAKER_00And what sort of problems? Like what could you identify for us?
SPEAKER_02Uh the quality of teachers. So I don't know the last, let's say, 50 to 60 years of history in America because I wasn't there. But from my own family, my parents, they were both very well educated. From their uh school years, what I learned is that teachers are people to be very highly respected. And they're they're supposed to be the kind of figure that you look up to beyond school, like outside of school, even when you graduate. But today, I don't see that, that doesn't happen. So if teachers are not someone to be respected today, not all teachers, of course, but we're talking about genera, like in the general majority. And as a parent, if the teachers are not someone that you could interact with in your day-to-day, what your kids in the environment with people that you cannot get along with yourself.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of teachers today promoting their own, you know, this is my style of life, and I can be completely open with students about it, which even when I was growing up, I mean, we didn't know really anything about our teachers' personal life, and it's now gone from like zero to 60 on what they share and how they make it out like it's it's all normal,
Leaving China And Seeing Propaganda
SPEAKER_00and you know. So, okay, w when you were in China, you had was it it was obviously like your how hard was it to flee China to get, you know, either to America? Well, you went straight to Malaysia.
SPEAKER_02We went to Malaysia.
SPEAKER_00You went straight to Malaysia.
SPEAKER_02It's very hard. I mean, to the the last 20 years, it's almost impossible for people to get out.
SPEAKER_00Really?
SPEAKER_02The only people that do able to get out is mostly like business people. So we are considered Chinese resident in China. But but my people, even though you're born there, you cannot easily obtain a passport.
SPEAKER_00So like you can't even leave. Like you can't even go on a vacation, or could you do that?
SPEAKER_02We when we became US citizen in 2013, we were actually able to go back, but since then I haven't been able to. I I wasn't able to get a visa back.
SPEAKER_00To go back where you were born?
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00We are, I mean, uh i I feel ignorant asking because because we are like ignorant Americans here. Like we don't we take it so much for granted. And that's something that I never learned in school. You know, they tell us how bad we all were to come to America and this and that, and you know, but they don't really give you the reality of what's going on in the rest of the world. And I've tried to learn that, you know, as I grow up, but it is I love hearing about it firsthand, and even it seemed like there was a period of time where we heard all about North Korea and you know how hard it was to escape from there. And there was like one lady that didn't. She shared her story and she was all over Oprah and this podcast and that podcast and wrote a book. But then it's like, but where are the rest of the people? Like, hasn't anyone helped them? Like, what is going on? So is it um I don't know. I can I'm just thinking, like, so you go through this schooling and what is there? Do they have like a agenda that they're pushing in China as well? Like, um, you know, I and w I talk a lot about how the American education system was created from the Prussian model to obey your country and be a good citizen. Is that going on? I can assume in China, but to like the hundredth degree?
SPEAKER_02Real quick about what you mentioned, 100% I agree about people in America don't really know exactly what things are going in other parts. Taking that logic, actually in China, it's it's even more extent. So China it's kind of like it's its own globe.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_02So what what we think we might know about what goes on in China, like not just me, even like even you and other people in other parts of the countr uh the world, it's not it's not accurate. What actually happens in China doesn't really get out of China. And what goes on outside of China doesn't also get in China accurately. It gets uh manipulated. Uh the schooling system in China is very different. There's a lot of homework. So compared to the amount of homework people get here in Asia, I would say in America we don't have any homework.
SPEAKER_00We're complaining, you're taking up all this time from the family.
SPEAKER_02So, like for me, I was a good student. Not I'm not trying to s uh talk good about myself, but I had mostly all A's and it wasn't hard. So parents that get happy because their kids are getting A's, it's not a good measure. Uh yeah, it doesn't mean it doesn't mean whatever parents think, it's it's not true. And yeah, so to talk about the schooling in in my experience in America, first of all, is that 70% of the students' life, parents don't even know about it. Like it's you cannot you cannot I don't think you anyone can make an objection to that because I've seen it way too many times. Kids are not gonna go home and just tell the parents what happened that day. And then can you imagine like every day is passing by, years are passing by. So much, there's so many gaps in between. And it's it's you're like today it's it's when you go to school, it's more like it's like it's almost parents are expected to just send their kids to school, even though it's supposed to be a place that you actually like you know learn and and like grow and get better, but it's kind of turned to something else, it's more like an experience. But what kind of experience are the students getting? And the last 10 years I've been in so many groups, especially on social media, Facebook, and other platforms, and I'm not exaggerating, but every day I see so many parents taking their kids out of school. Yeah, like literally every day, and this is not a joke. It's and I'm not against uh schools, but this the it's the fact that the school system is is like failing. Of course, there are some really good schools, but that that's not for everyone, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and like even just from you know, why were they created? Were they created so that each individual child can grow up learning what interests them? And really the whole point of it is so that you can make some sort of living and survive doing something that you don't hate, right? Like, isn't that isn't that what we all really just want for ourselves and our kids? Like, I want you to be able to make enough money to be comfortable in a home and your kids are able to eat, but you don't hate your life, right? That's the goal, right? And uh yeah, how many can say that they actually end up there? I know America's got the stigma of, you know, trying to keep up with the Jones as they say, if your neighbor has it, you want to have it. And so, you know, then you get the people just charging and going into debt.
SPEAKER_02I do know that uh it's like in general in Asia, I think what what I've been seeing from my travels is that uh whatever is happening in in the West in the United States, it's kind of the system kind of been flowing everywhere else where people are getting mortgages. So it's very similar, but it's I think a little bit different where people are able to pay it off faster than we do in America.
SPEAKER_00Okay, and you lived in Brooklyn,
Remote Work That Funds Travel
SPEAKER_00you said, right? So that's about three hours south of me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we from first three years was in New York, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, and then we moved to Houston, Texas. I actually met my wife there, and we lived there for about I think like five years, and then my after I got married, my wife and our kids, we actually moved to Utah for a few years, Salt Lake City. The reason we did that is it made more sense for us. I'm not sure if you're if you know, but in in Utah it's very family-oriented a lot. Okay, a lot of uh Mormons are there, and so having a lot of kids is kind of normal there. Some families even have had more kids than us, so it was actually really good for us homeschooling and just in general the environment. But then yeah, we decided to travel. We actually planned to do it for about two years, but but we ended up just doing it more because it it it kind of felt better for everybody, even the kids.
SPEAKER_00How old are your kids now?
SPEAKER_02My oldest, she will be 11 next month, and then after that, it's almost like on average two years apart. So 11, 9, 7, 5, and the youngest is two. So we actually had the youngest while traveling.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Where was your first stop?
SPEAKER_02We went to uh Turkey when we first started off. We stay about three months in each country.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so I guess can you list all the places you've been, or is that like a really long list?
SPEAKER_02It's it's kind of long. Uh my wife is from Bosnia, uh, so we definitely went to Bosnia a few times. Her grandparents uh live in Europe, Netherlands. So we went there a lot to visit them, and then while there, we kind of did like a road trip almost through all of Europe because it's road tripping for us was normal in America because we always went to different states. So doing the same thing in Europe wasn't difficult for us, and and we got to see all the different countries. And then in Asia we've been to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand for the most part, and Singapore.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Okay, so I know everybody's probably thinking like this is great. How do you make money? How do you pay for food?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I after high school I got married in our senior year actually.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_02And then I I attended uh two years community college. I didn't I it I didn't do it for myself actually, it was kind of what was expected of me to do. But then eventually I just I just stopped and I I worked many many jobs at different industries as well. In 2019 I I was able to go to a coding bootcamp. There is one called App Academy, they were one of the top ones in the nation. It was a six-month online program. I did that and then I was able to get a job within the first two months. Since then I've been just working remotely as a software engineer, which is why I'm able to just work remotely and and travel, which has been amazing, but there's of course so much more to go behind it. It wasn't easy, and uh I I worked a lot before I was a software engineer.
SPEAKER_00Okay, and so when you think about like the kids and they're growing up, that's so amazing for them to get to experience all these different places and meeting new people and the different cultures. Do you ever think obviously you do think about, but like what's the trade-off there? Like, obviously, they don't have the backyard and the house that they could say, like, oh, this is where I grew up, and you know. So, how has that been?
Raising Kids Without Attachment
SPEAKER_00Like, how do they seem to respond to that?
SPEAKER_02I guess it's it's not just one-sided, there's there's both sides. What you mentioned, we actually had that, you know. We had uh we we didn't buy a house, but we rented a large house in Utah. Uh, we had a big backyard, basement, neighborhood, friends, and all that. So, of course, them traveling, they're they're very happy because they get to experience like all the fun things. A normal child that would look forward to their summer vacation, they had it every day. So, so that that's something that they acknowledge and see it. And then I think two years after we were traveling, we kind of went back to see my my family, my parents and my wife's parents, and we stayed in America for three to six months, and once they see that and they can compare it, of course it's nice to have a a place, right? Like you were saying. But then being able to travel was also had it's a lot of pros then cons. And and yeah, I I do the way I live is with my wife and the kids. I communicate with them a lot, like it's some people say it's too much, but uh to me there's not too much because every day if they went to school they're gonna be talking to someone, right? And one of the things that at least in the early in their early years, the reason I did not send them to school is because so that we can spend time together. And this is very important because it it matters a lot. I'm not doing something that my wife doesn't want to, I'm not doing something that the kids don't want to. I make sure everybody's on the same page, and I think this is very important. To answer your question more directly, uh the trade-offs are that for me, if everything goes right, my kids are gonna learn not to be attached to to uh a location or any kind of material things. So, what I've been doing in in my in our travels is everywhere we go, they might buy some things, right? They wanna buy whatever it is, small souvenirs or toys or whatnot. And when it's time to move to the next location, they actually let it go.
SPEAKER_00Wow, that's so interesting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we basically donate out of a lot of things every time we move. So they learn to let go. Of course, in the beginning it wasn't easy, but after after a few times, they understand that because I'm I'm sure we all know this, something might be like things that you would normally throw away. For some people, it's like better than something new that you would get to people that don't have stuff, right? And so they get to learn all of those, like this is things that what life is really about, right? It's it's it's seeing what actually goes on in the real world. There's people that don't have a lot of things that we take granted that we have every day. So uh yeah, I I think that this is something that I will not regret, which is very important. Rather than later on in life saying I should have done this or that, I'm actually doing everything that I would have regretted later on. So doing this, and if some things still don't end up right, I I take full responsibility and it's it's better than regretting not doing something.
SPEAKER_00Yes, a hundred percent. I'm thinking I'm doing a similar thing in the way of I got a young dog that has no control, so he eats every one of my three-year-old daughter's toys. So she has learned not to grow an attachment to toys because the dog destroys it all. And I didn't at first I was like, man, should we get rid of this dog? But now you have given me new perspective that this is actually teaching her not to grow attachment to worldly things, and not that I am like I don't preach anything on my podcast because I'm still always learning and discovering about you know religion and all that. But I do know the Bible says, do not be attached to worldly things, you know? So there's gotta be a reason. And that is, I've never heard anybody talk about that. And wow, the what that must do as you but but like do they have the attachment to the family instead? The actual like things that matter, or do you think they shouldn't have an attachment to family as much?
SPEAKER_02That's that's something I still think about because my mom always tells me, because I I take very good care of my family. Uh so I show a lot of care and I'm always there for them. Uh, but of course I still let them do things and fail. I'm I I do I try to cover it all. But because I'm also always there, my mom says, you know, if if something were to happen to you and you're not there, are they gonna be able to do things on their own? So I of course I try to make sure that that is the case, but they're also very used to me. So even if I'm gone for a few hours, like my my little ones, they they're like they wait for me at the door when I come back and and things like that. But I don't know, it's it's I don't think I can give a definite answer to that. We just have to see how what happens.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, and I'm thinking of as they get older, if your goal is that you want this sort of lifestyle for them as as they continue on to life, they'll they'll be leaving their parents, they'll be leaving their siblings too. And man, it's so sad, but at the same time, it's so beautiful. That it's it's hard to make logical sense of it all, but what a gift that you are giving
Character First Homeschool Method
SPEAKER_00them. All right, how do you actually do like the academics? Who do you report to? Like in New York, we have every quarter you have to say what you're doing. Are you responsible to any government entity, or are you like, we don't belong to anybody, we are our own sovereign individual.
SPEAKER_02More like, more like that because uh Perfect. Yeah, in in Utah, I actually let my wife do most of figuring out what we have to do with the local government. But of course, I'm also there to make sure everything is in place. Both in Utah and in Texas, I think it's more free for you know homeschoolers. It's it's also very easy. So I we actually don't report to to anybody. And how we actually teach the kids is when it comes to being structured and and like everyday learning. My wife handles most of that. Part. What I do is I'm more focused on building their character and instilling discipline and something I call learning to learn. What the way I define these things is that we we can teach anything to anybody actually. But the important thing is do they know why why they are learning it and like what they're gonna do with it? So these things to me matter way more than learning the times table or whatever it is, because to me, I'm I myself I'm good at math, but like I said, I don't expect any of my kids to be a mathematician unless they want to, that's great. What I do is let's say they want to, right? I make sure they have the right approach to learning and applying what they want to learn and apply. If you think about it, like every day, right? We we're always going out. There's so much to learn when you're just walking down the street. Normally you go out, let's say you want to go to the mall to buy your kids shoes. Your objective is to go buy shoes and leave. But I I don't do that. Let's say we're going to the mall to buy them shoes. But if something else comes up, I I I almost can forget about the shoes. Because we can get to it. Because that's not the end of the world, right? What it is is if whatever that came up, if there's a lesson to be learned, to me that's the most valuable. And so what that means is I try to not go by regular time. So kind of if something has to freeze, we can freeze it, we can take our time. Because you know, in my childhood experience, my parents they made a huge sacrifice. So something I call they were in a survival mode where they didn't have much option, right? They they were trying to do what they had to do so I can get a good education. So I don't blame them, but there's way too many times where an event happens in every uh in every family, there's all sorts of things that can happen, right? Little arguments, misunderstanding, this or that. And as a person, as a child, when something is not addressed, it just stays in you. And and this is why there's all there's a whole different world of trauma and all that, right? And and I don't think a lot of people can do this, but when you are able to look back at your own experiences and turn those into lessons and you are trying to do different with your with your own family, it's it's it becomes very powerful actually.
SPEAKER_00So So I love what you're saying because I think about this a lot. Like if we grew up and like the trauma or just you know the parents that didn't know any better, you know. I I grew up in the era too where it was like children should kind of be seen, not heard. Like if my mom wants to spend the night like in the basement smoking cigarettes, watching Law and Order, that's what she did, and we were just expected to be upstairs. So to change things for our kids, like of course we want to be more involved, let's play games, let's you know, even watch a show together or whatnot. But then I've I've talked to my friend who's from Poland, and I'm like, are we making it so easy on them that they don't know how to deal with hardship? Because that's a problem too, and not saying that you're doing that because I think making them give away all of their toys is a hardship. So you're doing a good job. But do you think about that too? Like, is is that you you seem a very like a very deep person with a lot of intention on how you parent. What would your advice be, I guess, to the parent that's like, I grew up in a traumatic situation, so therefore I'm overcorrecting, and my kid will never know a hard day. Like that's not gonna be good either, right?
SPEAKER_02100%. I actually get that a lot because people that I spend time with, they know that I'm also a nice guy. Unless, you know, you if you want to see my angry side, that's a different story. But I do intentionally also uh give my kids hard time, but not in a way where they would they not in a way where they uh have to like deal with it without resources. Uh I don't know how to explain it, but it's in a it's in a way where I give them hard time where they still have to go through that uh emotions and and basically okay, I'll just give a real real uh example.
SPEAKER_00There you go.
SPEAKER_02We we get we get sad, we get angry, we get mad. So these things are our human nature, we we're gonna feel them, we're gonna get them. So when my kids are angry, I talk to them, I say, Why are you angry? And if they're able to justify it, justify it meaning when they talk about whatever it is and they're saying yes, I'm still angry, then I say, Okay, you have the right to be angry. I I I make them like go through the thought process. So I I play soccer and I train my my sons uh myself. So in in my training, I give them a lot of a hard time. And yeah, and this is because what you will the example you gave with your friend, it's it's it's very real, right? Because if you give it too easy, then you're missing out on the heart. But because I grew up in both sides and I see it very clearly, I I'm very grateful for that and I'm able to address it from all areas. And I'm not someone that's uh stubborn in a way where just because I think something is right, I'm not gonna like adjust to like if if I'm if I'm wrong with some things and I see what is right, I take the right. So I'm not I'm not like fixed, you know. I am very flexible. As long as something makes sense and is right, I'm always learning too. I mean, I something I say is let's say I have this amount of knowledge, I know that there are 100 times this amount that I still need to learn, and that's every day.
SPEAKER_00Where did you live? Dur oh, first I wanted to ask you this. What language do you speak with your family?
SPEAKER_02Uh we speak English because uh my wife and I we have to speak English to each other.
SPEAKER_00So neither of you grew up speaking English, but because you came together English in America, that was the language. Okay, interesting. Are you teaching them? Obviously, they're learning multiple languages. How many languages do they do you guys speak?
SPEAKER_02Um so of course, my own language, you know, I can talk to them in my own language and they can understand. They're not fluent. Like I said, because me and my wife we're always talking in English, same with her, she can speak Bosnian to them. Whenever we're with grandparents, you know, they can they can understand each other. And and like I said though, when it comes to the learning part, right, and a lot of people have a hard time understanding the approach I take. I know there's there's parents that they have their kids by age five, age seven knowing at least three to three languages, five languages, and that's a very big plus. That's correct.
SPEAKER_00Not in America, right?
SPEAKER_02Right. Uh however, I've been with a lot of different people, right? I've been with those kids that know five, six different languages, but like, but like, are you using it in in in a way that would have made s makes better sense for you, right? And it's it's most of the time it's a no.
SPEAKER_00You're so right. And this came up today as my son was doing his math program, and the page was like, These are your subtraction facts, memorize these. And you know, they weren't hard, they were like one digit things, but there was a lot of them. It was like 50 different maybe they were two digit, obviously, if it was going into 50 different, but I said, All right, what's that one? And he's like, Um, let me think. I'm like, no, you're supposed to memorize it. And then after I'm like, why? Why is he supposed to memorize it? Why whenever in his life will he have to know 14 minus you know, A like that? Like it w where he can't just think it through and give the answer. It sounds like now you've given me perspective, I'm not gonna make him memorize them. That's a waste of time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think memorizing is not the best approach because uh let's say I I growing up in school, I used to ask a lot of questions to my teachers as well. And for the most part, the questions I asked, I could not get the answer to justify why something is. So most of the time, especially in in America, most teachers just go buy the textbook. So, like in high school, let's say uh chemistry, geometry, algebra, calculus, physics, if you were to ask them to explain a formula, if there was no textbook, most teachers can't themselves. So, how how do you even expect them to teach us? You know what I mean? And yeah.
COVID And Digital Control
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say during COVID, you guys weren't masking and you weren't getting shots.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we didn't.
SPEAKER_00Did you, given your experience in just the world, having a worldly view, and you know, you you you want uh things to make sense. What was your take on and where were you living at the time of COVID? What was your take on all of this?
SPEAKER_02In in during COVID, we were in Utah.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Were people laid back there about it more than New York?
SPEAKER_02Definitely. Yeah. There was not any there was not much. I know in the news there were so many things, people rebelling or this and that. I don't from what I remember, there was not much of that in in Utah.
SPEAKER_00So your life didn't change much?
SPEAKER_02Especially for me, because right before Utah, it's when I did that six-month coding boot camp. And when I said it was really hard, I wasn't joking. I I didn't go out that whole six months. So like my wife actually did so much uh for me to just focus. Like, she went to the groceries, she took care of the kids. I was just uh day and night in front of the laptop. And to the point where maybe the two to three times that I did go out on the weekend, it felt weird for me to be out. So when COVID hit, it was it it it it didn't feel anything for me. Yeah, it's it's funny, I know.
SPEAKER_00That is funny, but it's so interesting, and especially because they were like saying this started in China and being, I don't know, I'm sh China's large, so I'm sure it wasn't in your backyard of where you grew up. But like, were you like this seems odd?
SPEAKER_02I wasn't surprised, honestly, because you know, like now it's as if like COVID is not there anymore, even though it it is, but it's not what they said it is. So like the amount of control the media has on us, as much as we can say or people say they're aware of. It's it's the technology the past 20 to 30 years has successfully done their job to where we humans are in a state where even if we say we realize some things, we don't do anything about it.
SPEAKER_00Okay, okay, yeah, I can see that.
SPEAKER_02And and that's very dangerous actually. And that's what they want. That's that's exactly what they want. Because there's a certain time period where where they're able to keep information away from us, and then there's another time where which is the past 15-20 years where we have the information. So now they have to figure out how to still keep us under the their line, control, controlled while we still know what's going on. And they do this from you know all these forms of digital attachment, like you know, everybody's just on their phones, on their screens, and and they make humans feel like they're doing something, but really, really there's not much being done.
SPEAKER_00So it's just But you're so right, you're so right though, even though I'm like myself is a perfect example. Like, I'm gonna leave my government job, I'm gonna homeschool my kids. But in doing that, I'm still like, okay, I have the podcast, I have the Instagram page, I'm running a business trying to make income, but being on the phone, what is that really doing? Can we survive and uh, you know, without that money? Like, what is the benefit of having that? Like, I could also just be homeschooling the kids and never pick up a phone or do a podcast at all. Of course, there's some benefits to it, but you're right, it is we are all in a trance, you know. It's just like what level of the matrix are you aware of or not aware of? And like how bad is it in China? Do you remember or do you have family there?
SPEAKER_02I was very small. I was when we left China, I was five.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So you don't have family there that's like still I I do, but there's for the past over ten years we don't have contact.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_02The only contact I have is uh with one of my aunts that actually is living in a major city that's part of China, but like where we are actually from all my relatives there, we don't have contact. And it this this differs from different people to people. Some people still have contact, uh it's just very political. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You must have such an amazing perspective on just getting to visit so many places.
Why Asia Feels Like Home
SPEAKER_00What has been as we finish up, what has been the most memorable place that you have visited it and and lived with the family?
SPEAKER_02It's very hard to say, but all in all, Asia was actually good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And a lot of it comes from the kids' perspective as well. They felt more safe here, and the people are very nice. So there's and of course, uh everywhere people go through hardship, but here people are still able to be thankful for for what they have. As you mentioned, in in America, everybody is trying to chase something, everybody's trying to get, like you said, the next person gets something, so they want to get it. Here I think it's more like laid back where they don't really care if someone else has something. They're they're they're happy, you know, on a daily basis, they get to enjoy their everyday life, and the kids see that. So my second child, uh my son, he is kind of more like me when I was young, where I didn't there were so many places where I didn't feel comfortable, and when I don't feel comfortable, I don't talk to uh people in that environment. And he is like that, even in other countries, even in Europe. Very surprisingly, like when we first came to Malaysia three years ago, actually more than three years ago, he was talking to everyone and he was just smiling, like he you can clearly see it, right? It's uh you you know your kids, but they're they're all different. But compared to how he was in other parts in in Malaysia, his face just glowed, you know. Every every time we go out, he was smiling and he was very comfortable. He didn't have that uncomfort energy. And when we go out to eat, I let the kids order, and he's always like you know, trying to help out and the other siblings, ordering and just talking to the people. And and yeah, so for for that reason, I would say as a family, it's been Asia, but there's definitely very beautiful places in other parts of the world too.
SPEAKER_00Where are you going next? Last question.
SPEAKER_02I actually stopped planning just last last week we were in in in Indonesia and and we came back to Malaysia. What's next? I actually don't know. I used to do this thing where I plan out at least six months out. I I used to have the plane tickets, but Airbnb is reserved. But for the past one year, I've just been doing it on the go.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So you'll actually stay in like I mean, I I would assume if you're staying for three months, an Airbnb would be maybe a little bit cheaper, like they give you a discount for the length of the stay. For longer. But then again, you're not paying a mortgage, so yeah.
SPEAKER_02I think when it comes to the financial side, it's not some people automatically assume that I'm saving a lot of money, but instead of trying to save a lot of money, what is really happening is for the same X amount of money spent in America versus here, you just get more. And that that's what we've been doing, because experiences are are gonna be memories and they're worth more than yeah.
SPEAKER_00So you could take the same amount of money and go to Malaysia and do way more stuff than you could if you were here in California?
SPEAKER_02100%, yes.
SPEAKER_00Wow, okay. I mean, I guess I figured, but I didn't realize it was that apparent. Alright, amazing.
New Homeschool Platform Plus AI
SPEAKER_00Is there anything else that you wanted to make sure that you chatted about today? I know you reached out to come on the podcast, which I'm so grateful for, and thank you for rescheduling for me because my mother-in-law's birthday came and I didn't realize they were having a party. So you so kindly rescheduled for me. So I thank you for doing that because this has been a really cool conversation. But what made you reach out in the first place? Was there something that you wanted to make sure that you shared with uh you know the world?
SPEAKER_02Yes, so I am working on a lot of things of my own aside from my normal full-time job. With my background as a software engineer and all the experiences that I've been through, I decided to develop a lot of software and platforms, major majority in in education sector. And one of the things is actually for like homeschoolers, for homeschooling families. So it's not fully out yet, but I'm in the process of trying to be in contact with homeschool families so that when the platform is out, that uh you know I have a a ready audience that I can share it with. And that was one of the main reasons I I reached out to you because I see that you have a huge uh following on on Instagram and that you were also homeschooling, so that was the the relation there. Cool. So yeah, it's the my website is education.rubka.com, but it's still in process of being developed and and and worked on. So it's not fully out yet, but it's it's it's the way I do it is there's so many families that I've been uh building relationships with along the years that so what I'm trying to do is instead of me just doing something and giving it to people to use, I am collaborating with homeschooling families and understanding what it is that they actually need and then developing it based on that. Because today there's already so many platforms out there already, you know, there's so many resources that we've used. Like my wife, you know, subscribed to so many different platforms. Back in the day, there was Homer, I can't even remember them all. Right now, I think recently she subscribed to Epic books.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02So there's just so many, like, some are mainly for math, some are for like reading, writing, some are for books, some are for kids. And it's I feel like it's just too many things to juggle. Yeah. So I'm trying to do something where it's all in one. And like instead of paying, for example, five to ten dollars a month for each of these things, it would be cost effective to pay for one platform, and whatever the users need it, I would be able to develop it as we go as well.
SPEAKER_00So cool. I love that because yeah, the the more that we can make it easier for homeschoolers, the less they will be afraid to try it. Last question What since you're in the field, what are your thoughts on AI and the future and what we should be using or neglecting?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I've been actually working with AI and studying it a lot the past one year. The what I have to say is nine out of ten people talking about AI doesn't really know what it is and what it can do. So AI is changing every second, not even just day, it's within a day it changes. And the people behind AI, I believe that they're still in the process of themselves figuring out what is possible. From my experience, what I can say without saying too much is some things that they have discovered that they don't want it to be available to the mass population, they're starting to keep it to themselves. The only way AI grows is people using it, and right now it's actually really affordable, and they're making it affordable so that we use it. Even from six months to today, that has been slowly rising the cost of AI. And there's I think there's gonna come a time where it's gonna be not as cheap as it is today to use it, and and yeah, it's it's very powerful if you know what to do with it. So a lot of people complain, they're saying like it still gives us errors or it's not doing this. The reason is you're not giving it the right context uh for it to work with, just like humans, you know, and people are trying to compete with AI and compare AI to humans. I think that's the wrong approach. You're not supposed to compare. People are trying to say like there's things AI can't do, and the reason might be because they want to keep their jobs or whatever it might be, but that's not the right approach to look at it. I think it's more like how can you use it to first of all better yourself and be more productive in whatever it is that you're doing because AI can't do it. If it is a process that a human does, AI can do it better.
SPEAKER_00Interesting. Yeah, super interesting. So, knowing like what commands and how to explain what you're looking for and you know what little prompts to put in there, it it's a huge learning curve for sure. And if you haven't been using it yet, yeah, it's gonna get harder and harder to jump on that wagon. And that's funny, I never really thought about that because it is a lot of times you can use Chat GPT for free or Claude for free, but then you know, if you want it a little bit more advanced, it's $20 a month. There might come a time where none of it's free and it might be a hundred dollars a month or or more. I never really thought about that. That they're kind of luring you in now with gaining access to the convenience of it.
SPEAKER_02Just to give a little bit more information, when you actually use it in like coding or developing software, it it's not that cheap anymore. Like even myself, when I use it for my own work, not not my job for what I'm doing personally, there are months that it exceeds $500 very easily.
SPEAKER_00Really? What which programs or or what makes that happen?
SPEAKER_02So you mentioned Chat GPT, right? So you're you're just chatting with it, but when you actually wanted to do the advanced stuff, you have to use their AI, uh their API. So for example, open AI. So every request that for example, if you were to do what you did in the chat in in like the real sense, for every call it costs money. So like every every message you send, it usually costs money. So it actually costs them money for you using it free, uh, which is what I mentioned that they're a yeah, they're still in their phase of growing it, and there's a lot of money being burned, like billions of dollars into hundreds of billions of dollars.
SPEAKER_00Just from letting us have access to it for free at this point. Interesting. So every time I'm like, that's not what I wanted you to say, you idiot. And I have it go back for more, like, you know, I'm looking for a recipe for this. It's like that is just such a peon amount of what it can actually do. Whereas if I were actually in there using the real stuff, like, okay, I want you to do it. You can set it up. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You can set it up to the point where all these things that people are complaining about wouldn't be an issue. So you can actually do it to where if you say something wrong, it it would uh it would point it out and object to you instead of because a lot of things people are saying is it gives you what you want, but you're able to set it up to where it doesn't do that, that it actually does things based on real facts that you're giving access to.
SPEAKER_00I have a lot more to learn on it other than how to make a description for the podcast episode.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Of course it's very convenient for those things too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, this has been such a cool conversation. Thank you so much for meeting with me today. Is there anywhere you already gave your website, give it again, and I will put the website in the show's description so people can check that out.
SPEAKER_02It's just education uhed u c A T I O N dot Rupcut, my name, R-A-P-K-A-T.com.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. I will put that in the show's description. Thank you, RapCut. This has been awesome.
SPEAKER_02Thank you very much. It was a pleasure.
Final Links And Listener Support
SPEAKER_00Thank you for listening to the Homeschool How To Podcast. If today's episode helped you, please be sure to follow the show and leave a review. It's the best way to support the podcast. And if you're just getting started or need a reset, head to thehomeschoolhow2.com and grab my free 30-day homeschool quick start guide. Until next time, keep learning, keep questioning, and thank you for your love of the next generation.