Wow, my parents were willing to sacrifice my entire education if it meant I participated in school in the ways they cared about.

Your way sounds better.

Mine too, well mostly. My Grandmother worked through my mother to get that done without invoking other fairly painful, in the consuming too much time sense, family dynamics (Father was a mess and mostly out of this part of the picture.), but I digress save to say me too.

They want to encourage self directed learning and I am glad they did. If nothing else, boredom becomes a good thing more often. The seeking begins and with that can often come some real learning and insight as it may be applied.