The remarks you make about education and learning “how to think” is why I homeschooled my daughter. She got a basic Classical education. I started out with “The Well Trained Mind.” She has also taken online college classes with the college founded by the Homeschooling Legal Defense Association, Patrick Henry. Christ centered college level courses are very important to me.
The public schools all the way to colleges actually DISCOURAGE critical thinking skills. Another reason to look for alternative routes that bypass colleges today.
I remember an etymology on the word “education” and how it was traceable back to the Hebrew nation in exile, seeking to train their younger generations how to think, in order to have life with God.
The same intent drove the establishment of most colleges in the Americas prior to the US. Theological training frequently sought to establish academic institutions to learn Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, to better study the Bible and learn His Word academically. The focus on those studies was to better hone their skills in furthering their education or “how to think” in fellowship with God, by what He provided.