Between the ages of 5 and 16 I think the only thing I learned from compulsary education that is of any use to me now is the ability to read and write.
Eleven years for that?!! In today’s media-rich society I think there might be room for a very different form of compulsary education, possibly being for the ages of 5 to 8. If only to learn to read and write and get used to being around people your own age. The rest you would learn as a result of your natural interests in things.
I was thinking about this same thing recently, and these are the things I came up with:
Math.
I wouldn’t have learned this without having to go to school. I never enjoyed it even in school, but even basic math (ratios, basic algebra, etc…) is incredibly useful in daily life.
Writing.
Not just basic writing, but how to write a concise, clear and structured essay/paragraph/sentence. Definitely not something I probably would have picked up easily on my own.
Spanish.
I was required to take some foreign language courses, and I took Spanish. I remember enough of it well enough to puzzle out newspapers and other simple Spanish documents.
Scientific Method.
Although I might have come up with something similar on my own, learning the formal scientific method has stood me in good stead for a long time, when trying to figure things out.
I learned a great deal of useful knowledge, but not many other useful skills that I can remember.
The most useful subject I ever studied in grades K-12 was, believe it or not, cross-country track. I rarely use algebra or diagram sentences, but I still run 4-6 miles a day.
In addition to things like math and reading, probably the only other one I can think of is typing. I took a typing class my junior year of high school and went from hunt-n-peck to upwards of 70 wpm, so it’s good for something!
Math and typing would probably be my two biggies. I learned to write pretty much on my own, and I could read before I started school. I took Spanish, which is all gone now (and never stuck well), but I still speak fluent Danish, which I learned on my own.
But are we talking about learning at home, with parents? I’m pretty sure that if we had done that, I would have gotten a better education all 'round (not hard, with my schools)–math and typing included. If I had done entirely interest-led studying all on my own, I’d be hugely educated in history and literature, and not much else. But hardly anyone does that.
I learned tons in college, of course. I was just not very prepared for it by my earlier education.
Math. Beginning French and German. Driving.
Statistics.
The ability to construct and evaluate an argument.
Oh, how I resented that keyboarding class I took in 1989, where we sat in a room full of typewriters and learned how to bold and centre and spell things (!!!) as well as how to type. I had no idea how utterly useless the former would be, and how massively helpful the latter.
In High School, I went to JROTC instead of Gym.
GREAT CHOICE! 
I learned–
[ul]
[li]Red Cross First Aid[/li][li]CPR & Rescue Breathing[/li][li]How to shoot a carbine.[/li][li]How to read a map.[/li][li]Geography[/li][li]Military history.[/li][li]How to teach a course.[/li][li]A lot more about keeping myself clean & shipshape than Health class ever did.[/li][/ul]
Typing. The most important skill in th computer age
Thanks to compulsory education I was introduced to math, typing, Latin, and (thanks to membership in a geeky Stan-Kentonesque “stage band”–are they still around?) jazz.
Being able to BS. Being able to work under pressure (I liked to procrastinate). Being able to BS under pressure. For me school was mostly a game of learning exactly what the teachers wanted, and how to regurgitate it in the best manner. The workplace is often much the same. It’s been invaluable.
Basic math, though I’ve geneneraly forgotten anything more complicated than 4th grade. I went to a mediocre school system, though. My mom taught me to read (and then write. And then write script) well in advance of my class. I was always reading ahead and teaching myself things that were a little above my level. In return, I was always bored in school, and am unconvinced I actually learned much I wouldn’t have been taught or learned on my own (Mom was a Lit major, Dad chemical engineering. They had the bases covered). I loved learning, but I always viewed school as some sort of daycare/holding pen that sucked up six hours before I could go home to my books and find out something new and cool about physics or English Lit or whatever the hell it was I was into that week.
Though I probably learned a lot about people and being properly socialized via all the other students. I really needed that, 'cause my personality is a little odd.
My mother taught me to read and write a couple of years before I went to kindergarten. I failed to be taught to do math for all the years I attended school. There were math classes going on, and I was in the room, but whatever the magic key to understanding it is, they never mentioned it. Since the end of 1975, I’ve not had to write a single book report, speak another language, fake being able to read music, utter a sentence about any explorer or politician who died 500 years before I was born, or run around in a circle until I black out.
If I come up with another useful skill I learned in school that isn’t typing, I’ll let you know.
Officially the purpose of schools is to teach kids. In fact their primary purpose is to keep kids locked up in one place for a big chunk of the day so adults can get things done.
–Paul Graham, in his essay Why Nerds are Unpopular.
Well, besides the things that have already been mentioned (math, writing structure, typing, etc.) I would have to say the greatest benefit from being in school was learning how to live in society. If I had stayed at home and gotten my education from books/my parents I never would have learned to work in groups, to deal with authority figures that aren’t family members, to ignore people who felt the need to make fun of me, etc. I would not have been able to be in theater which was the best part of all 12 of my years in school. I wouldn’t ever have learned to get up in front of a group and give a speech or presentation. The life skills I learned there have served me well and I can’t imagine I would have learned all of that through self study at home.
Mathmathmathmathmath
Any teacher that fails to make math interesting (“fun” is probably pushing it) for kids just isn’t doing his job. Trig, algebra, statistics, some of the geometry, probability, and critical thinking have all been extremely useful in life. I haven’t found a use for calculus in everyday life, though.
Typing turned out to be very handy, too.
Speech and debate were great. They taught me a lot about speaking in front of people, and about presenting thoughts logically. Both served me well as a writer and as a part-time teacher.
I think I learned more about English from my parents than my teachers.
Seconded. And Math. I saw my first punch cards and ‘computer’ back in 1973 in 8th grade. We would write the results and equations on a true black board.
It would only take one card at a time, and you had to feed the equation to it. But it was pretty cool.
Heady stuff.
A logic class that I took in high school. It seemed obvious at the time. I don’t know if it has helped me, but do recognize that basic logic questions come into play every day. Every moment.
I had a weird Social Studies teacher that read Kurt Vonugut to us for a period once a week. Got me interested in reading for myself. That would never happen today.
I second JROTC skills and typing, with digital graphics in a distant third place. I would have been better off in nearly every other subject if I had been homeschooled instead.
The music program was in fact good. It just required some innate ability in addition to practice. I lacked said ability.
I learned how to read and I learned how to “read.” The second part was pure luck in being placed with the right teacher. However, my home environment offered that as well.
I learned how to hem a skirt.
I learned how to be on time.
Yes, that. And how to follow a schedule. And make sure I have with me all I’m supposed to have (pens, books, assignments, etc.)
And how to make those folded paper fortune-tellers.
And how to use the library.
And the factual stuff formed a framework on which to hang all the other stuff I learned later.
And then there was Driver’s Ed.
Let’s see.
Spelling
Typing
Spanish and French
Math
Now for the real stuff
How to stand up in front of other people and give a presentation
How to do real, organized, methodical research
Music appreciation
Debate
A killer volleyball serve
Showing up on time and prepared
How to either fit in with, or navigate around, various cliques and social groups