Homeschoolers’ day out
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Extra-curricular Activities on 8 Jun 2005.
So, the homeschoolers’ Junior Public Speaking (JPS) outing at FRIM (Forest Research Institute Malaysia) went well although a good number were absent. Over a dozen homeschoolers (8 to 16 years) and their family members spent the day in the cool, green grounds of the tropical forest reserve on the outskirts of KL, possibly one of the last pockets of nature near the city.
The JPS is a year-long programme geared at improving public speaking skills of our homeschoolers and they usually meet once a month. Modeled after Toastmasters, the kids have had a lot of fun since facilitator Amy Ratos got the programme going for the first time last year.The kids got spunk, and the best thing about JPS is the way they’re showing greater confidence speaking without notes in front of peers and adults.
Sure, it’s only a 2-minute speech, but everyone’s got to make sure they’re on topic, start with an interesting opening, have a worthy middle, and close on time. We had an Invocator who kicked things off with a motivational piece about humanity’s ability to laugh at jokes (!) and someone’s the ‘Ah Counter’ tracking umms and ahs that normally show up in unprepared speeches or nervous speakers. Elliot our 13-year old was grammar and language evaluator, spotting howlers like “I like to watch people cook and I love to cook myself” (which came from 13-year old Joel who claimed to love cooking).
I love the idea of homeschooling, and times like this when a bunch of parents and kids come together remind me that there’s nothing we can’t do when we put our minds to it. Many of us have become friends through the years, developed out of a common desire to give our children what conventional schools take away. That morning, I also learned that 16-year old Sara wants to be a dancer, and Ii-Shan wants to be a psychiatrist so he can “understand the mind of a teenager.” On being asked what animal he would like to be, Ron didn’t hesitate to say he wouldn’t mind being a rat. Another boy – was it Kevin? – talked about helping the poor because everyone’s only interested in taking instead of giving, and I thought the ability to tell them apart was commendable.
You know, I keep coming across people who tell me about things homeschoolers miss. I suppose that’s inevitable; but do I really mind missing out on bullies, a grade-anxious culture, dumbed-down learning passing for education, and a regiment that sucks the life out of our kids? On the other hand homeschooling is about all the things we get to do simply because we’ve broken free of our shackles. We’re free to be family.
It was a lovely day. We had grannies, babies in strollers, and dads with video cameras. There was lots of food – someone brought homemade peanut butter, another brought walnut cake – and there were laughs aplenty. The kids were well-behaved, busy catching up with one another. Homeschoolers all, from different faith communities coming together as families do. And isn’t that the most natural thing to do?
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