The Soons take it free and easy

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Homeschool Profile on 3 Aug 2009.

Homeshool Profile: The Soons

KV and Wai Leng Soon have been staunch campaigners for homeschool and family-centered education for as long as I have known them! Happily married and the parents of 3 children, Amrita (13), Samanta (12) and Arian (5), the couple began their extraordinary advocacy for do-it-yourself homeschooling almost at the same time as the launch of their pro-family web initiative called Family Place. How the Soons became firm friends and  fellow advocates with us on the road less traveled is another story in itself. Meanwhile, Wai Leng invites us home for a peek at their unschooling family.

Tell us, how long have you been homeschooling?

For as long as we can remember! I’d like to think that we were already homeschooling them since they were born because homeschool is a way of life that is child-centered, holistic and engaging.

What made you all decide to homeschool?

We felt that there had to be a better way for children to learn and to grow without having to go through all the unnecessary stress or limitations imposed by conventional schools. We also feel it is the most natural thing to do as parents.

Tell us about some of the things you do during homeschool – the curriculum you use, the way you spend your time, the responsibilities given to each person, etc.

We have found that the ‘free-and-easy’ approach to learning suits us best due to our learning styles that lean towards creativity. We do not have a lot of sit down work like book studies or homework, but instead spend a lot of time indulging in music and singing (our daughters play the piano, violin and guitar), composing and performing. We also do art and craft, and a little fashion designing. The girls are involved with competitive swimming with a swimming club and participate in competitions regularly. Arian plays most of his time and attends a twice-weekly playgroup that I initiated. As you can see, we are advocates of learning through play!

Then again, now that there is a likelihood that one of our children may be destined for college, we have begun a somewhat structured approach with curriculum gathered from the internet and elsewhere following a syllabus along the lines of the American system. While the syllabus is structured, our approach to learning is still pretty much child-driven.

How has homeschooling affected or benefited your children?

They are given a lot of freedom to be creative and expressive in the things they do. They are self-assured and are not afraid to pursue their dreams. I think homeschooling has helped them discover their true passions in life, and because they have loads of time on their hands, they are able to channel their energy into things that matter to them, like music, art and sports. We also feel it gives our children more space and opportunity to explore what they want to do, when and how.

What about yourselves as parents? Has homeschooling made parenting more demanding, or is it easier?

I feel that homeschooling is easier on the family. Because we have our children at home, I am able to monitor them closely, in terms of their learning and emotional development. There are fewer distractions from the outside world and the children can be more focused in their activities. They are also involved in day-to-day chores like keeping the house in order, washing up, and looking after the pets (we have a dog and 6 cats!)

For KV, it has changed his lifestyle. He has had to focus his effort and energy on the kids after working hours so that time spent with our children is more meaningful. There are some sacrifices, but overall we feel it is worth it.

Are there any special challenges that you face as a homeschooling family? Do these challenges if any affect your children’s homeschooling?

There are too many challenges to remember! We certainly have had difficult times but the breakthrough is in getting past our own mindset and discovering new approaches as well as learning to see things from our children’s point of view. Solving problems as they arise – this is how we see challenges.

As an example, our children have friends from the swim team but they do not get to meet with their friends on a daily basis. So we arrange play dates and play groups for them on quite a regular basis. We also initiated a study group recently and now some kids meet to learn together in our home.

What else do you do that involves your children and the whole family?

Our children attend a Buddhist Sunday School where they have an additional group to socialize with. KV and I also conduct holiday camps for children where our kids participate and learn in as well. We formed a singing group that they are a part of, and they get to perform their songs at other centers and even birthday or wedding functions. Right now we are working towards getting their first album out! It’s so interesting the things that regularly come up in our homeschool!

What values have you sought to inculcate in the home as you educate the children?

We teach our children to be responsible for themselves and others, and to give their very best in whatever that they do.

Are there memorable achievements in your homeschooling journey that you wish to share?

Unlike a conventional school where there are many opportunities to collect prizes, homeschoolers celebrate achievements in more subtle ways.

Take Amrita – for the past year and a half, she has learnt to play the guitar almost entirely on her own and has performed in public a number of times. Our other daughter Samanta is quite a swimmer. Through personal discipline and dedication she has improved tremendously and is likely to attain state level next year. The youngest in the family Arian has quite a wide vocabulary for his age from hearing and speaking with his older sisters and through the movies that he enjoys watching!

All in all, we believe our children will grow up to be high achievers in whatever they may wish to pursue, be it art, music or swimming or all of the above!

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The Soons are also founders of Malaysian Home Educators Network (MALHEN), an inclusive support group for homeschoolers of all stripes and convictions.  Wai Leng has recently published Malaysia’s first book on homeschooling in the country, called Learning Beyond Schooling, while KV posts his view on all things education and homeschool on his blog titled – you guessed it -  Learning Beyond Schooling . To join MALHEN, please email malhen(at)yahoogroups.com

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