Homeschooling for life

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Education on 20 May 2010.

Reports coming in from the US confirm that homeschooling is on the rise. Approximately 1.5 million children (2.9% of school-age children) were being homeschooled in the spring of 2007, representing a 36% relative increase since 2003 and a 74% relative increase since 1999.

The number in Malaysia is also increasing although the rise is more modest, possibly of no statistical relevance. There continues to be a lot of interest in homeschool due to concerns regarding the education system in the country but educating a child yourself is still the final recourse instead of the first choice.

Nevertheless the surge in numbers sometimes gives the notion that educating a child at home is as easy as flicking on a switch. I wish I could give an unqualified ‘yes’ to that impression, but I’m afraid I can’t. For many Malaysians, homeschooling is like uprooting one’s family to immigrate to another country; the excitement and anticipation belie the fact that after you’ve landed (hopefully on both your feet), the hard work is ahead of you.

The topography of this new place that is homeschool is easy enough to navigate – on paper – but adjusting to a different way of education and learning can be trying. It’s a whole new culture. This is the time when the determination of new homeschooling parents is tested, and the thought that educating one’s kids at home might not be the answer weighs guilty on the mind.

I’ve heard of a number of parents who pulled their children out of school after Primary 6 because they didn’t like the idea of Science and Math in BM. Hastily, I must add. There was no proper inquiry into the what and how of home education, there was no buying into the shared responsibility of educating junior. Worse, there were unaddressed behavioural and relational issues at home almost as intractable as the Middle East conflict. Now that’s no way to run a home, much less to manage a homeschool.

My own experience shows that the earlier a child begins homeschool, the better the outcomes. Our two sons never spent a day in a conventional school. On looking back, I believe it was this that gave us a good start. We set the pace and enforced discipline. We didn’t have to worry about weaning the kids from school and peer dependency; the boys didn’t have to figure out what to do with their time when teacher wasn’t around to say what book to read or what page to colour or how to play. Boredom wasn’t a part of their vocabulary.

Our learning was more organic, developing naturally as part of our normal routines. Of course there was a plan, a curriculum of sorts, we bought books; but it was our plan, not something imposed by a faceless institution. I must admit that when we started to homeschool it was not like we had it all mapped out. It was very much a do-it-yourself endeavour, one day at a time. On some days, we threw caution to the wind, grit our teeth, and with faith in our sails hung on! The end wasn’t always clear, but the direction and purpose behind our convictions were.

I am not saying that one shouldn’t choose to homeschool when a child is past Primary 6. There are many who have done well and here’s the reason. They thought long and deep, and when it came time to burn their bridges they were determined to build new ones.

If you are going to educate your own children, you’ll have to work at it. You as in ‘you all’ (there’s no plural you in English) meaning, chiefly mom and dad, and not excluding the children. Simple as that. It’s not a walk in the park, but as I have discovered – and as many other homeschooling parents would attest – there is real joy in the journey. It comes from knowing that you’re doing much more than merely preparing a child for college. You’re not giving a child an education; you’re giving him a life. And that’s what makes it all worthwhile.

One Comment so far...

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.