Now and again I have to remind myself again of all the wonderful reasons for home-educating my children. Why do I not want to send them off to school? Why don't I want to intrust them into the care of teachers (professionals and experts)? Why don't I want them to learn to sit still all morning? And why do I want to deprive them from the experience of being stuck in a group of 20 -30 pupils for hours every day?
Well, often enough poeple seem to think I am one of those Over-Mums who are afraid of letting go of their little ones. They warn me that it isn't healthy to shelter kids from the REAL world and from trouble and age-mates.
But, to be honest, that is actually the last thing I am doing or even thinking of. I notice the other way around that my children learn more about society and the world by living in it. They are out there and in there, every day. They are not shut away in a building designed just for children, they are taking part in my everyday business in my everyday world - which is filled with real society life.
Here are some points to consider when it comes to home-educating:
- The children are naturally intergrated in life and society; they are not seperated out by 'shutting' them away in a seperate building called school; they have the chance to take part in real life as it is and learn in a totally natural environment.
- They are surrounded by all ages. I find that it is vital for a child to be surrounded not only by his/her peers, but by all ages. Society is not split into age-groups, and it is important to respect the elderly, learn from adults and know how to look after little ones. As well, by not being forced into peer-groups a child will naturally look for an adult role-model (or several adult role-models) to learn from. After all we want our children to turn into responsible, thoughtful adults and not feel lost and directionless.
- Learning at one's own pace. In school children can rarely follow there own pace and learning style, because they get stopped or dragged along by the group. This is frustrating for all the children who are not like the average learner. At home there is no time pressure - either way.
- Subjects can be pursued indepth. That was something I always missed in school. We would only stay on the surface of a subject, to then move on quickly to the next. There is never time to answer all the questions or study something indepth to become an 'expert'. I remember so many subject I would have liked to know more about. Some of them I tried to pursue after school, but then - we often had a load of homework to finish and I was tired so that studying even more would have turned me into a 'learnaholic'. It was just not possible!
- Children can learn outside of textbooks and worksheets. Now, this is one way of schooling that is really suiting my family: The school of life. :-) We all love learning by experiencing. This means going out into nature for biology, or visiting museums and ancient places for history, travelling for learning languages and cultures, visiting concerts for music, learning about physics and chemistry by experimenting, etc.
- Children don't stop to believe in their SELF (even more so when unschooling ;-). Children are allowed to follow their heart and soul. They learn things that interest them with their full heart and will be able to keep this ability. They have the confidence in their own learning ability. They don't rely on a teacher - they only need a supporter to answer their questions. Everything else is lying in their own hands.
- There are no unnecessary outside pressures to distract the child from enjoying studying. A home-educating child doens't feel threatened or distracted by peer-group pressures. It doesn't matter if he/she is or isn't interested in the 'right' pop groups or television idols, if he/she is wearing the right clothes, the right school bag, if he/she owns a digicam or mp3-player, or if he/she is hanging out with the right people.
- The family will be the center. This something I consider very important - especially in our modern times. As expectations are so high and the world gets more and more hectic and complicated the family should be a calm haven to be in or return to. Home-education brings all the family members closer together. Everyone will spend more time with or around each other. Mother and Father remain role-models and are learning supporters at the same time. Sisters and brothers can support each other and be real friends. When school sucks up most time of a day, usually family members don't have much desire to spend quality time with each other but are rather glad to be alone at least for a little while of the day.
These are just the main facts about home-education that let me believe that it is the best for us.
What are your reasons? Do you have more ideas?
Have a great week,
Isla | 