"Why did you decide to Home-school your child?" is a question I have been asked very often.
I have given different answers to different people, but the honest answer is, I knew no better.
Bam! I said it! I really couldn't have it any other way! Just like for some the natural and obvious thing to do is to put kids in school, this was my natural organic way of doing things!
I got introduced to Breastfeeding as the natural way, followed by a number of things that I followed, like Baby-led weaning (children self-feeding from the age of 6 months), Baby-wearing, Cloth-diapering, Gentle Parenting, Natural term weaning (I nurtured my child till he was 4.5years old) and in the same scheme of things, the concept of Homeschooling.
For me, Homeschooling was just the natural progression from all of these that I was already following. I still remember one of the first homeschoolers I met, to whom I asked what is homeschooling? What she said was so simple, yet as an after thought, so profound! She said, "You know Baby-led weaning right? This is just an extension of that. Child-led feeding -> Child-led learning. Simple"
I have given different answers to different people, but the honest answer is, I knew no better.
Bam! I said it! I really couldn't have it any other way! Just like for some the natural and obvious thing to do is to put kids in school, this was my natural organic way of doing things!
I got introduced to Breastfeeding as the natural way, followed by a number of things that I followed, like Baby-led weaning (children self-feeding from the age of 6 months), Baby-wearing, Cloth-diapering, Gentle Parenting, Natural term weaning (I nurtured my child till he was 4.5years old) and in the same scheme of things, the concept of Homeschooling.
For me, Homeschooling was just the natural progression from all of these that I was already following. I still remember one of the first homeschoolers I met, to whom I asked what is homeschooling? What she said was so simple, yet as an after thought, so profound! She said, "You know Baby-led weaning right? This is just an extension of that. Child-led feeding -> Child-led learning. Simple"
In my world, that was the simplest choice I could make! The choice to let my child choose what he wants to do or what he wants to learn. In fact, it sounded so simple that I thought I was being lazy! 😂
For all who think that sounds like washing off my responsibilities, well, here's the catch. Would I rather be "the responsible one" and take everything on my head and later expect him to be "more responsible as he grows", or would I prefer to let my child who is inherently willing to be responsible for his choices, be himself? I preferred the latter.
By the way, One more clarification on what homeschooling is. There are various types in homeschooling. Homeschooling is a Huge Umbrella word constituting various different methods or formats. What we follow is what is widely known as Un-schooling, though I prefer to call it Life-learning. In this format, there's no structure, nothing that we per se Tutor him. He learns on the go and all we do is facilitate. In other words, guide him to learn what he desires to learn, if he asks for it.
We neither compel him to learn anything, nor do we stop him from learning anything. He is on his own and with us at the same time. We learn together, as a family.
Like one of the Un-schooling parents said, it isn't a method of teaching, It's a way of living.
For all who think that sounds like washing off my responsibilities, well, here's the catch. Would I rather be "the responsible one" and take everything on my head and later expect him to be "more responsible as he grows", or would I prefer to let my child who is inherently willing to be responsible for his choices, be himself? I preferred the latter.
By the way, One more clarification on what homeschooling is. There are various types in homeschooling. Homeschooling is a Huge Umbrella word constituting various different methods or formats. What we follow is what is widely known as Un-schooling, though I prefer to call it Life-learning. In this format, there's no structure, nothing that we per se Tutor him. He learns on the go and all we do is facilitate. In other words, guide him to learn what he desires to learn, if he asks for it.
We neither compel him to learn anything, nor do we stop him from learning anything. He is on his own and with us at the same time. We learn together, as a family.
Like one of the Un-schooling parents said, it isn't a method of teaching, It's a way of living.
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