Few years ago, I have envisioned myself preparing the kids’ lunchbox; rushing them to take a bath and keeping myself busy preparing their uniforms. I even told myself, there is no way I am going to do the unorthodox way as I want them to experience what it is to mingle with other children and learn the ropes of the usual school setting. One of the few reasons why I want to send them to school is because I want my life back, I want to work and regain the social life I had.
Aforementioned reasons came to a sudden shift and came up with a new decision. I will now homeschool my children. I know I don’t have full support from Boboy on this matter and we always argue on this but there is no way I am sending the kids to school this early. I also realized that I have been so selfish as to why I want them to be in school already. Don’t get me wrong on this but the reason behind was just not acceptable. I cannot consent myself to earn yet compromising my children and blame myself for making wrong decisions. I know this will be hard as I have to battle with my patience in teaching them and the fear of the what if’s associated with my decision. I am not yet sure as to how long I am going to homeschool them, the decision might change in the few years to come but for now, I stand firm.
Anyway, I would like to share with you how I arrived with the decision of homeschooling my children.
Boredom. I remembered my youngest brother when he was only three years old when mom decided to send him to school because we cannot get a nanny for him then. He had to repeat the toddler school for three years for him to get accepted to nursery. When he reached secondary high school, he got so bored with school that we didn’t see him bring books and even notebooks! He had notebooks but he didn’t have notes on it. Especially that K-12 has already been approved, I cannot envision how I will be able to drag the kids to school when time comes they get bored with it.
Safety. I remembered I raised this question to Boboy, “how will I take the kids to school when the time comes?” He suggested hiring a household help/nanny so I can have someone take him or her to school while I stay with the little girl or vice versa. But it is not in my system to entrust again my kids with some stranger most especially nannies. I already had my piece of horror stories with them before and been hearing them around so it wouldn’t be an option for me anymore. Also, with the increased terror in the streets that has been in the news every-single-day I wouldn’t gamble anymore. You may call me paranoid but I would rather be branded as such than taking a huge risk.
Learn with them. Motherhood can be a continuous learning process for me everyday and so it is with homeschooling. Through teaching them at home, it is not only that I get to teach them new things but I also learn new things I may not learn when I was still in school before.
Flexibility. There is no other reason to love homeschooling other than the benefit of being flexible. You can do it anytime, anywhere and anyway you like it. I wouldn’t also worry about going on a vacation in the province anytime we decide because I can still teach them while we are on a getaway or vacation mode.
Bonding. I know this may be an overrated word but there is no other way I will get to deepen my relationship with my children. I get to be with them when we learn new things and witness each milestone as they grow up.
Focus on their potential/inclination. Few months back, I tried to assess my kids’ needs so I can focus on how will I be able to enhance them. A is more inclined to music despite her not being able to speak the words properly. I always find her humming to different songs even without accompaniment. She can also hold a pen properly and able to follow instructions when I ask her to do a task. On the other hand, Dodo talks a lot. I mean a lot before he can even start doing his task. I also need to focus more on his fine motor skills. He also fancies robots and both of them loves the water a lot.
Limitless Learning. I remember way back in school when we were asked to read a novel and concentrate only on a certain chapter and discuss it for two days on a 45minute class discussion. When we over read our teacher would reprimand us for over reading on our assignment. Sure we can read all day long to our heart’s content and learn things at our own pace.
Savings. This is one issue that we argue about. Boboy insists of sending them to school because cost isn’t an issue for him. What I am trying to point also is, the money that is allotted for their tuition why not spend them on quality books, quality materials that will aide their learning, a getaway for them to discover and appreciate nature and enroll them in workshops where they can enhance and maximize their potential. Let us admit that sending to better school comes with a price tag but it doesn’t stop there. Also you have to provide them enough so they won’t feel left out with their peers.
Spare them from bullying/peer pressure. Have you ever experienced during your school years the peer pressure? When you are trying to be someone and trying to fit in the group? I am not certain if it happens to all the schools but it did happen to the schools I’ve been to. How about bullying? I haven’t experienced the superb kind of bullying but these days the kind of bullying that are reported are quite alarming. The kind of thing you wish you could take things back.
I hope to meet more homeschooling parents virtually and share notes on how they do it. I also have yet to learn and research a lot as to where I will enroll my kids into a homeschool program. If you have anything to share feel free to drop a comment. I would love to hear them.
