Homeschooling Journey Part 8

Homeschooling Journey Part 8

Two months of homeschooling have passed. There were definitely ups and downs in the process. To be precise, there were more ups than downs.

We have yummy home-cooked food made by my gifted wife. It’s a real blessing to have your wife cook great food for you and your son. What’s more? She’s passionate about cooking. I can’t imagine if I have a SAHM who can’t cook. Thank God for her!

We have flexibility. This is a big part for homeschooling. We take J off from “school” for unschooling what school is. He doesn’t get bound by the four walls and rigid classroom environment. We want him to be street smart and grow in wisdom, not studious.

He gets to grow in loving learning instead of forced learning. On some days, he stops earlier than planned when his mind could no longer absorb or when he has a lack of attention. Forcing information down a child when he can’t learn further academically is simply a waste of time. It’s not going to go into his head anyway.

Kudos to my wife.... for some subjects like Math, he is way in advance. Homeschooling allows your child to learn faster in the area where he can go faster, and slower in the area where he can’t catch up. It’s a customised and child-directed learning to boost up his confidence and identity. Why are children suffering from mild depression and stress nowadays? It’s often the parents and the school that induce these on the little ones. We almost forget that they are still growing cognitively and emotionally.

There are many other ups to talk about but it won’t be truthful without the downside.

1) Homeschooling is actually much easier if you have more than one child. When there are two or more kids, they get to motivate one another. They get to play with one another. They don’t need as much attention from the parents because they have their own playmates right at home.

It is in fact, harder to homeschool when you have only one child. Ask me how I know 😂 On some days, he needs so much of our attention that we can’t focus on doing other things.

2) Whether you are tired or not, esp for my wife, she has to stick with extended parenting, which means that you can’t have a long break (unless I am free and  step in to help on that day). Your child will BE with you forever and ever more. If you put him in school, you have a few hours’ break daily. If you put him at home, there is endless work 🤣 This is why I respect all homeschooling mums. It’s an amazing job that requires full dedication. A homeschooling mum cannot just decide what she wants to do. Not all wives can take it, hence many won’t choose homeschooling, not because they can’t, but because they prefer not. I’m so proud of my wife!

3) It takes a different approach when you are teaching your own child. In school, your kids will listen to the teachers either because the teachers shouted and screamed, or because the peers are doing so. Therefore, it’s about monkey-see-monkey-do. In a classroom setting, any child also can appear listening but is actually daydreaming. Well, no one knows.

But when the parent is the one teaching the child, he will interrupt, voice out his opinions, together with scores of questions. My son happens to like to talk a lot (unlike the father who is a man of few words 😂). This makes going through a lesson long and sometimes draining. This requires lots of patience and understanding.

On side note, asking questions is a good thing, because the child gets to process his thoughts. It’s about learning to manage the questions and help the child stay focused. It’s a journey of learning for all of us. #homeschoolingjourney