If not for the current situation right now, a lot of people wouldn't have considered the option of homeschooled education for their children. As for me and my family, this has been the first and almost the only option for our kid. (We firmly believe that homeschooling is the best form of education for our kids but still, we aren't closing our options, just in case.)
Before we came to that decision, I needed to jot down the reasons why I would homeschool my kid. If you plan on starting your homeschooling journey, the first thing you need to do is to ask yourself why you want homeschooling vs the traditional schooling method. This was actually very new to me and when people learn about our plans about our homeschooling plans and I kinda get a thumbs down about it. Now, I know we don't really need to explain ourselves to other people but this is a big decision and we should not sway easily when it comes to naysayers. And that's is one of the reason why you have to have a concrete foundation as to why you made your choice.
Aside from them not having to go outside and risk getting exposed to the virus, there are a lot of other reasons why I chose homeschooling.
Freedom of Choice
Back in my schooling days, there have been times when I'm not in the mood to study. That may not be the case for everyone, but it is a big factor in every kid's studying habits. In regular, traditional schools, everything is already set for them. They are forced to study Science or Math or English on the schedules that were already preset for them.
In homeschooling, you and your kid have the freedom to select what time you want to study and learn whatever subject they prefer. Of course, rules will have to be set and targets will have to be met but at least it's not that strict as traditional schools. You can be as relaxed as you could be, or as stern as you need.
Free Form of Learning
I strongly believe that there is learning in everything. A kid can learn anytime, anywhere, out of anything. They can study Science while in the kitchen, English while singing, History while looking at historical landmarks. I was gonna say learning history and geography from family out of town trips, but that's got to wait for now.
Time
Time is precious. And as such, should not be wasted. In traditional schooling, it almost takes up all of the kids' time learning subject after subject, assignment after assignment, lesson after lesson. They sure have time for a recess, but that's just it. After all the activities they did in school, there's just not enough time for them to learn other stuff like extra curriculars. If they do take the time to study karate, or music, or ballet, they would have to sacrifice family bonding time. And at the end of the day, they're just all tired out. Even if they did have fun, they still have missed all those times they could have spent with their parents.
Strengthening That Bond
This is the one thing that made me believe that homeschooling is the best form of schooling for my child. I get to bond with her for as long as we can, as much as we can. We both learn new things everyday from the subjects we cover, but more importantly, we learn more about each other with all the interactions that we get to have. Parents get to see how their children grow right before their eyes. And as an added bonus, they get to have full participation in their children's growth and development. And to me, that's the dream!
I've gotten a lot of feedback saying that homeschooled kids would have a lot of problems in terms of socialization and whatnot. But a wiseman told me before that in order to learn more in life, you need to expose ourselves to older people so we can catch their wisdom and to the younger generation so we can learn to adapt to the changes going on with the world. Homeschooling gives that kind of opportunity to our children.
Please note that this post is not created to convince anyone to choose homeschooling. With the situation going on around us, with our health and education system, it's good to know that there are options. Every parent should choose what they think is best for their children. And in every choice a parent has make, we all know that we will always mean well.
for my Hive PH badge.