The 2011-2012 school year officially ends this week. But it ended a month ago for my homeschooled daughter. Working at your own pace is one of the benefits of homeschool.
Throughout the year, whenever I mentioned homeschooling, the reactions and comments were varied: “Why? Children need to socialize!” “Good for you. I wish I had the patience for that.” “I homeschooled once; best thing I ever did for my son.”
It took me a while to figure it out, but there are different kinds of homeschooling. First, there’s “home-educating”, which is basically a philosophy that children will learn at their own pace when presented with learning opportunities. This type of educating works best when parents are dedicated and plan to teach their children at home indefinitely. This wasn’t for me.
Instead, we chose a blended program of homeschooling which means my daughter was doing the same curriculum as those attending school, simply doing it at home. “Blended” means I was her teacher for some of the courses (music, foods, textiles, art, and religion) and she had other teachers for her core subjects. She could email, fax, call, or instant message those teachers if she needed help that I couldn’t provide, and they were in charge of marking her tests and assignments. E-lives even presented regular virtual classroom experiences with other children.
Homeschooling isn’t for everyone but it can be a great alternative for various reasons. I was relieved when my daughter approached me about homeschooling this year. I was suffering from post-partum anxiety so it was a relief to have her home with me. I helped her; she helped me. That’s what family is for. Now that she’s had a break from pre-teen social fickleness, she’s ready to go back.
Thank you homeschool.
No comments:
Post a Comment