When I first told my families and friends that we are homeschooling, we got different reactions. One of the thoughts that surfaced is that they are very scared that their kids won’t learn anything if they take them out of the regular school. I stand there in disbelief of what I just heard. (Okay, honestly, I was expecting them to says something about socialization but hearing a reaction that is outside the “s” topic makes the bulb light up.)
My reaction was to tell them that this is the age of learning. We are living in one of the developing countries in the world where there is a lot of information available. And as a parent our role is to filter those information and make sure that only “good” information comes into them. Once those information are filtered, then, learning starts. This is a bit harder to do when kids spend 6 to 7 hours of their time away from their parents. It becomes harder to filter the information that comes into them.
My thoughts is that this is the age of learning. We should explore and discover while being in the learning foundation of good character. All kids on this generation (at least on the developing and develop countries) will grow up learning several things. So what kind of things should we be scared of? That our kids would be left behind? Left behind from what?
I’ve seen social media postings about a 4 year old playing piano. Or a 3 year old playing tennis. And we wanted our kids to be like them. But each kids are different. They have their own pace. They have their own skills, own strength and weaknesses. We can’t have them all in just one kid.
We wanted them to be reading at 4. Doing additions even before their schooling age starts. Kids at these age should just be playing. Give them free-play and watch learning unfold just like that. Most of all, never compare your kids because they are not comparable. They have their own learning styles. I’d say, get to know them first because attempting to teach them anything that is within the boundaries of Language Arts and Math. Them them character building. Because learning that is within the foundation of a good character has a lot of potentials.
This is the age of learning. We should not be scared that our kids would be left behind. They won’t be. We just need to filter that information that gets into them. Love them. Spend more time with them. Please don’t just drop them to a day care everyday and expect other people to teach them. Please don’t just drop them for a playdate and expect other families to teach them. Parents should know their kids well and let love be the very foundation of their learning.
The Learning Story 