One warm afternoon, under the shade of an ancient banyan tree near a lake in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, a group of Mumbaikars are debating education. One section of the group has questions and concerns, while the other tries to answer them thoughtfully.
The focus of the discussion is homeschooling. The people answering questions are parents who have decided to opt out of the formal school system and teach their children at home, and the questioners are considering doing the same, but have doubts and worries. They all have hopes and aspirations for their kids, and want them to truly learn rather than memorise questions and answers to get high marks, in the way the system seems to favour. The questions and answers fly back and forth: how to get started, what curriculum to choose, what certifications the kids could get, what exams they could take, what textbooks were best, how to keep the kids interested. And the big one: would their children lose out in any way if they chose not to put them into the school system?
These concerns are not restricted to homeschoolers (as parents who home-school their kids call themselves) of course. A cursory glance through any of the plethora of parenting websites would show that a major anxiety among parents is about getting the right education, the right curriculum for their children. Parents of one- and two-year-olds — even parents expecting a baby — flood websites with queries about which curriculum school would qualify their children to appear for the O Level examinations later. (See box)
More than a school can give
Under the banyan tree, a homoeopathic practitioner confesses she had a bad time at school and does not wish the same for her child. A software professional says his child has just been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); another parent retorts, “Rubbish, I don’t believe that there is ADHD. Doctors mark your child such when they do not know what else to say about your child.” She then says her daughter was diagnosed similarly, but that the child is quite smart and a good learner.
The homeschoolers have a sense of community thanks to technology, with a Whatsapp group through which they share web links, educational videos and their children’s activities. They also coordinate joint activities in which they enrol their children. Nilesh Ghorpade, for instance, told this reporter he had just shared pictures of how his children, along with neighbourhood kids, had bought diyas , decorated them, and earned money by selling them to nearby restaurants. This, he said, taught the kids, “social skills, selling skills, mathematics, team work and yes, about festivals.”
Nivedita Karnad’s eight-year-old son, Hardik, loves music, learns to play the tabla and harmonium, goes for dance and abacus classes, learns Mandarin from his father and has recently enrolled himself in a class to learn the language. He also loves to cook and so was allowed to help cook Diwali delicacies. This, Ms. Karnad says, is real education, not the school system’s textbook-led curriculum, and the child would not be able to do all this while in a regular school. Monita Sarangi, an ex-corporate trainer, says when a fire gutted her home, the family had to relocate out of city and spent months not knowing their next course of action. But, she says, “My children did not miss a single day of homeschooling, as they continued with their lessons, through all their difficult times. That phase was a great learning and bonding period for all of us.”
Putting the child first
Homeschooling is a child-centric way of learning; the child’s interests point to the subjects taught, and the method and pace at which s/he will learn. If children are not comfortable learning certain subjects or languages, parents leave those out. For instance, Ms. Karnad says, “My son does not like to write. He is more comfortable [typing] words in and so I don’t force him to write. Why does he need to write by hand in this age when keypads are the norm? Why have a structured curriculum in the first place? Why not just pick and choose from any curriculum you like? Just remember, there is no hurry to learn.”
What’s important, the homeschoolers say, is to realise what kind of learner your child is. Fiona Diminieux puts it this way: “Some children learn with images, some are good with numbers, yet others need to correlate things to understand concepts.” Many websites offer tests to check your child’s learning skills to determine if your child is an auditory learner, who needs to listen to understand, or a visual learner, who needs colours, infographs, charts to imbibe concepts, or a kinesthetic learner, who needs activity-based learning. Some parents say discovering their child’s learning type and then connecting with them could take as long as a year, and could be both illuminating and frustrating. “There have been times when I have said, ‘Oh my God, now what do I do?’” says Gillian Fernand. “But, anxiety is normal and healthy. The key word here is not to reveal your anxiety to your kids and to appear calm even in the midst of it all. You need to be at peace with yourself.” Ms. Fernand’s homeschooled son, Jeremy, is now a first year Bachelor of Media Studies student, has his own band and is into event management.
Not for everyone
Ms. Fernand has a word of warning for parents considering becoming homeschoolers: “Discipline is very essential. You don’t have to be a teacher but you need to have a vision for your child.”
That’s something parents considering this route should understand. Homeschooling is definitely not for everyone. To work, it needs involved parents, and a buy-in: both parents should be part of the decision to homeschool and part of the process. “Homeschooling is not meant for absentee or helicopter parents or for parents who compare their child with other children,” Ms. Sarangi says. “You cannot control your child’s education. You just have to keep their curiosity going. If the child is hungry enough to learn, they will find their ways to learn. The only gift you can give your child is to allow them to learn. Homeschooling is a way of life and academics is a very small part of it.”
A safer ways to test the waters is to register with an IGCSE school. “This can also be useful for undecided parents to see if they can handle homeschooling,” says Dhanashri Iyengar, whose two sons are external students of Class III in an IGCSE school. “Being an external student allows them to attend [classes in] subjects which parents might not be able to teach, since they have the regular school timetable with them. Also, it gives them the option to return to school if children want to get back to regular school at a later stage.”
(The writer is a freelance journalist)
