Resource awareness for homeschooling parent | Part 5

Click here to read part 4 of this article.
The homeschooling chapter spans a total of 5 articles. 

Resources Every Homeschooling Parent Should Know

How Do We Stay Motivated in Homeschooling? 

1. The first and foremost thing in homeschooling for both parent and children is ‘SELF-CARE’.  Meaning healthy mind and healthy body. Homeschooling is happening throughout the day and not just at one particular time unless there is a written assessment or a theory to be worked out.
2. Take it one step at a time. Trust your children’s potential and move according to their pace. We neither should overpressure them nor should we embarrass them in any way. Because pre-primary to primary is a stage where learning needs a strong foundation. My daughter always needs an explanation for everything. I mean a detailed understanding as far as she can grasp it, or else she wouldn’t move further.
3. Moreover, she raises frequent questions throughout the learning process and wants to engage in equal opportunity in listening and talking both. So encourage them with patience; barging in with too many questions is also a bit difficult for the teacher to keep track of at times. As such, politely explaining to the kid to raise the hand before asking a question is a great way to inculcate discipline.
4. Here, since the teacher at this stage for her is myself alone, I keep my mental health and physical health strictly focused. Meditation, exercise, doing things I love, my passion, etc. are all ways to keep myself looking forward so my daughter can find some motivation from me.
5. Learning has to be simply fun and engaging from both sides for the teacher and learner both. Understanding, cooperation, showing interests, and healthy meals are all key factors in keeping the learn-from-home progressive.
6. Though homeschooling cannot be as fun as it may sound, if the situation is demanding, then we as parents must try our best in extending support to our children for the betterment of their lives.

What Challenges Have We Faced in Homeschooling?

1. Books! deciding which books to choose for her learning. But since it was a primary-level learner, there wasn’t much to worry about. There are a number of publications available in the market. We can choose books according to our pace and choice.
2. For example, my daughter loves learning with fun. She is an amazing and advanced learner for her age, and no doubt her IQ level has been much appreciated since her very young age. My daughter loves to think and analyze in her own way. Her questions are also mind-blowing at times.

We had also enrolled our daughter in BYJU’s early learning program, where my daughter developed a love for learning. I wish every school had books like what BYJU had offered for children from pre-primary to primary age groups.

1. So choosing books became very challenging for me. Initially it took me months to decide which books to go for. I just kept three things in mind: first, the requirement that my daughter wants learning to be fun and not stressful; second, choosing books that are supported with colorful images; and third, cross-checking the books with the curriculum so as to keep track of where we are going.
2. We take out a fixed amount of time in the day and finish our studies for the day. It’s not so easy and not that hard either; it’s just that you have to have patience even if you can’t, keep calm and engage with them in the way they believe ‘learning is  fun’!

How Do We Measure Our Child’s Progress in Homeschooling?

Frankly speaking, although this is a debatable topic, one thing we must accept is children are progressing each day in their own way at their own capacity. One cannot compare one child with the other.

In my daughter’s situation, she is a quick learner, her reading skills are extraordinary, her grammar is 10/10, her math skills are amazing, and she loves art. She is a totally art-and-craft-passionate person; our entire home is flooded with her art and craft and mechanical talent. We are the first family in our whole generation who picked up English as our first language at home. believing it would be helpful for my daughter in many ways, and it just did! I just let her do what she loves and guide her as she raises a request for assistance or query. That’s one of the best approaches towards developing a smart learner.

Our daughter frequently receives compliments wherever we go. Later, the person usually inquires about her school, to which she replies, Nah! I am a homeschooler…. Then the parent approaches me, asking, Oh dear! How do you manage that? She is doing great even without attending a school. Such interactions reinforce the idea that she is doing wonderfully. Additionally, I am confident in my daughter’s well-being because she is an incredibly active girl.

What Are the Benefits of Homeschooling for Our Family?

1. We get to eat hot meals. Since my daughter is a picky eater, packing up vegetables in her lunch box is very difficult. Now at home I feed her or make her eat all those vegetables that show up on her plate.
2. Her sleep-wake cycle gets completed.
3. She has more time to do her passions like playing music, dancing, doing art and crafts, hands-on learning, reading, experimenting in the kitchen, walking, and learning multidisciplinary activities whenever she wants.
4. We travel a lot, and we can travel whenever we want. It’s amazing to see her learning through adventures as she picks it up with grace and excitement.
5. We adhere to a fixed schedule for studying. However, she dislikes sitting still without any movement while studying. She enjoys taking breaks to walk around, and she prefers to sit in various positions—sometimes straight, sometimes lying on the floor, or sitting on the couch. Although she completes every assignment I give her on time, she is a child who doesn’t want to feel restricted like she’s in the army, so she is allowed the freedom to learn in a way that feels comfortable for her.
6. We don’t have to rush morning hours, and we don’t have a tiring bedtime. It’s filled with a sense of calm and satisfaction.
7. No homework for us. Everything is not writing for us; we also believe in practicals at this age. My daughter finds pencils to be very boring and prefers colorful pens for writing. So upon explaining to her that, how will you erase it when you make a mistake since you are a young learner? She says, “No, Amma, find me an erasable pen.” And she did end up finding one.
8. Healthy mind, healthy body, healthy living is her motto, and I think we have no rights to ruin it provided her needs and requirements as a growing child are met.

Our Journey into the World of Homeschooling

It was no less than a nightmare. All the years while I was preparing to settle her with ease into the physical schooling, it just got smashed overnight. I felt lost and hopeless initially, although I knew that my kid was not going to settle in easily because she is a pandemic-hit kid, where all the kids who were growing up through this age had to go through a lot of lockdown aftermath.

While my young daughter was just trying to settle in with the competition, the schools in the city I stayed in never offered a breathing space to any kid over there I saw. I also noticed that the case is not unique to our daughter, but many parents have the same situation and find themselves in a hopeless situation.

Though it worries me every now and then, I think, what about the future? While I sit down to talk with my daughter, she just says, Don’t worry, Amma, I am just getting into the college directly. By now she has also decided that she is going to major only in arts. Now this worries me even more… hahahaha! Anyway, at this point my husband also assures me not to worry and that we will find a way together for every problem. So we are focusing on the present situation and present day, one step at a time. no future and no past!

Embracing Homeschooling: A Personal Story

I wish I had extended support right on time when I needed it the most. Despite adequate resources, I could never find a helping hand in my professional and personal life. I realized, as a woman, I can find my success however I want at a later stage. But as a mother, my child needed me a lot at this moment, and my husband needed my support for his workforce crisis. All I did was just switch into a full-time mommy and part-time professional. I am also documenting the journey of my life through Monisha’s memoir on YouTube.

The Unexpected Path to Homeschooling

Our daughter endured every challenge with grace. until it took a serious turn on her physical health and mental health. We felt it was enough and took matters into our own hands. We believe happy childhoods pave a way for happy adulthood. As long as we as a family are progressing and doing well with our body and mind, we are going to keep going, is our belief.

Homeschooling: A New Chapter in Our Lives

Messy house, busy kid, creating a schedule for the day, sticking to the to-do lists, managing my job, my household activities, managing my kid, preparing healthy nutritious food for the day, working out, staying fit, running according to the time everything is like a time-ticking box.

Yet it’s fun; it keeps me super busy, and I feel like no less than a busy professional. It’s painful, it’s tiring, it’s exhausting, and it’s demotivating at times, but my daughter and I give a harder kick towards the end of the day for a new day!

As long as she is learning and growing happily and keeping healthy, everything is justified.

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• *** NOTE : There is no ongoing article concerning homeschooling following this one, but earlier sections of this article are accessible. I hope you read from part 1 to grasp the content of part 5.

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Our daughter’s homeschooling journey started during the phase of lockdown, and here are some articles and visuals that I have shared below. Please find the attachment. head onto parenting and childcare section for more insights in www.discovermonisha.com

Best Educational Toys for children

Home training a Pre-schooler | Early childhood development

Here is the vlog which covers up her graduation day ceremony towards the end

Monisha C.