I wouldn’t deprive my child of all the opportunities

Growing up in Uganda’s western district of Kabale, one of my most vivid memories is how we used to wake up at an obscenely early hour to go to school. If you know Kabale very well, you perhaps know how cold it is. Now that you remember, try to imagine how cold it is at 6.30am.

Now, if you know how hard it is to wake up at 7am, try to imagine an 8-year-old being on the road at that hour. It used to be so cold that there are times when we even used to have dew on top of our hair. Because it was a day school, no electricity was installed so it was not uncommon to find yourself first in the darkness of the classroom which I can assure you bordered on being creepy. As a result, I grew up constantly wishing for heavy rains as early as 4am just so that I could stay in my bed longer and this has stayed with me even as an adult.

But we are not here to discuss how hard it used to be when I was growing up, no. In fact, looking back, besides the trauma of corporal punishment that had become some sort of culture, I am proud to have attended that school because I wouldn’t be writing on this newspaper page if it wasn’t for the foundation that it gave me and for that, I will forever be grateful.

So why was I telling you just a little bit about my experience in primary school? Well, we are talking about homeschooling today and I can assure you that even if I was taken back to that biting cold and the constant canes on my small bum, I would not exchange it for anything. Why would I wish to be home schooled or to homeschool my child? That school that I just told you about handed me a set of skills that a child cannot find on a mother’s lap. I learnt how to make friends and how to keep the relationships meaningful. To this day, 20 years later, those people are still my friends. I feel that home schooling my child would deprive them of an opportunity to explore the world, to look at the world through their own eyes and the eyes of their peers.

Besides that, let us be realistic. I don’t have enough education to sit down and educate another human being.

Even if I had the education, I wouldn’t have the time and unless you are going to pay my bills, don’t call me a bad mother. After every reason I have given above, I must admit that I don’t think that I would actually have the patience.

The truth is that there is a reason why some brilliant person woke up and decided to set up the first school. If my child does not require special treatment because of an illness, I am confident and honest enough to admit that I am better off leaving her to be surrounded by her age-mates so that she can start forging her own path in a world where I probably won’t always be there to guide and protect her.

nash.bishumba@gmail.com

Homeschooling offers children better insight into the fundamentals of life

Home schooling is becoming more popular every day and parents that have tried it have liked the effect it has had on their children. In fact, some parents have even convinced friends to have their children homeschooled as well.

Alongside the educational curriculum, children need to be taught other values like patriotism, strong belief in their religion and their cultural aspects which many schools today don’t get deep into. Homeschooling helps parents teach their children exactly what they think are the core values for them to grow up with. At primary level, children are at a critical developing stage and it is very likely that what they are taught over and over at that age will stick in their heads for life.

In comparison with a teacher that they don’t know personally, a child can easily understand something that is coming from a mother or father they have known all their life. When they are home, they have a certain level of comfort that they wouldn’t have while at school and this enables them to learn and understand better and quicker. Also, one eliminates the risks of peer pressure, competition, boredom, and bullying of children at a young age.

According to studies, self-esteem plummets in middle-school girls. However, similar studies of homeschooled girls have shown that self-esteem remains intact and that these girls continue to thrive. (Read A Sense of Self: Listening to Homeschooled Adolescent Girls by Susannah Sheffer.)

In this day and age, people with careers in the creative industry are earning a lot more than academicians. While being homeschooled, kids can dress and act and think the way they want, without fear of ridicule or a need to "fit in” and this helps to activate their creative thinking at a young age. While they practice the art at a young age, they have higher chances of being good at it as they grow. One factor that is known to be extremely important in education is the student to teacher relation and with homeschooled children, the ratio is just perfect. The second is the connection between the children and the teacher and the amount of dedication a teacher has to a specific child, and homeschooling excels very well in this area too. While in school teachers are changed every now and then as the child changes classes, with homeschooling, the teacher is the same over a long period of time. That education can be consistent as the child grows.

In conclusion, homeschooled children have the chance to ask their teacher to repeat a certain topic they didn’t understand well as opposed to schools where a child has to move at the pace that everyone is learning at even though their understanding rate isn’t necessarily the same and this helps a child a lot.

patrick.buchana@newtimes.co.rw