When my son was a toddler we spent a lot of time together playing and
learning. By the time he reached the age of four he was ready to learn
to read, in fact he asked me to teach him to read. By the time he was
ready for kindergarten he could read, write, knew all his colours,
numbers, letters and more. So began my dilemma – do I send him to school
where he may be bored, and lose his joy of learning? Do I just opt out
of kindergarten and then send him for Grade 1? Am I capable of teaching
him? Is homeschooling accepted by society? My son was a very shy boy and
I wondered if school would be a hindrance to him because of that. We
weighed the pros, and the cons and then opted to keep him home and
school him there.
He loved to learn! He loved to read and really enjoyed doing
projects. We enrolled him in Scouting so he could socialize with other
kids. And once he reached Cubs, his badge work became part of his school
work. Scouter Gerry loved to test his badge work because it was really a
project! We incorporated schooling in all aspects of my son’s life.
Trips to the store, field trips to museums, drawing lessons at the park –
every where we went we had a learning experience. We didn’t work at
specific grade levels because he was more advanced in some subjects
(like English) than others (like Math). Basically, we taught at his
level of learning for each subject. We often taught about subjects he
had an interest in rather than just the basic curriculum requirements.
At one point in time he would right his stories in Viking runic
language!
Since I was not skilled at any instrument, we enrolled my son in
music lessons through the Ontario Conservatory of Music. At first he
studied organ, just like his Dad, but later he moved to piano. He
enjoyed playing and would often compete in competitions, and now, he
teaches little ones to play piano.
Once he reached the age for high school we gave him the choice as to
whether he wanted to stay being home schooled or enter into the public
school system for high school. He elected to stay at home and at first
we tried to follow the accredited high school programs. These programs
became a struggle for us because it fractured the homeschooling
atmosphere we had created and made it so he no longer enjoyed learning.
So, we changed our focus back to subjects of interest to him, taught in a
way he could better learn.
At some point in his studies my son became more of a self-taught
student. I would plan the lessons but then he would just follow them
himself, research topics of interest further and decide what angle to
follow next. I strongly believe that the best lesson to teach a child is
how to find the information for themselves. That way, they can always
have the answers they need!
My son’s homeschooling days came to an end when he reached the age of
19 and enrolled in a career college to study computer network
engineering. He has just graduated with a 90 average which is a credit to him
and gratifying to me to know that our homeschooling did well for him. It
was a wonderful journey, filled with a little bit of apprehension and a
lot of gratification. I am sad that the journey had to end but excited
to see what the future holds for him!
