Why we decided to homeschool

Raahub yasar,

Before I get into the details of how we homeschool and sharing pictures and links and any more words of inspiration or my views of parenting and homeschooling a Nuwaupian family, I thought it'd be a good idea to answer a few of the questions that I always get asked when people find out we homeschool.

People will typically ask us

Why did you decide to homeschool?
What style of homeschooling do you use?
How did you get started homeschooling?

As I remember other frequently asked questions, I'll write my responses to them, but the next 3 posts will be to answer these questions, starting with "Why did you decide to homeschool?"

I've been a Nuwaupian for close to 17yrs. In that time I've heard Paa Nabab Yaanun mention several times that we need to do our utmost to protect our children from the trash that they get exposed to in the world, including mis-information taught to them in schools, on TV and in the media in general.

When our first daughter Mut Tiy En Re was about 2yrs, we started talking about her education and the possibility of sending her to school.

The one thing I was certain on was that I didn't want her to go to a regular school, from horror stories of what other Nuwaupian and other parents had experienced with their children in school.

A few downsides I saw to regular schools were
* Racial discrimination
* Inadequate education
* Poor food (from school lunches, to school parties, to what other children might share among themselves, to what they teach about food and health)
* Being exposed to foul language (from pupils, teachers and other parents)
* Children be held back so they stay on the same level as all other children in the class
* And being exposed to religious concepts and principles that are far from what we know to be true

A few of these fear wouldn't have been the case if we sent her to a Montessouri school (a private school based on child centred learning, a concept that I feel work very well when teaching young children), but after checking out their fees and the location of the nearest school, it wasn't going to work out for us financially or practically. so homeschooling became our best bet.

For our family, this decision was made easier by the fact that we were already living in a way that easily accommodated homeschooling: Shaep (my gorgeous husband) and I were both self employed and working from home, my work was done remotely and could be done out of office hours, so I could teach during the day then work when she went to sleep and on weekends. Another important factor was that Shaep supported and encouraged the decision and would help with the teaching when he could.

As well as the above points mentioned, the other thoughts that did, and still do put me off the idea of sending them into school are

1. I am really particular about who looks after our children. The only people who have even babysat them are their aunties, my mum and a girl who baby sat my sister's children for months that we all knew and trusted very well. The way I see it is, if my children are at school, they are being looked after all day by a group of people that I really don't know much about and who I don't really personally know, whose intentions towards my children are unknown and who will be in a position to seriously influence my young impressionable children ALL DAY. I'm really uncomfortable with that.

2. I also had visions of picking her up from school, asking what she'd learnt that day and either feeling the need to go and complain to the teachers about mis-informing my child or having to spend the whole evening teaching her the truth about what she'd been taught. I've heard Nuwaupian parents say things like they don't mind their children learning from their system then retraining them at home, As long as I am able to, I want to give my children the real deal straight off and not have to undo a poor education.

3. As a Nuwaupian family, it only seem right to send my children to nothing other than a Nuwaupian school, sending them to a church school would mean I am voluntarily handing them over to a religious institution to which I don't belong, where they will be exposed to energies, beings and ideals that could quite easily take them off Paa Taraq.

So as long as I am practically able to, my aim is to do my utmost to teach them at home, in our Mir!

Hatep yasar

Mut Bast.tet En Re
(Leah Salmon)