Home is where learning happens

Covid-19 crisis has put more focus on the concept of homeschooling which has been gaining popularity in recent years. More number of parents are now contemplating homeschooling for reasons linked to novel coronavirus. Generally, special learning needs of the child which are not addressed by the education system, accessibility to a good school, specific focus on the aspirations of the child like sports, arts etc., frustration with the education system which only focuses on exams, marks and competition, have been some reasons for parents to opt for homeschooling.

Families who chose to homeschool, have developed their own style of learning, syllabus and curriculum. Some families follow the curriculum offered by an education board like Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), National Institute for Open Schooling (NIOS), Waldorf, etc. A lot of families also shun all forms of curriculum and let children drive their own learning. This is called “unschooling” or “self-directed learning”.

A child is given complete freedom to decide own learning goals and is encouraged to learn on his or her own. Even though it sounds impractical that children would want to learn something on their own, “unschooling” has proven to be a huge success.

Beyond exams

The most important goal of homeschooling is the emphasis on learning in place of passing exams. Having said that, homeschooled children can choose to write exams with one of the two boards in India which allow private candidates to write exam. These boards are NIOS and Cambridge International. NIOS is managed by Government of India, therefore, exam results of NIOS are considered at par with other Government-recognised boards like CBSE or ICSE. While there is no need to write any exam before Class 10, NIOS offers exams for Classes 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12. You can know more about NIOS at www.nios.ac.in.

Cambridge International is an education board of the UK. Exams are conducted for Classes 8, 10 and 12. For more information about the board, log on to www.cambridgeinternational.org.

Now that schools are closed across the country and all children have been forced to study at home, homeschooling, at different levels, has become a necessity for children. While a lot of schools are conducting online classes for senior classes, junior school children have been left with worksheets and study material which they are supposed to work on at home with the help of parents. From an education standpoint, we are back to the pre-industrial era where learning predominantly happened at home.

Strengthen the basics

The good news is that we have hundreds of learning resources available online and offline. While the existing situation seems depressing and challenging at times, it is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for parents to really understand their child, his or her learning style and assess if the current learning system has been working for them.

Since homeschooling is about learning and not passing exams, parents should use this time to strengthen the basics for the child and help the child to apply learning in real life. For example, help the child observe the chemical reactions taking place in the kitchen and the laws of physics working through the water pipes. Help them do the math on nutritional value of a dish or spend time talking about joy and frustrations of being in a lockdown.

Write stories, sing songs, or make your own YouTube channel with your lockdown stories. There are also many free online resources that can be tapped to make learning fun and comprehensive. While education can be possibly tied to a school, learning is free and it comes from everywhere, everything and everyone around us. It is for us to be open to it and soak it in.

This is perhaps the first and the last time in our lifetime, that children and parents are together at home for a long period of time. Families should use this opportunity to unwind from the pressure of exams, focus on understanding and application of knowledge, connect with themselves, invest time in nurturing hobbies and maybe consider homeschooling as a long-term option.

(The author is with Momspresso)