So what if I am Homeschooling?

I am often reminded by some people around us that teaching Yona at home and not letting her attend regular school is not healthy for her. I am always bombarded by questions such us "Anong mangyayari sa kanya paglaki niya?", "Eh di kulang ang mga tinuturo mo sa kanya?", and the most intriguing is the "Eh di hindi siya matututong makisama?" For those who know my daughter well, no one will say that she don't get along with other people. My daughter is a people person. She has adjusted well enough to deal with people of any age compared to some kids her age who already go to school. And to answer the first question, my daughter will grow up to be a fine kid, a well rounded kid and not the "out of school youth" image you have of her.

This can be really, really annoying because unschooling her doesn't mean that she's not being taught at home. We teach her manners, we teach her math, we teach her language and arts, we teach her science and most importantly, we teach her about God. Lastly, I am following a curriculum so I know that Yona's not missing out on anything. At 3, she's done at OPPOSITES, knows her ALPHABET, knows NUMBERS, knows how to write her name, knows LIFE CYCLES of certain animals and insects, can spell 2 to 3 letter words without help etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. The list goes on - I wonder if regular Nursery's even teaching these things to their kids?

I encountered an article in secular homeschooling written by a homeschooling mom, Deborah Markus. I would just like to share my views on the concerns thrown to her by some close-minded inviduals - or the members of HS Haters.

1. Is it Legal? - Of course it is! Right now, we have not enrolled her yet until next year but at 4.5, she'll be enrolled in CFA to formalize her pre-school education.
   
2. What about Socialization? - As I have said earlier, my daughter can even strike up a conversation with anyone, not just of kids her age. She's doing fine so I guess any kid will do. We go out almost every afternoon to meet her village friends, the guards, the yayas, the oldies. We visit friends every Saturday, and her grandpops every Sunday, so I guess it's enough socialization for her, right? She doesn't need to be confined in a 4-wall classroom for 3 hours everyday just to build her socialization skills.
3. Quit interrupting my daughter in her home classes, village science activities just to ask her if she socializes well.
4. Don't ever think that I am homeschooling my daughter because she's different and that she's sick. She perfectly normal and is healthy - thank you.
5. I am homeschooling my daughter because we think that this is the best for her and we're not just nakikiuso.
6. Please STOP telling us horror stories of homeschoolers who ruined their lives because they were homeschooled for I'd gladly tell you that there are MORE regular schoolers who failed. This will all boil down to one thing, the parents failed to monitor their kids - and on our case, we are doing close monitoring and we know what we are doing.
7. We don't raise eyebrows when we learn that you enroll your kids this early, and that your paying thousand and thousand of money so your kids will learn ABCs and 123s - things that you can teach her at home FOR FREE. So stop looking horrified when I tell you that my kid is learning all of these (and more!) right at home.
8. Stop assuming that we are doing this because of religion.
9. I am not teaching all of these to my daughter just to show you guys that we can. This was a personal decision of both hubby and me.
10. It doesn't really matter if I have a degree on education or not because I am capable of teaching my daughter the basics , the essential things she'll be needing later in life and not unnecessary lessons and projects that she'll eventually forget.
11. Stop assuming that I am depriving my daughter of anything - she's learning at home but she gets to go to places to learn most of the time, too. We don't have to wait for field trips so she can be in these places.
12. No, I didn't brought the "school system" to our home. I teach her when she wants me too, not limiting to the hours needed for "learning" like you do in regular schools. In this approach, she can be more focused and I am stress-free :)
13. Stop asking about the extracurricular activities that my kid won't be getting, for me it's all unnecessary.
14. Please DON'T EVER ask my kid if she wants to go to school unless you don't mind if I can ask your kid if he would rather stay home, learn and play and get some sleep. I'm sure he'll like it better :)
15. Please stop branding my kid as shy, anxious, outgoing, aggresive, pouty, whiny, loud or anything because she's homeschooled. It's not fair to us that kids who go to regular school can be act annoyingly as this without being judged as anything but "he's just a child".
16. Stop reminding me of the great memories my kid won't be getting because he's homeschooled unless you want me to remind you of the not-so-good memories you got from attending school.

Homeschooling is a choice - the same process of decision making when you let your kid attend school. As for us, this is our choice so please, please, please have some respect.