Lessons in Homeschooling
Bismillahirahmanirahim,
When I look back at almost the past decade HSg the children, I realised I have stumbled and fallen many times. There were times that I made wrong decisions; wrong curriculum, wrong method, or reacted wrongly to a situation, be it how the children behaved or in dealing with external HS entities. It is easy to be laden with guilt but one should, as they say, pick up the pieces and move on.
Here's my two-cents worth on one of my weakest link-
Plan, Plan, Plan
Ok, so you might just be experimenting with this HS thing and am just winging it but your child will be the one carrying the outcome of your decision. However you are doing it, have a plan to prepare him or her for the next stage.
a. Preschool - If you are putting her in primary school, make sure your preschool curriculum meets the content and skills required at primary one when she finishes. Whatever your feelings about the benefits of delayed literacy or play, eat humble pie and teach her the 3Rs (or more, depending on what school you want her to go to or if you want to stretch her - olympiads, GEP, etc. ) Don't feel bad about sending her for prep classes. You go ahead and have fun and interesting lessons with her and let the professionals handle this school entrance thing.
b. Primary School- In Singapore, homeschool children get whatever places left in the secondary school placement exercise by the ministry. It is best to get your child a place through DSA, or be prepared to take whatever they give you. Hence:
i. Identify your child's potential early- Do you have an artistic or athletic child? Or is he inclined more to academics like Math?
ii. What curriculum/school or external programmes can help develop these talents?
iii. Identify secondary schools with DSAs suited to your child. Apart from the obvious for eg. NUS High and Sports School, there are many other schools who have DSAs for CCAs.
iv. Unfortunately, even if your child paints like Van Gogh, he still has to cover the academics, so no way around the PSLE grades there.
c. Secondary School- Congratulations if you have reached this stage and are still eager to HS. Just like the stages before, find out what your child needs to move on to the next stage.
i. First identify where you want your child to go next- JC/ Polytechnics/ ITE/ overseas colleges/ private local colleges like La Salle?
ii. Find out about the entry requirements. O levels/ IGCSEs/ or can they take a certificate at the institute and continue from there?
iii. If you are Singaporean, find out if you need to take second language to enable you to enter the local universities. Our eldest is taking it for the O levels for the fact that Malay is the lingua franca of this region and our language.
iv. There are some brave souls out there who (gasp!) let their children learn whatever they are interested in and move on from there.
I pray for your smooth(er) journey in HSg. As always put your deen and your child first insyaAllah, Allah will take care of the rest.
When I look back at almost the past decade HSg the children, I realised I have stumbled and fallen many times. There were times that I made wrong decisions; wrong curriculum, wrong method, or reacted wrongly to a situation, be it how the children behaved or in dealing with external HS entities. It is easy to be laden with guilt but one should, as they say, pick up the pieces and move on.
Here's my two-cents worth on one of my weakest link-
Plan, Plan, Plan
Ok, so you might just be experimenting with this HS thing and am just winging it but your child will be the one carrying the outcome of your decision. However you are doing it, have a plan to prepare him or her for the next stage.
a. Preschool - If you are putting her in primary school, make sure your preschool curriculum meets the content and skills required at primary one when she finishes. Whatever your feelings about the benefits of delayed literacy or play, eat humble pie and teach her the 3Rs (or more, depending on what school you want her to go to or if you want to stretch her - olympiads, GEP, etc. ) Don't feel bad about sending her for prep classes. You go ahead and have fun and interesting lessons with her and let the professionals handle this school entrance thing.
b. Primary School- In Singapore, homeschool children get whatever places left in the secondary school placement exercise by the ministry. It is best to get your child a place through DSA, or be prepared to take whatever they give you. Hence:
i. Identify your child's potential early- Do you have an artistic or athletic child? Or is he inclined more to academics like Math?
ii. What curriculum/school or external programmes can help develop these talents?
iii. Identify secondary schools with DSAs suited to your child. Apart from the obvious for eg. NUS High and Sports School, there are many other schools who have DSAs for CCAs.
iv. Unfortunately, even if your child paints like Van Gogh, he still has to cover the academics, so no way around the PSLE grades there.
c. Secondary School- Congratulations if you have reached this stage and are still eager to HS. Just like the stages before, find out what your child needs to move on to the next stage.
i. First identify where you want your child to go next- JC/ Polytechnics/ ITE/ overseas colleges/ private local colleges like La Salle?
ii. Find out about the entry requirements. O levels/ IGCSEs/ or can they take a certificate at the institute and continue from there?
iii. If you are Singaporean, find out if you need to take second language to enable you to enter the local universities. Our eldest is taking it for the O levels for the fact that Malay is the lingua franca of this region and our language.
iv. There are some brave souls out there who (gasp!) let their children learn whatever they are interested in and move on from there.
I pray for your smooth(er) journey in HSg. As always put your deen and your child first insyaAllah, Allah will take care of the rest.
Abu al-‘Abbas ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas(ra) reports:
“One day I was riding (a horse/camel) behind the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he said, ‘Young man, I will teach you some words. Be mindful of God, and He will take care of you. Be mindful of Him, and you shall find Him at your side. If you ask, ask of God. If you need help, seek it from God. Know that if the whole world were to gather together in order to help you, they would not be able to help you except if God had written so. And if the whole world were to gather together in order to harm you, they would not harm you except if God had written so. The pens have been lifted, and the pages are dry.’ ”
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