Will parents accept homeschooling in a big way in Chennai?

Chennai

Owing to pandemic, schools switched to virtual classrooms and classes went online now. But a community that’s not affected by this is homeschoolers. As usual, they either learn the concepts of different subjects or learn a life skill, whenever they feel like. With children spending the entire day at home, are parents considering homeschooling, a traditional method of learning, for children instead of sending them to school in the future?

 Divya Rangarajan always loved the idea of homeschooling and has researched a lot about early childhood development. “Homeschooling has a wide array of definitions and unschooling is one of them. My husband and I did one year of homeschooling for our son. During that time, I visited many learning centres in the city but wasn’t happy with the resources provided by them. I don’t like the idea of imposed curriculum. I believe that a child learns the best when they are left to learn through experimentation and exploration. But what’s missing here is ‘specialist’ in certain fields who are willing to teach a small group of children and take them on nature hikes, trekking, etc. So, after one year of homeschooling, we send him to a normal school here. Now, he is studying in Class 2,” says Divya.

 She recalls how they were relentlessly judged by people when they did homeschooling for their son. “We didn’t bother about it. But what I observed was that there is a lack of support and resources when it comes to homeschooling. If there are good support system and skilled specialists, I would love to homeschool my 7-year-old son again,” she smiles.

 After seeing his children’s love for music and musical instruments from a young age, Varshan Sathish took a solid decision of not sending them to school at all. Father of piano prodigy Lydian Nadhaswaram, Varshan tells us, “I knew that both my children love music more than anything else. And they have excelled in that field. Rather than sending them to school, I decided to homeschool them. There are various ways of giving home education. Since Lydian (14) and his sister Amirtha Varshini (17), showed interest in music, I guided them in that path. Both are multi-instrumentalists and I have also taught them video editing and sound technology. Once they cross 18 years, I am planning to teach them finance management.”

 A musician himself, Varshan feels that it is a parent’s responsibility to find the skills of a child when they are young. “I am not against sending children to schools and following the education system. But if parents can try to find out the interests of their children, it would be a great encouragement for the child,” he adds.
 
Ilin Iyyappan, a freelance tutor, came to know about alternative learning methods when she was six months pregnant.She started reading about homeschooling to find out its possibilities. “Homeschooling/ unschooling is followed in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, but not common in Chennai. So, when we decided to homeschool our son Ishwanth (5), we enrolled him in the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). They provide materials and worksheets to study. Initially, we thought it would affect him but he is thoroughly enjoying learning from home,” says Ilin.

 She stresses that if parents take a conscious decision of homeschooling their children, then they should follow it without fail. “Just because children are at home due to lockdown, don’t take hasty decisions like ‘let us homeschool and stop sending them to school’. Firstly, discuss it with family, friends and parents of other homeschoolers. Another tendency I have noticed is that some parents do homeschooling for a few years and later, send children to schools. That is not advisable. If you are opting for homeschooling, you shouldn’t deviate from it,” she opines.