Parents of Schoolgoers  Discussion Forum

Have any of you thought about homeschooling your child? csharan replied. These days there is no assurance that a school will let your kid complete schooling, unless your kid is a model kid in other words a mini adult. If your kid is a bit playful, mischievous or average in studies - it is a common practice for schools to expel the child on the pretext of cultural incompatability, difficulty in handling the stress of studies and if a parent resists, there will be a veiled threat of issuing a TC for misconduct.

In my opinion instead of letting this sword hang over your head as a parent and also on the kid's head, opt for homeschooling. The child can take the O level and A level exams that are internationally recognized without having had entered a school compound. For social interactions, enroll the kid in music classes,language classes etc and it will help. Take the child to a sports academy and your kid could be a sachin or a sania.

In India admissions and the subsequent approach of school destroys the self esteem of the child and instead of spending time and energy rebuilding it , i would recommend home schooling.

Remember if your child is a model kid a regular school will work well. A word of caution - off beat schools too hang this sword on top of parents' heads, so dont get carried away by the so called \";elitist, open, value based, child centered\"; schools as well dhanashree replied. It would certainly be a bold step but yes if the parents have enough time to spare for a child, inclination to teach and most of all patience. The only drawback I foresee is interpersonal skills would be less sharper than others. The sense of being a group would not be there. But that also can be overcome by participating in the groups and activity centres where a child can interact with other children of the same age.

Deepti replied. I think that the present schooling system only kills the enthusiasm and creativity of most children. So in that sense, home schooling would be a very good idea.

But what about the social interaction with other children? They would miss out on that if they were schooled at home. Wouldnt this leave them less capable of handling people in later life? Kadambari replied. Not practically, but theoretically, yes. I often wonder, with our education system in India being the way it is, a child who does not go to school will not stand to lose anything in terms of knowledge. But, it all depends on what you foresee your child to be in future. If you want him to be a leonardo Da Vinci or an Amitabh Bacchan, then you may not need to give him proper schooling or formal training, but what if she desires to be a Kalpana Chawla or an Indira Gandhi. I mean, whether we wish or not, our kids have to get eduated in the formal system.