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As soon as 2020 came, we were all thrown into new ground. We were getting used to not leaving the house. Everyone had to stay in there where they were. Shops shut down, offices locked doors, and almost everything else went with them. This includes gyms, parks, workplaces, airlines, wedding halls, banquet halls, and other places. 

Closing buildings and schools were the two things that made us mad. Our entire routines went crazy. Our jobs and schools kept us on track with our schedules. Because of these two groups, our plans were perfect, and when they went away, so did everything else. 

Some of us started to say bad things would happen. If schools didn’t open, it would be terrible for our children and grandchildren. But you have a lot of other alternative solutions. You don’t have to go to school. In the days to come, we saw that for ourselves. 

Let’s Find Out!

What are the Different Options?

When it became clear that schools wouldn’t open quickly, teachers started looking for ways to fix the problem. Many schools began online lessons quickly with tools like Zoom, Google Classroom, and others.  

Parents saw their kids use computers, iPads, tablets, and other devices to go to school, do homework, and show off projects. But everyone knows what came next. Teachers, parents, and even kids criticize the online teaching method on any social media site. 

For one thing, parents saw what their kids learned in school, and it scared them. They didn’t send their kids to school for this reason. Students, especially older ones, started to protest online classes and even asked for their money back. Teachers needed more time to be ready to move their lessons online, and it was a rough year for them. 

So, homeschooling got a lot of attention.

What is Homeschooling?

The idea of homeschooling is familiar. People like John Holt and John Taylor Gatto have been promoting it since the 1960s. But since the outbreak started, homeschooling has returned to the spotlight, and many parents have become more involved in their children’s education. 

They went online to look for the best way to teach their own. If you’re interested, John Holt has a “Teach Your Own” book about this. It was amazing what they found. There were so many things they could teach their kids. There were different plans of study to choose from. They could hire the best online tutors for their kids and choose between free and paid online classes at Udemy, Coursera, MIT, and other places. 

The Problems in Homeschooling

The problem was that whenever someone talked about homeschooling, people would picture a mother and a bunch of kids doing schoolwork all day at the kitchen table. This is just one of many false ideas about education. If you only believed half of them, you might think that parenting is a disease and that you must escape it as soon as possible. Many parents believed these myths, which stopped them from letting go of traditional schooling and exposing themselves and their children to things they had never considered. 

But you still have time. Here, I’ll bust some of the myths about teaching so you can relax.

Homeschooling Myths 

So, what are the common misconceptions about education, and how true are they? 

Let’s find out.

1. You Have To Keep Your Fixed Schedule.

When you first think about homeschooling, you probably picture a classroom like the one you went to. The only change is that it happens on the kitchen counter or in the dining room instead of in a school, and this is a very common false belief about education. People would put timetables on their fridges that were the same as the ones their kids had at school. Some even chose to stick to the same schedule that their children did at school. 

I’ve seen all kinds of timetables posted on fridges, taped to walls, set as the background on laptops, etc. When parents make a schedule, they usually stick to it. They need to find out that there are other ways to teach their kids at home. If you go to Pinterest, you’ll find many timetables made with the best of intentions. The people who made these plans say they will do everything they can. People say that if you follow their plans, your child will fall behind his peers. 

It sounds like I wouldn’t say I like any routines. That’s wrong. Learning should be flexible, whether it’s at school or home. So that the kids can learn to be creative and interested, the plan needs to be flexible. There should be breaks in between the bricks you’ve laid. There should be plenty of time to read every day. Let’s remember to play. They should be able to spend three hours on Math if they like and only one hour on English if that’s what they don’t like. 

2. The best way to teach is with videos

When the outbreak happened, all of our schools went online. People had been trying to do this for a long time, but we did it when we had to. So began the story about online classes. Almost all schools use the same method right now. They teach classes using Zoom, Google Meet, and Google Classroom. 

There are two kinds of online classes to choose from. One is a meeting between the teacher and the kids. The other type of education is passive, where the teacher makes a video, uploads it to YouTube or another site (some schools have their network), and the kids have to watch that video and do the given tasks.

Am I against using movies in school? Exactly no. 

I am against making kids sit in front of their screens for hours, hoping they will be as involved as possible. That’s not how kids should learn. What they need to do is take an active role. They need something to help them take responsibility for their schoolwork and get involved. They have to feel like they have a place.

Research has shown that kids are more interested when they are given a blended learning approach. Think of it as a mix of real-time training, videos, activities, and many breaks. Just concentrate on yourself. How often do you take breaks at the office or work from home? You’ll do well if you take at least one break every hour. You’ll get tired if you stare at your screen for a long time.

3. You Need the ‘Excellent’ Resource

Another myth about homeschooling is that you need an “Excellent” homeschooling program to teach. If not, nothing will come of it. This statement is not true in a lot of ways. 

First of all, there is no “perfect” program. Some are good, some are excellent, and some are just okay. But there are only so many programs that work for everyone. Every child is different, and they all react differently to what they are given. 

When you go to the market looking for the best curriculum, you’ll find many companies telling you that their curriculum is the best and giving you a list of benefits you’ll get if you buy their books. People even discuss a “Single National Curriculum” and how it will change education. I meant field.

The thought that giving your child the “best” curriculum will somehow make him smarter or better is a myth. Schools that teach the “best” education have the same problems with their students as schools that don’t. Many companies are using fear of missing out (FOMO) to get you to buy their curriculum. You’ll see statements like:

• Do you want to leave your child behind?
• Do you want the next Albert Einstein?
• Your kids should be good at math.

I remember when I worked at the ERDC office on Tariq Road. When I left, there was a signboard across the street that always caught my eye. It said a thing like, “Set up a better chip in your kid’s brain” or something similar. I don’t know what they were trying to say, but I never thought anyone would agree.

When they see statements like these, parents who are already worried about losing their jobs, getting less pay, and other things connected to Covid feel even more stressed and worried. 

Do I disagree with these curriculums? Again, not at all. You shouldn’t go for the “excellent, comprehensive, complete (and all the other adjectives) instant noodles curriculum” and instead look for something that will help the child. You need to do more research to find the best tools for your child, regardless of whether they come from a well-known publisher. Don’t believe the ads that offer you the moon and the stars. It’s not hard at all. 

Content does not equal knowledge.

There are better ways to give a child many books, tools, webinars, and programs and expect them to take it all in, make good choices, and get better. You must see Sir Tahir Javed’s talk to understand what’s wrong. The teacher is the most important part of a school. You need a person on both sides of the deal for it to work. 

It also means you can buy some of your books and software from a different company. You could get your math lessons from one company and your English lessons from another. You could even buy more math books from other sellers to read for fun. As you learn more about homeschooling, you’ll feel more at ease and be able to choose what your child needs. There are no rules, no set plan. You can choose whatever your child likes and is interested in.

4. Every homeschooled child is a genius

When it comes to teaching, there are two main types of parents. People think that it will ruin their children and that they will never be able to get back up. People who believe that if they teach their children, they will become geniuses. They start giving their kids subject after subject or activity after activity because they think it will make them smarter. 

Each kid is unique. All of them know different amounts about a subject or field. They may be good at one thing but need to improve at others. They could learn something quickly and have trouble with something else. The same thing happened when they were in school. 

Yes, homeschooled kids are more intelligent than their peers, but that’s not because they got lucky. It’s because they have more time. 

How much more time?

First, the school will only let a kid spend part of the day reading a book, which is easy for kids who don’t attend school. Reading is one of the most important things a child can do during the day, so let him keep reading if interested. 

Also, they save time that kids would have spent getting to and from school. If you live in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and go to school in PECHS or Clifton, you can understand how much time a child spends in the van or his parents’ car sleeping, staring out the window, or, even worse, playing video games.

The third reason is that homeschooled kids can skip 40-minute times because their schedules are flexible. They can spend hours on science if they like it. The same applies to English, Urdu, Arabic, the Quran, math, and every other topic. On the other hand, a child in school will have difficulty getting interested in anything because as soon as they do, the period is over, and the next teacher comes in.

One of the many reasons is that they get much more one-on-one time than kids in school. Most schools have at least 30 kids in each class, and sometimes even more. I’ve seen schools with fewer students than that, but there’s still one teacher there. 

If one child is behind, it’s hard for the teacher to help him and keep the rest of the class moving, and this is one of the main reasons why most kids do much better once they leave the typical school setting.

5. Kids who are homeschooled are protected

This is another homeschooling lie that scares parents and keeps them from seeing the truth. They think the word “homeschool” means staying at home for days. It is entirely false. 

Homeschooled kids get to do many things that kids who go to school never or hardly ever get to do. They can go on regular trips to get food, participate in extracurricular activities, do community service, visit their parents at work, and so on. Children who attend school don’t get to see or do these things.

Children who don’t go to school learn about life by doing it. They don’t just look at pictures of people; instead, they go out into the real world every day and talk to real people. They don’t point to a picture of a postman. Instead, they meet the postman. They get to go to a shipyard instead of watching a YouTube movie about it in a classroom full of kids yelling and moving around. 

We took our kids to the Magnifi-Science Activity Center a few weeks ago, and everyone had a great time. But the best part is that it’s next to the train tracks. As we were leaving, a train came through, and my kids, who had never seen a train before, got to see one for the first time. The train isn’t the only thing. It’s seeing it go by, hearing the different sounds it makes, feeling the burst of wind, and other things. It was a much more complete lesson than if I had just shown them a picture or a YouTube movie.

My friend took his 11-year-old daughter on a train ride to experience it for herself. They went from Karachi to Hyderabad and back, but the pictures he showed and the stories he told were out of this world. No kid sitting in a stuffy classroom with a teacher yelling at the top of her lungs will ever have the same experience, not even close.

Many people against homeschooling think homeschooled kids need to get out and see the real world. But kids are only put into different groups by age at school. Homeschooled kids go out into the real world every day to shop, work, homeschool co-op classes, do community service, etc.

6. Only people of faith Homeschool

Now, no longer. Join any Facebook group about parenting, and you’ll meet people from all walks of life. Even though Christian parents want their kids to learn in a different way than most schools do, that doesn’t mean they’re the only ones. 

I wish I had more numbers, but there are ways to determine what kinds of parents homeschool or want to homeschool their kids. You need to look on Facebook for learning groups and join one.

7. Kids who don’t go to school can’t make friends.

This is likely the most common false belief about education. One of the reasons it’s so common is that education used to be a secret. I’m not talking about Pakistan. I’m talking about other places. People who taught their kids at home would do their best to stay out of sight. They had to hide from people like truancy police and nosy neighbors. But in the end, homeschooling became legal and a little more familiar. 

Once upon a time, the socialization factor may have been true, but not today. 

First of all, only some people’s social wants are the same. Recent studies and personal stories show that introverts live normal lives and don’t miss out on anything. 

Second, I need to understand how the kids will learn to get along with people in a normal setting if they are always stuck in a small, crowded room with other kids their age. Traditional schooling is the only situation where people only have to deal with people their age. Check out the places where we work. There are workers of many different types. There will be recent college grads and people who are about to retire. 

Look at where we live. We have kids, parents, grandparents, and many other family members. 

It is unfair to keep kids in classes with kids their age and not let them talk to older kids. 

How much will the kids learn if they are stuck in a room with other kids their age?

 We learn to obey, have good manners, learn things about life, etc., from our elders. Our older people tell us stories that teach us different things. 

In addition, whether you live in Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, or elsewhere, the homeschooling community has expanded dramatically. More than 2 million kids are being homeschooled just in the United States. It is absurd to believe that 2 million kids in the United States never walk outside, even though this figure cannot be compared to kids who attend school. Homeschooled kids go out more than traditionally schooled kids. 

Most school kids also visit the tutoring center or have someone visit them. I like to call them “Tuition wali baji and Tuition walay bajay.” Children who go to school and have teachers don’t have any energy to do anything else. 

They don’t have enough energy to go to exercise, the library, a museum, or anything else. Most of the time, they end up with a phone or in front of the TV. All of these are things that homeschooled kids can do. I’ve taken my kids to a farm, the Magnifi-Science Center, and other places. Every year, I take my kids to the flower fair in Karachi. We go shopping for books. We do a lot of extra things.

Important Point:

Schools are not a natural place to make friends. It’s forced education, and in the long run, it hurts the kids. Kids need to talk to people of all ages, skills, and backgrounds to learn how to get along with others. 

8. Homeschooled Children can’t go to college

Homeschooled kids can get into any good college, and because they know more than their peers, they usually do better than them. They haven’t been limited by the books they’ve read. They know how to use different ways to study. They don’t worry about making mistakes or taking chances. Alhamdulillah, I know kids who were homeschooled and are now in the best universities in Pakistan. They’re doing well!

The best thing about homeschooling is that it gives kids the chance to have free time. Children who go to school have a different amount of time. They need more time to try out other routes. They need more time to figure out what they’re interested in. I’ve talked to many kids about this, and when I ask them what they’re passionate about, they look lost.

Homeschooled kids are more likely to start their businesses because they have learned the value of loss and how to deal with it. They know what it’s like to look into something but find nothing. They understand what it’s like to go in different directions.

9. Homeschooling costs a lot of money.

So here’s the deal. It doesn’t hurt to be rich. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t teach your kids at home if you aren’t rich. You don’t have to be rich to send your child to a healthy school. You need a community to help you. “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” You may have heard this saying before. Most of us have moved away from that village. I don’t teach my kids at home. There are also other people in this, and this includes my wife, my mother, my sister, my brother, my husband, and a lot of other people. 

Even if you have little money, you can always find ways to teach your kids if you have people you can count on. You adjust, you prioritize, and you reuse the tools you have. 

Can’t you take your kid to gymnastics class? Watch a gymnastics show on YouTube and work on your skills at home. It will give you something to do instead and get some much-needed exercise. 

10. You have to be very patient

Now, this is one of the most dangerous myths out there. 

We all feel irritated because we need more patience. We are all mad. Everyone has bad days. It’s the same way with teachers. Only teachers have to do it from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. All day long, parents have to do it. It’s more likely that you’ll fail.

Just remember, We’re all people. We’re all not perfect. It’s all right to lose your temper. Just be sure to make it up to them. Don’t explain it. Tell your kids it happens, and it’s okay to say sorry. It’s good for your kids to see that you have weaknesses. It shows them that you are the same as them. It helps them figure out how to handle their anger. You don’t get that in schools.