I first heard about home schooling about 5 years ago. Someone related to me began home schooling and I have the privilege to tutor him for a few months.
Home schooling is ideally the alternative schooling whereby a parent (usually the mother) will stays at home and tutor the child. The materials used were usually sourced from United States and some from Australia. The advantage of home schooling is that the pace of learning can be catered specially for the child and he or she could also benefit from the close supervision and interaction of the parent.
After listening to a talk on home schooling last week in the Sociology of Education class, I began to see some flaws in the home schooling scenario in Malaysia. In Malaysia, many of these home schoolers actually attend Home School Centre. These centres provide tutorship for the students and ideal study environment. It was also said that these centres also provide the necessary social interaction for home schoolers. However, this method of home schooling has defeated a very important fundamentals of home schooling, whereby parents are suppose to be the main tutor and guidance for the child's education. By sending the child to a home school centre does not make much difference in sending him or her to a conventional school and the role of parents as tutor has again been taken over by another so-called teacher in the centre.
Another part of me that could not agree with home schooling is the importance of schools. I have personally benefited from the rich experiences I gained in school, particularly my secondary education. The school has not only provided me with the necessary knowledge, but more importantly, has presented me a wonderful education to be a scholar, sportsman and gentleman. Once in a while, I do actually wonder whether will I be the same person if not for the 7-formative years in secondary school.
There could still be more arguments raised regarding home schooling, be it the pros or cons. I guess what is more important is how education can transform a person into a better person. Failing to do so, education has failed, regardless of the mean of schooling.
Home schooling is ideally the alternative schooling whereby a parent (usually the mother) will stays at home and tutor the child. The materials used were usually sourced from United States and some from Australia. The advantage of home schooling is that the pace of learning can be catered specially for the child and he or she could also benefit from the close supervision and interaction of the parent.
After listening to a talk on home schooling last week in the Sociology of Education class, I began to see some flaws in the home schooling scenario in Malaysia. In Malaysia, many of these home schoolers actually attend Home School Centre. These centres provide tutorship for the students and ideal study environment. It was also said that these centres also provide the necessary social interaction for home schoolers. However, this method of home schooling has defeated a very important fundamentals of home schooling, whereby parents are suppose to be the main tutor and guidance for the child's education. By sending the child to a home school centre does not make much difference in sending him or her to a conventional school and the role of parents as tutor has again been taken over by another so-called teacher in the centre.
Another part of me that could not agree with home schooling is the importance of schools. I have personally benefited from the rich experiences I gained in school, particularly my secondary education. The school has not only provided me with the necessary knowledge, but more importantly, has presented me a wonderful education to be a scholar, sportsman and gentleman. Once in a while, I do actually wonder whether will I be the same person if not for the 7-formative years in secondary school.
There could still be more arguments raised regarding home schooling, be it the pros or cons. I guess what is more important is how education can transform a person into a better person. Failing to do so, education has failed, regardless of the mean of schooling.
1 comment:
I would have to agree on that as school is actually a very important environment to be in as compared to home schooling. I met a person who was home schooled before and he went to one of the local private colleges. He may be smart but lacks a lot of interaction with people around him to the not being able to experience the classroom environment when he was a teenager but by now hopefully the friends that he has gained would have helped him bring out the person inside of him.
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