Home Schooling has been a concept which is widely prevalent in US and now the trend is catching up fast with Singapore. With higher education level of parents, parents are fully equipped to coach their children at home with their own curriculum.

In my own opinions, these are the advantages of home-schooling

• Children can learn at their own pace and their own style instead of following the general speed of the education system and the classroom-whiteboard teaching style. By allowing learning at own pace, they tend to enjoy more and learn more effectively in the process.
• There is total freedom & creativity in the way parents or coaches can carry out the way they teach. For example, a science lesson can be carried out in the park in the form of a treasure hunt. Environment plays an important role in the learning process. If it is fun, children will love it and this helps them to build their learning thirst and the desire to explore more.
• Stronger Parents-Children bonding is established through fun and play instead of the conventional sense of authoritative figure. This is especially crucial with society moving into the information technology where things are porgressing at such fast pace that we overlook important aspects of life like relationship. Home Schooling allows the time for close interaction between parents and children which definitely is beneficial in the growing up phase for children. However, there could be some disadvantages which I think parents and coaches can work around to make home schooling a more balanced approach. This would be the main factor that I wish to discuss about.

Lack of social interaction : Being in close contact with parents and their own siblings, children are not exposed to the “real” world outside their world. This is the main component which needs to be looked into carefully. Afterall, children will reach a stage where they would have to leave their comfort zone to be in the society where they have to know how to handle and even work with tons of people with different personalities.

My suggestion would be to include sessions where your children can have the opportunity to mingle with the rest of their peers. The public school provides the environment for students to mix around with the rest of the children and this is great impact on the students in terms of developing softskills like communication, relationship building, leadership, teamwork, community spirit, being compassionate, being an effective problem solver …

I am totally hands up for home-schooling concepts, are you? :-)

Perhaps we can listen some opinions from both parents, students and educators.Related Articles:

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Dear parents and students,

Just to keep you posted.

My current individual Math coaching session is FULLY BOOKED.

Thanks for your support and recommendations!

For those students who desperately need help especially those in O Levels. I am conducting a small group class of 4 at Woodlands Library for GCE O Level A-Maths.

Only Limited Seats Left!

For more info, click hereRelated Articles:

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I was talking to a parent recently and I realize how much autonomy MOE schools have nowadays. They can decide when to start holidays, when not to have classes.

Education system is opening up, recently there was a report on home schooling in Singapore which is something really popular in US.

Kids no longer have to go schools to attend lessons. They can learn at home from tutors, coaches or even online learning. One of the benefits I personally support home schooling is that education can be customized to each kid’s learning needs and pace. The family which was reported in the papers has children finishing their O Levels much earlier than the rest of the children in mainstream. Surprisingly, both parents are in fact doctors in profession and I am really impressed with the level of discipline the kids have. In my opinion, one of the most important skills that going to school trains is the social skills – the way to interact with others, work in a team. All these must be learnt by experience and no way are more theory or guide sufficient to teach social skills.

With the start of school holidays, I wish all kids and teenagers a meaningful vacation :). There are lots to enjoy this season.

One of which is the Singapore Teddy Bear Show :)

http://readcoolemails.blogspot.com/2007/10/singapore-teddy-bear-show-2007.html

Cheers!Related Articles:

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