Why Parents Opt for Homeschooling

The Jakarta Post.com
Opinion and Editorial - September 23, 2006

Mierza Miranti, Jakarta

Homeschooling is a viable education alternative to institutional schooling. This kind of education requires children to learn under the general supervision of their parents. It is believed to be a complete substitute for institutional schooling.

If you were to ask 10 parents why they schooled their children at home, you would get a variety of responses.

Among the reasons for homeschooling is the long-standing belief that home is the best environment to teach religion, ethics and norms.

Some parents worry about the spiritual upbringing of their children, particularly in Indonesia, where the study of religion only takes a couple of hours and is considered insufficient to teach their children the real value of their religion. Homeschooling, on the other hand, allows them to design their own curriculum.

Homeschooling also gives families the opportunity to become closer. Sending children to school takes about a quarter or half their time on a school day, forcing parents to work harder to maintain a close relationship.

Homeschooling brings families closer together. Children thrive under parental supervision, and parents really get to know their children. Homeschooled siblings tend to be more kind and helpful to each other too.

Greater flexibility to question the curriculum is another reason why homeschooling is chosen over formal education. Indonesia is a country in which students are expected to have a grasp -- or at least an understanding -- of every subject taught at school. The national curriculum, of course, cannot satisfy every parent. This kind of education also prepares children for the national exams designed for students educated outside the formal education system, which is known as Kejar Paket A, B or C.

Some parents believe homeschooling is more able to meet special needs. They say conventional schools only facilitate one way of learning: sitting in class and following the teacher's instructions. Some children, however, have a "different" way of learning and, unfortunately, in the case of children who cannot sit "nicely" in class, some teachers believe they disturb the other students.

Homeschooling enables parents to supervise the content and progress of lessons in a more satisfactory way. Some parents are not satisfied by the information and services provided by their children's school. They feel they have "lost" their children. They have no knowledge of the teacher's targets for their children. They only become aware of their children's "weaknesses" when they get a report card at the end of the semester. Thus, homeschooling gives parents the opportunity to monitor their children's development.

Parents who practice homeschooling say their children are spared from schoolyard bullying and peer pressure.

Emotional bullying -- name calling, mockery and humiliation -- can be just as devastating as physical bullying. Smart children, special needs children, and anyone unlucky enough to appear "different" can expect a steady diet of this negative emotional input in a typical school. Since research has shown that children need to feel safe in order to learn, simply removing a child from a stressful situation may produce enormous learning gains all by itself.

Flexible school hours is another advantage. Homeschoolers can learn by reading a book in the garden, having a debate in the car or socializing while shopping in a traditional market, and even more if they have access to the Internet.

In the virtual world, a homeschooler can visit The Louvre, create a vaccine in a virtual lab, interact with astronauts at their space station, and even talk to Robert Ballad -- a Titanic explorer -- in a submersible.

There are many reasons why parents school their children at home, but they all agree on one thing: "It's the best thing for our child!"

The writer teaches at SMPI Al-Izhar Islamic junior high school in Pondok Labu, Jakarta. She can be reached at caryatid_mirzie@yahoo.com.