Something Nubian

Homeschooling is not for everyone, not at first. Our first teacher is our mothers and grandmothers. However, today it is anyone that is home with the children the most.

The other day, Meme, one of my daughters’ had an appointment to go to the dentist. This was a also one on one time that she and I had, which is something that is kind of rare, not just for her but for everyone. I don’t get a chance to do one on ones like I would like to, we probably get like 30 minutes a day. But to just have that two to three hour one on one time is super important, you get to catch up on their stuff and you get to hear things that they don’t normally say.

Meanwhile, as Meme sat in the chair, the dental assistant was talking to her about being homeschooled and she asked, do you get a chance to go out for extracurricular activities, and Meme told her no, and I said, they participated in virtual PE, and she was like oh that’s gotta be boring!

And I thought to myself, “you know, this is why most people don’t homeschool because they have people who don’t respect the fact that you have to think outside the box sometimes and everything is not about going out and socializing and being around other people”. I had interjected that before the hurricane, which unfortunately was about two years ago, they were going to karate, and when I was researching places in Savannah, to send them to as far as karate was concerned, the pandemic happen to shut down to minimal functioning outside the home.

Hence, the spread of COVID, the spread of the flu, and the spread of other illnesses. I don’t homeschool because of the fear of getting other illnesses, although it does happen. Although every time my other daughter Zy would go spend time with her dad, she would come back with strep throat, I am not exaggerating. I’m thinking he may be a carrier because when I questioned him about it and told him that every time they visit with him, she comes back sick. He stated that she’s not always around other children or anything. So I was told by her doctor that someone they children around may have been a strep throat carrier and was transferring it to her. Because after he would bring her home, I’d spend seven to ten days nursing that particular illness. I mentioned this because homeschooling does not stop them from being exposed to a lot, but going to school outside the home isn’t always the answer.

I’m not downing school or anyone who sends their kids to public, private or any type of charter schools. I just know that I’ve tried them all, and the only thing that works for me is private and because I cannot afford it. I choose to homeschool, it’s working out for us. I find that teaching self love and preservation is not on the top of the list, as it is in our home.

There are a lot of naysayers and sometimes this is why people are not interested in homeschooling. Others opinions on it is the children won’t have a social life, when they have a family, so that’s not true, and they feel like they don’t learn as much as they’re supposed to, but everything that you learn in school you don’t use in your everyday life. You use usually just the basics. If your child has a gift, teaching them something that has nothing to do with it is sort of a waste of their time.

When your child shows an interest of what they would like to do as an adult it is important to get in front of it. Expose them to those interests as soon as you are able to, not when they are in high school.

Not only does taking interest in your child’s interest boosts their confidence, it also gives them a head start teaching independence. While they may not be mentally ready for living in a world as a grown up they can experience surviving in the world they would like to create by choosing the path they would like to grow into as early as 11 or 12, by teaching them how to envision it with vision boards or visualization.

Teaching your children about visualization helps them to imagine how things can be and prepares them for when others may try to make them believe that they can not achieve greatness by being homeschooled. Most who have never been homeschooled or seen it as a success will plant seeds of doubt, which is what I have experienced with teachers in myself and oldest daughter dealing with public and charter schools.

There are plenty of benefits homeschooling such as free thinking, more time with your children, able to cater to special needs affectively, learning at their own pace, flexibility in schedule, no homework, and emotional stability.

In our home we teach the children to think as an entrepreneur, rather than a consumer by teaching them to cook for themselves, create their own personal items whether it is toothpaste, deodorant or jewelry; We discuss financial freedom through buy, sell and trade. So they are compensated for their time outside of daily chores.

This is not about comparing what is taught in school, this is merely about how to combat the seeds that naysayers attempt to plant in our heads or our children.

I even feel their pediatrician makes small comments, which is totally out of line, if you ask me and they should not be allowed to give their opinion, especially when they can clearly see the child is not being abused or neglected.

In my humble opinion, it is wise to keep your thoughts in order to protect yourself and family when outsiders project their opinions on what you are doing with your children as long as your child is being properly nourished.

Meme, had no cavities or dental issues by the way.