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Clodine Manyozo
Technology and globalisation is making people do several things no one ever thought would happen and some of them were just meant to be done by the super rich.
Home-schooling is one thing being done by many people, these days.
It has got its own advantages, that makes parents find it better.
A benefit of home-schooling is the ability to customise learning for all kinds of children.
It is personalised and has direct contact.
There are ways to tailor home-schooling for children who are lagging, children who are gifted or advanced, and children who have special needs.
One can customise his or her child’s learning styles and preferences.
Some parents prefer home-schooling for parental choice in the basic elements of education.
They can also help their child learn different subjects or from different viewpoints.
Jacqueline Chimbiro a parent said home-schooling is better in the sense that she gets to monitor her child unlike when she is at school.
“My daughter is a lazy person. I used to get complaints from her teachers when she was still at school so this made me opt for home-schooling so that I can be able to see her weaknesses and I realised that when she is close to me she concentrates more on her school work,” narrated Chimbiro.
“These days you can find that children can be over 40 in one classroom with one teacher and with a big number like this there is no way the teacher can pay full attention to your child and pick up her weaknesses but they would rather work with those who will be brighter,” Chimbiro added
If a child is struggling with social anxiety, depression, or challenges to brain health, a benefit of home-schooling is the opportunity to focus on mental and emotional well-being.
Parents can make therapy, coping skills, and medical care the priority, which will then enable the academic growth they hope to see in their child.
The mental difficulties of a child may make her fail to fit into an environment with other children and it will disturb the child and can also disturb the children around the child.
Due to immaturity, other children around at school can laugh and emotionally, physically or verbally abuse the child because of a certain condition she may have and parents can see that it will be better for them to take their child for home-schooling where the child will be at peace.
Nyasha Gwenzi, a home-schooling tutor said; “Home-schooling is something that makes me understand the student better because I will be focusing on that student only and I can easily identify areas where he or she will be lacking.”
She said home-schooling can help her create a better relationship with the student and the parent as well.
“For the student and I to have positive results, there must be mutual understanding with the parent and this can be made easier when a student is on home-schooling because I will have direct communication with the parent letting them aware of any problems we may be facing during the lessons,” advised Gwenzi.
Speaking to a student who is home-schooling (Pearl Maphosa) testifies that home-schooling is something that hasmade her grades to improve as she will be gets more attention from the tutor and she gets to understand things better.
Maphosa said; “I can ask any question and get clear explanation and the best thing about home-schooling is that I have all the attention from my teacher and all the support from my parents.”
Home-schooling is something that can make a child have better grades but that does not mean that students who are going to school are at a disadvantage because there are things and opportunities that are found at school and not at home.
When home-schooling, a child does not have the exposure that other children have at school around each other.
“It can get disturbing when I am around some friends and family who do not do believe in home-schooling and they talk about things that they do at school and I feel left out. Sometimes I even burst out and cry where no one can see me,” said Maphosa.
The cost that a parent has when home-schooling their child is higher than when their child is going to school with others.
Chimbiro further stated: “Buying stationery for my child costs me a lot of money and having a tutor coming home for my child everyday make mes fork out a lot of money.
When the tutor does any extra time, I am charged for that but I have no option because all I want is the best for my daughter.
“Sometimes I feel bad for making my child be home-schooled because she does not have to go out there and meet other children. It is more like she is in a jail because she does not get the chance to know how it feels to be out there with other children of her own age,” added Chimbiro.
The teachers of the children that do home-schooling can also have less time with their families and friends as they will be having a lot of their time teaching.
Gwenzi said; “I do both school lessons and home-schooling and this is making me have less time with my family. I am always tired which is also not good for my health.”
She said home-schooling can make a child lose confidence around other children of her age because she does not know some of the things they will be talking about and the games they will be playing.
Motivation is boosted where there is competition and when home-schooling a child, there’s no competition therefore he or she will lack motivation.
“When a student is performing poorly and she sees other children performing better in class, this can create competition and the child can be motivated to work harder unlike when it will be home-schooling — there is no competition and the child can work at her own pace”, stated Gwenzi.
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