Homeschooling - The Beginning

Homeschooling the Beginning - by Barbara Dykes

If you are thinking of homeschooling your children, whether yours by birth or adoption, you may well be feeling some concerns. I support the idea, borne out by Vicki Lynar (AACASA, June 2001) that for children adopted from overseas at school age, a period at home being homeschooled is beneficial.  The change of culture which older migrant children face is dramatic enough without their being flung into the foreign, competitive and sometimes even cruel environment of school.

Even indigenous children find changes from one school to another quite challenging, especially those who are less confident or shy. Children who have little or no language skills are likely to feel overwhelmed or frustrated which, together with any unresolved baggage from their previous lives, can manifest itself in unhappy or apparently anti-social behaviour. As Vicki observed, all children need loving support in every aspect of their lives but, because of previous experiences, the older adopted children may be unaware that parents can play a part in their lives, in their relationships or even in their learning.  Now you may well be thinking, when so many children are struggling, how can I be sure of avoiding these difficulties with mine?

All parents face some dilemma when deciding to homeschool or even when they are trying to help school children who are struggling. They wonder how to go about things - where to begin, what programme to choose, are they competent themselves? But rest assured - you don’t have to be a teacher to be able to homeschool your children. There are a number of programmes and most of the best, and certainly the most relevant, are Australian made! You can follow a complete programme (such as ACE which originated in America); however many homeschooling parents prefer to build their own curriculum, that which is most suited to the individual.  For your new family from overseas, the most important areas of learning need not initially follow main school patterns - they will be about forming relationships, improving their English language and gaining confidence from discovering new skills such as ball games, perhaps even using scissors, pencils and paper or playing Snap!

From the earliest days you will be seeking useful material for helping your children spell, read and write. Of all learning, literacy skills are the most important because they are the base for every other subject-even computer! The same hurdles will present themselves as for teaching Australian born children-where do you start? It can seem easier in the early stages as every newly acquired word is an achievement, but it becomes more difficult when we try to teach more formally to a school level. This was the problem that I faced when teaching my children and my young African student, while living on an isolated property in Kenya. We don’t realise how tricky our own language can seem until we attempt to teach it! I tried the whole-word approach with the, then new kit, Doman Teach Your Baby to Read, in which you held up labels, firstly Mummy and Daddy, then proceeded to labels which you had to stick on to various household items. This system didn’t work!-initially because, in the English language, terms can be misleading. If we stick a label on the seat of a chair, does it represent ‘chair’ or ‘seat’? If we stick the word ‘toilet’ on the lavatory door, in language terms does it mean the whole utility, or ‘door’?

So-we began at the beginning and, with trial and error, proceeding step by step. It did work and when my children finally went to school, I was congratulated on their achievements.

At that stage I could not teach my African student, Lengoro with the same lessons as he knew no English. But fortunately, using the same rationale, I could teach him the process of reading and writing in KiSwahili, which is a purely phonetic language, at the same time as teaching him English. His mastery of spoken English was rapid as he played with our children and spent time with us doing jobs around the house for pocket money.

Over the years, while working with numerous students of many nationalities, I have continued to improve my early teaching strategies. I have also learnt more about what really works and, together with my like-minded Australian partners, finally realised my vision to compile resources that would ensure that any child, from whatever country or background, could learn to read and write competently-because I had not been able to access these resources when I really needed them myself.

All literacy skills begin with spelling, not reading, because spelling enables you to form words that you can then both write and read-and spelling begins with knowing the shapes and sound of letters.  As I pinned up single letter cards for my students I had set their feet on the beginning of the road.  It makes sense to teach our language according to its forms. From simple small steps our children can progress along to where many things are possible. They can now work out any word for themselves and apply their skills to developing interests and extending their education in whatever path they choose. It will give them confidence to mix freely with their peers knowing that they have the skills to meet the challenges of our modern world.