Lessons about homeschooling in Guyana - from the conversation

 
 
Candice Ramessar led a conversation about home schooling in Guyana. The conversation was on 15 August, 2020. 
 
There was a lot of discussion about education, education and the economy, credentials, getting a job, about the learning styles, the oppression in the current system, the need for varieties of testing such as oral and other non-written methods, how to bypass the system, and that home schooling should not be seen as a way out of changing a systemic problem related to schooling for a progressive society which values all human beings.
 
These are some of the things I learned from the conversation, noted from a presentation which Candice also shared.
 
What is homeschooling ?
 Home schooling or home education is NOT bringing the school home and trying to replicate the school system in your house.  The definition which was shared is "is the education of children at home, typically by parents or by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school. 
 
The common theme in the home school philosophies of both Holt and the Moores is that:
 
“home education should not be an attempt to bring the school construct into the home, or a view of education as an academic preliminary to life... They viewed it as a natural, experiential aspect of life that occurs as the members of the family are involved with one another in daily living.”
Home schooling is a legal option for parents in many countries, allowing them to provide their children with a learning environment as an alternative to public or private schools outside the individual's home.


Why people consider home schooling ?
Covid-19 has closed schools and forced parents to teach children at home. Reasons other than Covid include :-
  • concern about the school environment (school toilets are dirty, no water )
  • to provide religious or moral instruction 
  • dissatisfaction with academic instruction at public and private schools

You should only home school your children if :-
  • you want your children's education to focus on "critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity"
  • you recognise that your children are individuals , with different learning styles and you are not stressed out about exam results
  • you are willing to learn and unlearn and relearn, no matter how much education you already have
  • you like to spend time with your children
  • you are passionate and motivated about home schooling
  • you value your children's education and are willing to advocate for the State to provide the resources to support home education and home schooling
  • you don't beat children because they "not learning their book"

You are willing to learn about the different education methods, philosophies and paradigms eg

• Classical education
• Charlotte Mason education
• Montessori method
• Theory of multiple intelligences 

  • Unschooling

• Radical Unschooling
• Waldorf education
• School-at-home
 

Homeschooling has two existing movements: – loosely structured homeschooling and – highly-structured homeschooling .   

The child's learning style should be determined. Some of the tools to determine the learning style include :-


 The benefits of home schooling:
  • Parents focus on what children are interested in and customize the curriculum - child centred
  • Parents can know their Child's strengths and weaknesses. 
  • More 1 on 1 time. 
  • More praise for succeeding which encourages the child. (eg. if child is not good at Maths and is good at music.. do you hire a music tutor or a Maths tutor? )
  • Less emphasis on subjects that don’t matter.
  • Help from other advanced home school parents.

Cost of home schooling

  • depends on how much you want to spend (there are free resources available )
  • most parents start off with a full curriculum package
  • lessens with experience of the educators

 Home schooling in Guyana

  • Will be made easier as Guyana becomes a society which is open to  individuality, self-expressions etc
  • Can benefit from sunshine all year round- learning outdoor and in open spaces
  • Has lots of natural spaces especially good for STEAM Learning and natural laboratory (Biomimicry)  
    (A man in the discussion said he wants to convert some land he has to create a space for this kind of lab )

 So people don't have to send their children to school?

  • The US for example has some horrible cases of child abuse where the parents had registered the children for home schooling.  Home schooling has to be monitored and resourced as any other schooling.
  • Guyana could follow St Vincent and the Grenadines  (Section 112 of their Education Act 2006 details how home education will be done and monitored by the Chief Education Officer ) and other countries who see home schooling as a valid alternative
  • Home school associations and home school co-ops help parents to share resources, and also provide social contacts outside of the family. No parent should do this alone.
 
 Other resources shared in the discussion :-
People agreed that there are a lot of resources available on the Internet, and that some of these could also be provided for families without Internet access.

 The Kurzgesagt Playlist with videos on science, philosophy 
 
Harvard University studies on early childhood education
https://fee.org/articles/harvard-study-shows-the-dangers-of-early-school-enrollment/
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/02/early-learning/
 
Jitsi Meetup for free meetings with no limits on time
 
Education is a Practice of Freedom 
 
 Outdoors Kindergarten which lets kids be kids
 
(TV Interview on Homeschooling in Jamaica )
 
Candice also had resources to share - including a model for an African micro-school; and tools to use Minecraft to teach at home.
 
Just do it!
Some parents have been thinking of home schooling, but worried about the Ministry of Education and other things (before Covid - 19).. people said to just go ahead and get started!  
 
People agreed to network to keep the conversation going and to provide support.

Candice can be contacted via email on schoolingathomegy@gmail.com.

Header Image by Shafin Al Asad Protic from Pixabay

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Turpentine mango madness

Image
Some of the mango was stuck on the stubble around my mouth. I looked at the mirror, a bit of shame because I had just collected an invitation from a well dressed guy and I wonder how I must have looked to him.. look at dis big man .. he cyan eat mango good . Thing is.. wiping off mango from stubble is difficult.. and the casual swipe with a hand which might have some juice is also useless. The turpentine mango is useless when it is green - it tastes awful, like turpentine.  Mother Nature works a miracle because the ripe one though, is sweet, juicy, no strings and no turpentine taste. And the colours on the skins are bright yellow/orange/pink/purple/red shades that are probably meant to draw all species of mango lovers. The trouble with turpentine is that you cannot pick it green or 'turnin' ' to ripen like say how they do it with Spice mangoes.  You have to leave on the tree until there is some point.. when there is no taste of turpentine. So you look at the m...
Read more

My experience with depression - Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar

Image
(The University of Guyana held Turkeyne & Tain Talks 2 on Monday 12 September, 2016 on Suicide Prevention . Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar made a presentation based on her experience. This is the text of the presentation) by Raquel Thomas-Caesar I am not an expert on the issue of Suicide and Depression but this is my personal journey dealing with such issues. I have never spoken publicly about this at such a forum and I hope that it serves to help others even if only a small way- Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar South East London,  June 9, 1995 As I sit under the tree, hidden from all eyes…I wait….to go. I wait to die. Then it hits me…OMG. I really don’t want to die. What have I done? My head is swinging, fuzzy, I can hardly walk. But I barely make it up and up the hill…I see two young black men in the distance…they come towards me, I could only imagine they thought I was on drugs..I beg for help. My Angels.  I wake up in the hospital. This was me- 21 years ago.  In a fore...
Read more

Going into the unknown at the Indigenous Heritage Exhibtion 2024

Image
 (The Moving Circle of Artists' work is presented in the 2024 Indigenous Heritage Exhibition at Castellani House until 30 September, 2024. ) There was no print catalogue available. The QR code image was around, but I did not have the technology to use the QR code even with assistance of the attendants. I hope the organisers will put labels on the work items for viewers who cannot access the QR code. I apologise to the artists whose work I reference without the proper attributions Going into the unknown Place hot and I feeling a lil jumpy despite the yoga routine earlier in the day. Some unexpected challenges which pile up and then come in to chill out in the gallery and find that I have to do guess work on the art and so. Switch my mind, thinking yeah, go into the unknown.  NO titles to guide you.  Friends on social media had shared pictures of some of the most striking pieces so there is a familiarity in a way. And a helpful attendant shows the PDF on his phone to che...
Read more