Part-time homeschooling
In my opinion, children should be in schools three days a week and then spend two days being homeschooled. They should try to learn on their own, and if there is any doubt in the subject matter, teachers can help and also train them. I am against being completely homeschooled, as it would not teach them discipline and conduct.
From Mr Mubashir Shaikh
UAE
Schools lack substance
I taught commerce and health to my daughter. Now, she is doing really well in her business career, and she’s actually making more money than me! The school would never have taught her those subjects like I did. I want the schools to teach children more about writing and counting.
From Ms Jader Guadalupe Zaehler D. Avila
UAE
Schools teach life skills
I believe homeschooling is good, but these children will miss the chance to learn social skills, as well as develop a healthy sense of competition. There are many other tools required to live life, so these children may be missing all of them.
From Mr Mohammad Asam Rashid
UAE
Proper certification
If the parents, who will be homeschooling their children, are certified in at least one thing that they have worked in and it’s a speciality that they succeeded in, then they have the beginnings of what to offer their children. There are some wonderful programs that I have used in homeschooling my children/students. I am finding that the attitude problem is one of listening to others’ instructions.
From Ms Noon Wendy Y.
UAE
School is important!
Children must receive education in regular schools. It is very important on so many levels!
From Ms Neli Ossepova
UAE
School prepares children
I strongly disagree with the concept of homeschooling. Children completely miss out on the skills formed by interacting with their peers. They do not come across figures of authority, as in teachers, they do not stay in a situation where they are just one of many, rather than number one. They miss out on important external interactions. All of these experiences prepare them for life in the real world. It’s something homeschooling would never do! My opinions reflect working with children and having studied child psychology.
From Ms Fiona Deeb
Dubai
Homeschooling is efficient
Ms Fiona Deeb, your comments reflect a lack of experience with homeschooled children. The vast majority of homeschooled children interact quite a bit with their peers and many homeschooling families meet together to do learning activities and other fun activities. For example, here in the UAE, there is a group in Abu Dhabi.
The question is not whether or not these children have the opportunity to interact with other children, rather, it is a question regarding whom they interact with. In many cases, homeschooled children are interacting with good children, who enjoy learning.
However, homeschooling clearly is not suited for everyone, as a result of various situations people find themselves in. Public education will always play an important role in contemporary society and it will remain the most common way that the majority of people in a given country will receive education. However, I would like to point out that modern schooling is relatively new and it is important to note that it has its roots in the industrial revolution, modelled on scientific management theory. There are other ways to get an education, and there is no reason why parents should be denied the right to try unconventional ways, especially if it gets better results, in terms of academic performance and human development.
From Mr Jeremy Kritt
UAE
Do proper research
Mr Jeremy Kritt, thank you for your thoughtful comments on homeschooling. As a homeschooling mother, I appreciate how much research you have done and the support for homeschooling.
From Ms Martina Loynd
UAE
Some things can’t be taught at home
It all depends on what one’s definition of education is. Education, in the narrow sense, is restricted to the acquisition of knowledge from books, which surely one can do at home, but if one looks at education in a wider sense, it aims to develop children emotionally, intellectually and socially.
You can successfully achieve these things when you mingle with other children of the same age group and when you actively participate, both in curricular and co-curricular activities. When you interact and learn to socialise, it trains you emotionally. When you learn team work and cooperation, you learn how to accept defeat and face challenges. In short, you learn to live life in a miniature society and you can’t fully achieve that within the confines of the four walls of your home.
From Ms Samina Jamali
UAE
It worked for me!
I homeschooled my children for four years and then put them back into traditional schooling a year ago. The school was rather annoyed that they had been homeschooled, until their test and exam results came through. My 15-year-old has a 96 per cent aggregate and my 13-year-old has a 93 per cent aggregate. People comment that they are well-balanced and respectful, and also rather interesting. To me, it’s about you and your children and what works for you as a family. When you homeschool, you need to involve children in sports in the community and socialise them while giving them a chance to study at their own pace.
From Ms Geraldine Naidoo
Dubai
The morale of teachers
Many of my friends in the UK homeschool their children so that they receive a more balanced education. Teachers, it seems, only try to tick boxes based on government rules. Thousands are leaving the profession and new graduates are discouraged from training because of the daily grind and the stress. Between 2013 and 2014, the state sector in the UK lost 50,000 teachers and 100,000 qualified teachers opted never to go in a classroom at all in the UK, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper. It’s a critical time.
From Ms Alwynne Cartmell
Dubai
School offers more skills
Homeschooling is good, but I feel that going to school is more important. When going to school, our children can interact with each other. They will know how to manage people, take up responsibilities and can participate in many activities.
From Ms Merin Mary George
Dubai
Parent’s choice
It really depends on the parents’ time, ability, level of education and probably their teaching skills or techniques when teaching their children. In some families, it will work and in others it won’t, but I think it should be the choice of parents whether to have their children study at home or in school.
From Mr Hassan Tonginn Kamal
UAE
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