This page is dedicated to "Homeschooling", the educational model my husband Jason and I have adopted to teach our 3 children at home. Homeschooling has gained so much popularity in the States United during the last decade, and has already been used successfully by various relatives of my husband (Thanks Sharon!). David, Alex and Joshua will begin receiving instruction in August 1st, right after settling in our new house in Santiago.
The initial plan requires to perform an assessment test to discover the "learning style" of each child (visual, auditory, kinetic-active?) and to prepare classes to educate them, first in English -to avoid resistance to learn in a foreign language- and eventually introducing lessons Spanish until they can receive all the material in that language. Learning time is estimated to last between 3-4 hours per day, enough to learn as much as -or more- what they learned in American schools during 6 hours a day. The reason is that at-home education dedicates all hours to exclusive teaching parent-to-child while in school time us used mostly (over 75% of it) for administrative activities, disciplinary actions, moving from-to classrooms, etc.
And the old question about "socialization"? There is no better socialization model than what parents can offer their children at home, teaching them how to share, respect, modeling moral values, encouraging and building self-esteem. That can not be taught by school classmates that are the same age as our children, especially in these times where bullying is rampant among children in all nations of the Western world and where peer pressure causes them to use drugs, early pregnancies and rebellion. What kind of "socialization" is that!?
We will keep you informed of our progress. Your advice is greatly appreciated ;) !
Karin Salmon
