Page 62 - issue
P. 62
CLASSROOMLIFEISOUR
Home schooling has always fascinated me. When my
children were growing up and had various difficulties
in school, I often thought that I should just keep them
at home. But, it never went further than a thought. I
was too timid to buck the trend and do something so
unusual. I also could not imagine having my children
home all day. I liked the comfort and structure of hav-
ing them in school. Besides, it was scary to have the
full responsibility of bringing up my children by myself! Home
schooling was too radical to even consider.
But home schooling has become a part of my life, now,
because two of my granddaughters, ages five and eight, are
being home schooled. I decided to find out more about it
from the perspective of the home schooler – and the home
schooled.
When I arrived at my children’s home on a Sunday morn-
ing, the family was eager to show me around and explain how
things work. I was given a tour of their “classroom” in the
basement, where my granddaughters proudly showed me
their workbooks. Chana Bracha, my five-year-old grand-
daughter, was eager to show me her tracing book and a mag-
netic letter game she plays from the program Handwriting
Without Tears. Tova, who is eight, showed me the story she is
in the middle of writing. The girls gave me a glimpse of the
plethora of supplies in the teacher’s (otherwise known as the
54 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
Home schooling has always fascinated me. When my
children were growing up and had various difficulties
in school, I often thought that I should just keep them
at home. But, it never went further than a thought. I
was too timid to buck the trend and do something so
unusual. I also could not imagine having my children
home all day. I liked the comfort and structure of hav-
ing them in school. Besides, it was scary to have the
full responsibility of bringing up my children by myself! Home
schooling was too radical to even consider.
But home schooling has become a part of my life, now,
because two of my granddaughters, ages five and eight, are
being home schooled. I decided to find out more about it
from the perspective of the home schooler – and the home
schooled.
When I arrived at my children’s home on a Sunday morn-
ing, the family was eager to show me around and explain how
things work. I was given a tour of their “classroom” in the
basement, where my granddaughters proudly showed me
their workbooks. Chana Bracha, my five-year-old grand-
daughter, was eager to show me her tracing book and a mag-
netic letter game she plays from the program Handwriting
Without Tears. Tova, who is eight, showed me the story she is
in the middle of writing. The girls gave me a glimpse of the
plethora of supplies in the teacher’s (otherwise known as the
54 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
