This year I got very brave upon the blessings of a dear friend and ventured towards Homeschooling my girls Malaysian Style. What does that mean really? Honestly, in the past 7 months, our homeschooling journey has evolved so much that this year, 2014, must be one of our most interesting years ever. Ever!!!
We started off the year Homeschooling Malaysian Style by having a set timetable of working seriously 3-5 hours a day replicating the school syllabus and time table but at home. This lasted all of almost 2 months with a lot of extra-curricular activities made possible with all the extra time. Then the next few months were spent on a downward spiral dwindling into nothingness because I really couldn’t arsed to monitor my kids progress. Seriously, who has the time. I actually have a real job in the real world, thank you very much. That pays real money too, thank God!!!
Though we did less school stuff, the girls got to play a lot, swim a lot and just do whatever they felt like doing every day. Simple life pleasures. I remember T1 baking a lot and well, they just had to get creative by themselves because they were just bored of being bored!
Then we went for our 1 month traveling expedition which was really all part of our homeschooling intention. Actually our round the world travel will be an ongoing homeschooling mission until the day we can no longer afford to go anywhere. Travel is THE best education. I kid you not. You do not need a lot of money seriously. Even going to Rawang, you will find plenty to do, plenty to see, plenty to learn, if you allow yourself to. Our Homeschooling Malaysian Style journey will also include our internal travel in Malaysia adventures for sure. We aspire to sell Malaysia really well to the world as we believe we have so much to offer here in our BEAUTIFUL country!!!
After Europe, our Homeschooling Malaysian Style journey suddenly picked up with a variety of activities shared with other like minded families and it just got richer and richer and T1 started falling in love with Homeschooling. She had found a group of friends, good buddies both boys and girls, that she could relate to. They were older by a year or two, but she clicked with them just great. They have since together performed experiments together, presented to each other their ideas, performed debates, gone on field trips, definitely an interesting ride this past few weeks so much so that T1 dropped the bomb on me this morning…….
She said she wanted to Home school indefinitely instead of going back to school. This was after begging me for the last 4 months to send her back to school. The Hubs had already budgeted a ridiculous sum of money to send both kids back to school next year due to the double year that the school is having as they are transitioning from the Malaysian school calendar to the British school calendar so 2 annual school fees in a year. I cannot express my facial expressions regarding this and question all the time if sending them back to school is a good idea. The return on investment just seems uncertain but the Hubs believes that the girls, HIS girls deserve the best in education and he believes that the school can give them a good all rounded challenging yet enjoyable school life, which is what he had. Actually, I had a bloody good time at school too. And we are fortunate to be able to afford it.
I cannot help wondering though that Homeschooling Malaysian Style might just be the way to go now that we’ve found our footing with the Homeschooling community in Malaysia. They are such fabulous people. The ones I have met anyway. Always inspiring, ever helpful and forever encouraging. Actually the kind of qualities that I would like my girls to inculcate.
SO I had a seriously long chat with my 9 year old daughter who is now doing Year 6 Math (her same class at school now are all doing Year 6 work anyway, they are just a year or two older) and she’s also done a Cambridge Year 7 paper (that’s Secondary School Form 1!!!) and scored 100% on it; so you can see the maturity and capability of this young girl who is able to perhaps assess her options and make some serious decisions. Maybe?
She says she would want to do her iGCSEs and go to University but for now wants to Home school but I told her that in order to do that, I might need to hire her individual private tutors to see her through the exams in a few years time and that would cost much more than school. Double!! Right now, she has private tutors for her languages and it is already costing close to her school fees and it’s only for an hour a week. CRAZINESS. But well worth it. She is learning a lot and most importantly keeping up with the real school pace and yet gets to party outside of school. I do keep asking myself though, is it necessary? What for? Can she just learn anything at her own pace and/or do nothing?
But knowing how lazy she is, I don’t think she’d get very far with disciplining herself to get any real work done if she is planning to take the iGCSEs. She’s a lot like me. I’m the laziest ass on the block. Study? Puhleeeeeeeeze. I always just did the minimum required and had the best time. If I had been Homeschooled Malaysian Style, perhaps my interest would have been captured but seriously, how much of what I learnt at school is now applicable to my life? I am not very clever but I am considered relatively successful due to pure luck. No connections, just sincerity and hard work. Anyone can do it and you don’t need school, just a passion for whatever you do. So is school necessary?
To get them out of my hair? Yes. The real education that will bring them to the level that they desire to make a lifelong living? I really do not have the answer. School or no school? Home school or not? At school, you have the dynamics of daily school life that involve many personalities and characters, you inculcate discipline and are forced to practise your manners daily, you have to interact and communicate with everyone daily which offers a lot of practice, you have large scale team activities such as the many performances that the school produces and projects that they get involved with, it is a lot of fun but so structured and of course, there are the damned exams and the not so creative teachers.
Homeschooling Malaysian Style? Freedom to do whatever the hell you want. Having loads of fun learning in the most creative ways which makes for more meaningful learning, lots more time to absorb important things, self governance, but it takes effort for the parent to expose new things to the child. I don’t have that kind of energy…..
Alas, I will get back to you after praying about it. Homeschooling Malaysian Style. Loving it.
**************************************************************************Who is Mamapumpkin?
Mamapumpkin is a former Design Architect turned Multi-Million Dollar Digital Entrepreneur. She sets out to prove to all that you can have anything and everything that you want; if you have that fire of desire burning within and the drive to work hard. Even better with much love.
Mamapumpkin has not only grown corporate businesses successfully in the past and doubled her salary 5 times over 5 organisations but has grown THREE BUSINESSES to 7 FIGURES within an 8 year period. She now shows others EXACTLY HOW after retiring her own husband from employment. He is now the official dog walker, family driver, chef and THE BEST FATHER to their two girls and THE BEST HUSBAND to the woman who CHOSE HIM!
Mamapumpkin is the girl who has nothing but fights for everything including YOU. She is idealistic in her desire to put unbelievable amounts of money and extrardinary happiness into the lives of good people so we can change the world together believing in happiness for ALL. She strives to impact lives authentically wanting to reduce poverty cycles and enable quality education for all and always supports the voiceless. She believes we can all have a life of our own desires to enable real contribution into the world. But first, one needs to understand what this all means.
A beautiful life without limits.
If you wish to learn how to propel your life forward guaranteed, be brave to take action. Mamapumpkin's purpose is to build people. Her gift is to help them UNCOVER their HIDDEN GIFTS. She operates fairly and always leaves an impression. You either love her or not and she is alright either way.
She is a living testimony that women really can have a lot. Being financially and time free has enabled her to travel the world anytime, anywhere, doing anything with anyone, as she spends most of her days with her children, having fun, supporting others wherever she can. Also having fun.
