Vocational learning

R has been asking for a baby brother or sister recently. Its not going to happen, so I found her the next best thing. A babysitting job!
For the last 2 months, 3 mornings a week, R and I have been helping out with taking care of a neighbour's small baby.
I would like to share with you our experience, in particular R's experience.
Taking care of a baby is a huge responsibility and not to be taken lightly. Knowing how R takes everything she does seriously ,I knew she would commit herself fully to the undertaking and do whatever was required to the best of her ability.
R started out with relatively no experience in babycare. Memories of her little sister being a baby are distant now and so I knew it would take her some time to build up her confidence.

For a couple of weeks she watched me do everything. I waited patiently. I knew the day would come when she would ask if she could do something. Holding the baby came first. Then helping to change a nappy swiftly followed by undressing and dressing the baby. Feeding and winding him then measuring and making up the bottle.
I can honestly say that now R  not only knows how to take care of a baby, but is confident, happy and comfortable doing so. Not only has the experience been a joyful one but she has learned a lot about herself. She has learned responsibility and to trust herself . She has grown in capability and confidence. She has contributed something worthwhile to another human being, made a lasting impression on a whole family and provided lasting memories for a baby who shall one day become an adult and ask about his childhood.
Soon we have to say goodbye to our baby friend, as he will be leaving Goa. We always knew he was only here for a short time, nevertheless it will be hard to say goodbye. Maybe there is another lesson still to be learned...letting go of our attachments.

So conclusion - vocational learning in a job you are interested in and passionate about, even at 9 years of age - successful and definately worthwhile.
 I wonder where R's interests will take us next! Watch this space to find out!

Roshni and the school community

We are extremely lucky to have the support of R's previous school as we venture into homeschooling.
R attended First Steps pre school followed by Green Meadows Primary School in Goa, which are both run by a very special lady, Mrs Robbie Panesar.
R has always had a very special relationship with Mrs Robbie, based on mutual respect and understanding. Mrs Robbie could see right from the beginning how difficult  found the school environment and helped her with patience and understanding, allowing R to grow in confidence at her own pace.
She never pushed R and never made an issue out of her sensitivity. As a result, school became a safe place for her to grow in confidence and ability and provided her with a real sense of belonging.
It was not an easy decision to take R out of school but we are able to maintain our relationship with Mrs Robbie and her school by taking part in school library lessons, extra curricular activities, shows and events. This allows R to see her teachers and friends on a regular basis and keep up to date with what everyone is doing in school.
Today R took part in a sponsored walk, along with her school friends, to raise funds for the school library. Knowing that her contribution benefits herself, her friends and the school is an invaluable lesson in how important we each are, as individuals, to the community.

In a country where the education system is outdated and schools generally have a closed door policy it is refreshing to find a school with a more open minded approach towards education and a warm, understanding attitude towards its students.
R may have chosen to walk her own path with regards to her future education, but the foundation for that path is based on a continuing, supportive relationship with those people who have helped to guide her and encourage her this far.
Thankyou to Mrs Robbie Panesar and staff of Green Meadows for helping R to see that the things which make her different are what make her strong and that choosing to follow a different path does not mean that she has to be alone.
For more information about Green Meadows Primary school, Goa  please visit their website at http://www.greenmeadowsschool.com/

Maintaining school links.

R may be homeschooling now, but we still value our relationships with her previous schools.
When R was a baby, we were in UK, renovating my old house and for 9 months R attended a nursery part time. R may not remember much about her days there as she was so small, but she loves looking through all her records and keepsakes and often asks questions about the school and her teachers.


See Saw Day Nursery was run by Mark and Sarah Whelan who now run Saint Georges Preparatory school in Boston. I make a point of staying in touch with them and have followed the progress of their new project over the last year. Following the forest school concept, St Georges Preparatory School  aims to provide  holistic education to its students with emphasis on outdoor play and learning through nature.
With an outstanding Ofsted report and Best New Business Award to their name, this small school is proving that education does not have to be confined to the classroom and that school curriculums do not have to be limiting to the pupil.
The kids at this forest school wrap up warm and go out to play in the cold weather, get their hands dirty, and breathe fresh air every school day.
Our mutually supportive relationship with Saint Georges Preparatory School  provides R with invaluable links to her roots and insight into what her peers are learning in UK. We exchange photos, letters and emails, share ideas and plan to have a live chat with the forest school pupils on skype in the near future.
Thankyou Saint Georges Preparatory School for supporting R's homeschooling!

If you would like to learn more about this school please check out their website at http://www.saintgeorgesprep.co.uk/ .

In my next post I shall be writing about R's continuing  relationship with her previous primary school.

Narkasur and Diwali.

In Goa, the evening before Diwali, giant, home made statues of Narkasur are displayed in the streets. Narcassur was a demon king who suffered defeat at the hands of Krishna. This is a classic story of good overcoming evil and is celebrated with the burning of the statues,  followed by the lighting of Diwali lamps early in the morning, of the first day of Diwali. This year, as in other years, we went for a drive around to see the statues in the villages before they were loaded onto the backs of trucks and taken to parade through the streets of Mapusa and Panaji.

At 4am the next morning R got up to help light the diyas and lanterns around the outside, front of our house.

We went back to bed until daylight then joined the family for a breakfast of various sweet dishes.

R and friends then decided to make divali decorations using scrap paper we had lying around the house. They spent hours sitting and chatting while they looped strips of paper and linked them together to make paper chains.

Later R came inside and hung some of her paper chains up. I think they look great!

The healing power of pets.

I couldnt write a blog about Roshni's homeschooling without mentioning her best homeschooling friend, Biba.

Biba is a German shepherd cross who we rescued as a puppy. She is now a year old and is R's best friend.
Whenever R feels upset, angry, frustrated or confused a hug from Biba seems to be all thats needed to heal her soul.
The above picture was taken during R's last days of school when she had completed her exams. She was in such a rush to tell Biba that exams were over that she didnt even get changed out of her school uniform before playing with her beloved pet.
We all experience times as parents when we are at a loss as to how to help our children. When they are emotional, especially when the child has difficulty in expressing their feelings. Sometimes kids just dont have the words to describe how they feel.  A hug, some quiet time and reassurance is often what is needed, but if the child is very sensitive it can be quite difficult for them to move on. For me, its at times like this when Biba comes to my rescue.
Some time spent with Biba seems to erase all of R's worries.
Animals have presence and children connect with them naturally when a healthy attitude towards animals is fostered by the parents.
I feel having a pet enriches a childs life immensely and allows an opportunity for the child to initiate communication and healing for themselves.
If your child is asking for a pet you should be sure to choose carefully, taking into consideration your home environment and be sure that the child understands that any animal requires a commitment from them for their daily care. You should also consider the financial implications of owning a pet.
Having a pet can be rewarding for the whole family but children are the ones who will reap the most benefits.
We would not be without Biba and we cant imagine life without her now. She is with us to stay and is R's forever friend.

Homechooling resources

Ive found a wealth of resources for homeschooling on the internet. Some of them are designed to use alongside various curriculums and others are ideas to inspire and engage the child.
Here are some links to a few of the best Ive found.

http://www.earthlearningidea.com/

http://www.worksheetworks.com/

http://www.khanacademy.org/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/

http://www.homeschooling-ideas.com/home-school-ideas.html

http://www.mathinenglish.com/menuWorkbooksI.php

http://www.mathabc.com/

Crafty with clay

R tried pottery a couple of years ago and loved it. She really wants to try it again so until I can line up some classes for her I thought she might enjoy decorating some ready made clay pots.
We took a trip to Mapusa market and bought a variety of different clay items. Just being there amongst all though clay pots was, for R, exciting in itself!
We took them home and R called her little sister and cousin to come and decorate some of the items. It was like her own little art school. Everyone had a great time and are very proud of their work.

Research,reflection and inspiration.

Well as R had just completed exams at the end of the last school term and was looking forward to her long Divali holidays I am taking this time to do my research and R is enjoying a well deserved rest (de-schooling!) before we begin with the homeschooling.
I have found a wealth of information on the internet but I have been bookmarking my favourite pages so I thought i would share them with you.

First Ive listed some of the pages which have inspired and encouraged me to take up homeschooling.

http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/

http://besthomeschooling.org/index.html

http://homeschoolers.in/collaborative-learning/?fb_action_ids=10151097692733225&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

http://sandradodd.com/unschooling

http://www.mommy-labs.com/holistic_living/unschooling-homeschooling-india-natural-learning-children/

http://www.alternativeeducationindia.net/articles/home-educating

http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/

http://zenhabits.net/unschool/

http://www.livingjoyfully.ca/

Taking the plunge!

At last we have taken the plunge! R is officially a homeschooler.
Homeschooling was something I considered right from the very beginning. My daughter R is a highly sensitive child with unbelievable depth of feeling. She is happiest when working by herself, in a peaceful room  at her own pace.She is easily affected by other peoples words,actions and emotions and assesses her environment very carefully before feeling comfortable in new situations.
 I did however feel that R could benefit from that feeling of belonging you get from being a part of a school. I was right. When R was four and a half we found a small school  and she settled in and began to grow in confidence and ability. It became evident that this quiet, shy little girl had very strong leadership abilities and an innate love of studying. School though was always a challenge for her, not academically, but studying in a classroom environment. In many ways she embraced school. She loved her studies,her teachers, the routine.Shes the most conscientious student you could ever find. Popular with her classmates and teachers alike. But she would often come home with complaints about not being able to concentrate because someone was talking,annoying or distracting her. 
More recently she has been coming home in tears because of the frustration this caused her. Its rare to find a school as sympathetic and understanding as this one with only 16 students in the class you would think it would be a good option. I do believe it was our best option for the last five and half years and I have no regrets sending her to school. She has grown in confidence in a secure, safe environment among people she has taken her time to bond with and feel comfortable with. It took a  lot of soul searching to make the decision to remove R from this school.
I started to consider homeschooling when the tears,anger and frustration after school just became too much and the most noticeable problem was that R was losing the desire to study.
I did lots of research and joined homeschooling groups and read books on alternative methods of education. One of these books was 'Learning all the time' by John Holt. When R first spotted this particular book lying on the coffee table she read the title and announced  excitedly 'Thats what I want to do!'. Indeed we are all learning all the time anyway, so I asked R why she had said that? Did she not feel that she was learning all the time? Her answer was " Well I would be if I wasnt spending so much time at school!".
Haha!
Basically R felt she was learning very little in school and that she learnt mostly when she read through her notes at home. She said she felt she would learn more by herself ,at home, only as school took up the whole day, it left her with very little time to study.This is what she found frustrating.
The answer.... take her out of school so that she can study at leisure and not have to deal with the stress that the classroom environment was giving her.
The conflict for me was wether I could provide R with the social situations she required to continue growing in confidence and maintain friendships.
I consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have not only the blessing of the principal of R's school but also her permission for R to continue being a part of the school community by taking part in school activities, clubs and functions as a friend of the school. All the teachers have offered their help whenever required by R in their respective subjects and R shall have use of the school library facilities.
I must say I have received an abundance of encouraging remarks and positivity from people around us with whom we have discussed our decision. It feels right so we are going to do it!
So with all this good fortune we embark on our homeschooling journey. Please join us as we take the plunge!