Making the Decision to Homeschool
Shimokawa Family
Making the Decision to Homeschool
By Melanie Shimokawa
I am an American living in Japan with my Japanese husband and our two
year old son, Mook - who is both. It is common to send children as
young as two to cram school or baby genius school. They are expected to
read basic Japanese by age five. But, of course, every mother wants her
child to be ahead. I figured, preschool starts at age four here, so
before then, I wanted him to be able to read English, since he won*t get
it anywhere else. I bought him some educational software, but I wanted
to learn how to teach him after school. So I looked all over the
internet for homeschooling, just for ideas to teach my son now, and when
he would go to school. Never ever did I think that I would completely
homeschool him. What about socialization? What about things I can*t
teach him? How could I afford all the equipment? How would I know what
I was supposed to teach him? So I would just teach him English after
school.
The more I researched homeschooling, the more wonderful it sounded, and
the more convinced I was that I could do it. The more I realized how
much time would be wasted at school. Then I remembered my own
experiences at school. I was constantly playing sick to avoid having to
go. I claimed to like school. I thought I did. But I would rather
have stayed home and learned what I wanted to. I didn*t get any
positive socialization. Bullied at recess and prevented from
socializing during class time, I feel I could have done better out of
school. I realized that homeschooling doesn*t mean you have to stay at
home. That would be boring. My two year old now makes friends with
people at the store, whenever we meet anyone when we go for a walk,
people - grown-ups and kids alike - at the playground, the library,
church, etc. He has more friends than I ever did. He is never lonely.
Even though he*s only two, Mook teaches me things I never knew before.
Just from following his interests, I have learned the names of all the
trains in Japan (though he still has to correct me once in a while), and
the parts of a train and how they work to make the train go. I never
knew any of that before - neither did I care - but I know now. And so
does Mook. My husband and I both help him pursue his interests. We
take him to the library, search the internet, and his educational
computer programs also help. One thing leads to another, and through
phases of bulldozers, trains, and now dinosaurs, Mook is learning to
love learning and life. He does worksheets once in a while - when he
really wants to, but to him, learning is not being forced to study
things he couldn*t care less about. To Mook, learning is discovering
all the wonderful things about life. That will continue, as long as he
has the chance to allow it to.
____________________________________
This, and other essays can be found on my incomplete website:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/3440/
If anyone else is willing to help me by writing essays on various
topics, I would appreciate it.
Love, Melanie in Japan
By Melanie Shimokawa
I am an American living in Japan with my Japanese husband and our two
year old son, Mook - who is both. It is common to send children as
young as two to cram school or baby genius school. They are expected to
read basic Japanese by age five. But, of course, every mother wants her
child to be ahead. I figured, preschool starts at age four here, so
before then, I wanted him to be able to read English, since he won*t get
it anywhere else. I bought him some educational software, but I wanted
to learn how to teach him after school. So I looked all over the
internet for homeschooling, just for ideas to teach my son now, and when
he would go to school. Never ever did I think that I would completely
homeschool him. What about socialization? What about things I can*t
teach him? How could I afford all the equipment? How would I know what
I was supposed to teach him? So I would just teach him English after
school.
The more I researched homeschooling, the more wonderful it sounded, and
the more convinced I was that I could do it. The more I realized how
much time would be wasted at school. Then I remembered my own
experiences at school. I was constantly playing sick to avoid having to
go. I claimed to like school. I thought I did. But I would rather
have stayed home and learned what I wanted to. I didn*t get any
positive socialization. Bullied at recess and prevented from
socializing during class time, I feel I could have done better out of
school. I realized that homeschooling doesn*t mean you have to stay at
home. That would be boring. My two year old now makes friends with
people at the store, whenever we meet anyone when we go for a walk,
people - grown-ups and kids alike - at the playground, the library,
church, etc. He has more friends than I ever did. He is never lonely.
Even though he*s only two, Mook teaches me things I never knew before.
Just from following his interests, I have learned the names of all the
trains in Japan (though he still has to correct me once in a while), and
the parts of a train and how they work to make the train go. I never
knew any of that before - neither did I care - but I know now. And so
does Mook. My husband and I both help him pursue his interests. We
take him to the library, search the internet, and his educational
computer programs also help. One thing leads to another, and through
phases of bulldozers, trains, and now dinosaurs, Mook is learning to
love learning and life. He does worksheets once in a while - when he
really wants to, but to him, learning is not being forced to study
things he couldn*t care less about. To Mook, learning is discovering
all the wonderful things about life. That will continue, as long as he
has the chance to allow it to.
____________________________________
This, and other essays can be found on my incomplete website:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/3440/
If anyone else is willing to help me by writing essays on various
topics, I would appreciate it.
Love, Melanie in Japan