Teacher mom

Teresa Abshire, home schooling parent from the US based in Abu Dhabi

I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to educate my children at home. My husband works full-time and I have chosen to provide them with a supportive learning environment tailored to their needs, interests and abilities.

I understand that home schooling is not for everyone, but for those who have the opportunity to sit with their children for two or three hours a day and create an environment that fosters a love for learning, the rewards are numerous.

Our interest in home schooling was sparked ...
... when we were living in Saudi Arabia.

We began reading about it in 2003, when our children were still too young for school. Our neighbours were struggling with the amount of homework being given to their first grader, not to mention the two-hour commute to and from school.

At the time, I didn't feel comfortable putting my child on a bus for two hours and giving up precious family time for an unnecessarily large workload.

So I began to research globetrotting children (ie, expatriate children who move from one school to another). There are negative and positive aspects of this lifestyle.

My husband, Joey, and I wanted our children to avoid the more traumatic aspects of always being the new kids at school.

We saw firsthand (children move from school to school) and how hard it was to mesh together different international school systems and maintain a smooth flow in curriculum without missing chunks or repeating the same information.

We moved to Abu Dhabi in 2005 and my children are home schooled here too. Every family has its own way of handling the effects of globetrotting on their children. We decided that continuity in their education would be the best avenue for our family.

We have four boys - Jason 7, Justin 6, Henry 4, Christopher, 1 - and a baby on the way. The flexibility that home schooling provides has been beneficial in allowing the children to participate in the coming of their new sibling.

They were all able to attend the scans and ask the midwife as many questions as they could come up with. The boys took great pleasure in trying to determine if they would have a brother or a sister.

They often accompany me when I run my errands. It provides a great opportunity to interact with all sorts of people in different professions. Everyday activities can become educational opportunities, even something as simple as asking the man mincing the ground beef how the meat grinder works.

Home schooling is not without its difficulties ...
... parents need to have thick skins.

The most consistent concern is my children's lack of socialisation. Socialisation is defined by the Webster's dictionary as "to participate actively in a social gathering".

It does not say that the social gathering has to be limited to their peer group. I believe it takes a community to teach a child. My children get the chance to meet and interact with people of all ages and various social groups in Abu Dhabi.

I believe this will help them to lead fulfiling lives as contributing members of society.

One of the many benefits of home schooling ...
... is that it enables better allocation of students' time and area of study around their interests. A shorter school day leaves time for them to pursue lengthy science experiments or tinker with gadgets.

My mother did not have the opportunity ...
... to home school my brother and I when we were young. I was only 5 and my brother was 3 when she was widowed. At the time she was attending university, studying for a nursing degree.

Determined to complete her degree so that she could support us, would bring us to class with her, where we would sit quietly colouring or drawing pictures. Even as toddlers we knew it was important to her that she completed her education.

She worked very hard to support us and eventually went to graduate school. Education was, and is, very important to her and in the end it was her commitment to education that really inspired us.

In high school, I had no trouble with the content of the courses ...
... but was challenged in terms of allocating time to each subject and prioritising which assignments needed to be completed and which to leave unfinished. I was envious of students at satellite schools, which allowed their students to work at their own pace and have more say in their education.

My husband's experience was not as positive as mine. He found his high school academically unchallenging. He also witnessed many acts of bullying and violence, which distracted him and other students from their studies.

We met and married while we were attending college and I made the difficult choice to let my husband finish his degree first while I worked. After graduating, he was employed and we relocated overseas. My schooling had to be put on hold. Or so I thought.

I've discovered that it doesn't take a piece of paper to make you educated.

Certainly that piece of paper will help you get a job and is proof you have attended a university or a school, but anyone is capable of learning.

Some parents say they don't think they could teach their children because they don't have a degree in education. Yet we didn't need a degree to teach our children how to eat solid foods, walk or talk. Parents will always be teachers - whether it's by the example they set or more formally.

The advantage of educating your own children is that you know them best. Your love and desire to see them grow in all areas is what creates a safe learning environment.

Although there are many techniques for home schooling, ranging from a highly structured purchased curriculum to child-led learning, we use an assortment of materials. It's really up to the parents and the needs and talents of the children.

This fall we will take a month off from home schooling so I can have the baby. By helping to care for the baby, the children will learn from the school of life.

My goal is to raise confident, independent, intelligent, socially aware and adaptable children who love their family and are active members of the community. I think home schooling is one way to reach this goal.