Travel is the best teacher. Living by this adage is Lakshana Shravan, who takes her son Naithik for off-beat trips every month while homeschooling him.
Unable to pursue her passion for dance due to regular school, she took a decision with her husband Shravan to homeschool 8-year-old Naithik.
“We want to expose him to everything and enable him to choose what he wants to pursue,” she says.
Here are some homeschooling ideas from Lakshana for young parents.
1. Do what you believe is best for your child. “We took this decision as we think it works best for our child."
Fill in some text
2. Give them hands-on experience. Each morning, Naithik spends an hour or so in the kitchen garden with Lakshana.
3. Let them choose a sport they want to play, and let it be unstructured. Build tasks around the sport the child chooses.
“Let the child fall in love with the sport and develop a passion for it, rather than make it a task for them.”
4. Let afternoons be for activities. Lakshana and Naithik choose three activities daily, which include singing, dancing, doodling, colouring.
“There is nothing structured, but at the same time, there is some method to what we do.”
5. "Travel with your kids as early as possible, as it teaches them different things. Travel helps children grasp things easily," says Lakshana.
“Travel helps kids learn about geography, history, math, languages, culture, and even patience.”
To encourage more parents to explore with their kids, Lakshana started a group called Tripster Buddies.
Lakshana’s unique approach to traditional schooling is a step towards incorporating play in education, something that the National Education Policy has laid great emphasis on.
The NCF-FS policy lays strong focus on early childhood care through incorporating play in education.
“It is not just ‘playing’ as we know it. It includes singing songs, conversations, stories, music, puzzles, dancing, etc. When a child is playing, they are learning,” says Shankar Maruwada, CEO and co-founder of EkStep Foundation.