By Isaiah Tan
The difference between homeschooling and the government school lies in the way the curriculum is taught.
If you are homeschooling, you are an independent learner. In other words, you learn things by yourself; and if you do not pass the test at every level, you will have to remain in the previous grade you were in.
At every level, homeschooling allows you to sit for a self-test at the end of every chapter of the book. This will help the supervisors to identify at what level you are in. I think this is a good way to keep track of how much you have progressed in your studies.
On the contrary, if you have three examinations in a year, students tend to revise their work at the eleventh hour.
When I was in government school, the teacher taught the curriculum very fast in order to finish the curriculum before the end of the year. Even though I could not catch up, the teachers still kept teaching.
As a result, I did not fully understand the concept of what was taught; instead, the teachers just gave out the answers.
Since joining homeschooling recently, after the teacher has taught us the concept of a particular subject, she will test me to see if I have grasped the contents well.
In homeschooling, we learn from young to be independent. In my homeschooling centre, for example, we have to learn to do the washing up.
Each of us is assigned a duty roster where we have to clean the toilets and sweep or vacuum the floor. While we are doing the weekly tasks, we can learn to become more independent. We will form a good habit to help our family at home.
I think the government should introduce the same learning system and curriculum as the homeschooling syllabus.
Because I have been in the two types of school, I personally think that I prefer to be in homeschooling rather than being in a government school.
(Isaiah Tan is 11 years old and attends a homeschooling centre in Petaling Jaya).
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