Homeschooling in Africa

by Charmain
(Swaziland, Africa)

Hello to all, I have been homeschooling my grandson for the past 2 yrs, he is now 7yrs old. We live in Africa and our Educational System, in my opinion, leaves a lot to be desired.

When I started teaching I dived in head first, developing a system of my own. Not having any idea of where to start I worked my way through teaching the ABC. This did not take long as we would say & sing the ABC, and play I spy (playing I spy is a great way to teach sound). Once this was grasped I began teaching writing.

I never forced anything, we had a lot of play time, writing in the sand and on paper but always learning.

My grandson has had the opportunity to have his own computer and has been surfing the internet since 3 years old, this has also been a great sorce of education to him. When he wants to know something he does a search for whatever he is looking for, then he will check with myself and my husband on the answers he has found. He is now reading the Tommy Books and is on his 5th book in the series.

It is a new year for us now 2011 and I have been doing a lot of research for lessons for him. I found he is way ahead of his age group, which shows me I must be doing something right.

Thanks to all those homeschooler parents out there who have offered their hard work in resources and knowledge for us to share, I for one would never have been able to succeed if it weren't for you all as where we live we dont have the resources available like libraries so I have had to rely on the internet. Thank you very much.

Charmain
Thank you so much for your homeschooling story. It is lovely to hear how you homeschool your grandson.

I do agree with you - the internet is a wonderful resource for us homeschoolers. And it sounds as if your grandson is thriving on it!

best wishes, Julie.