Opening Doorz

By Ananya Kashyap | Opening Doorz Editorial | October 07, 2024

Amrutha Langs took an extraordinary route to support her son’s education by choosing to homeschool him. When her son Agastya was just seven, Amrutha began this journey, customizing his education in ways traditional schooling could not. At 13, Agastya Ambedkar completed his IGCSE Cambridge exams as a private candidate and is now advancing into AS and A Levels at a well-regarded college. Beyond academics, Agastya has inspired others through a TED-Ed talk and earned several awards.

Here, Amrutha reflects on the motivations, experiences, and considerations of homeschooling and offers insights for those contemplating this path for their own families.

Excerpts:

What prompted you to homeschool your son?

We took that decision for ‘customising education.’ As a society, we customise a food item, or get a dress, or even our homes customised by our needs and wants, likes and dislikes, but education is one thing we don’t even think of customising. We wanted to customise education at his (my child’s) pace; according to his likes and dislikes, needs and wants, and strengths and weaknesses.

How does homeschooling differ from traditional schooling?

As I mentioned earlier, it’s about customising education. There is no right or wrong in, or any bias towards traditional schooling. We chose to homeschool our child to customise education according to my child’s needs. If my child wishes to study a certain subject at a certain pace, we wanted him to have the liberty of doing that in a homeschool setting rather than a traditional one.

In traditional schools, there are several children that a teacher has to attend to. She doesn’t have the option of teaching at a certain pace. In comparison, when a child is getting homeschooled, there is an option of slowing down the pace for the benefit of the child. Similarly, if the child is progressing well in a certain subject, one can speed up the pace for optimal performance.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of homeschooling?

Some people might argue that without a specific timeframe, you cannot obtain targeted learning. In response, I feel that even in lower classes, there was no timeframe for learning, rather, the focus was on understanding concepts and observing and learning things. As a child, when you’re evolving and constantly learning if one is pressurised (as far as academics is concerned) and made to focus on rote learning, you are only studying and not learning.

Homeschooling gives you the liberty to learn, something that traditional schooling lacks. I never emphasised rote learning for my child, rather I presented him with a ‘mess’ of options to choose from. Mess makes memories.

How do homeschooled students adapt to higher education and social environments?

Once you have cleared your Grade X Board examinations, children can either take the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) testing or the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Cambridge exams. State Board is also an option. You can select a center that helps you fill out forms and then eventually you take the exam of your choosing as a private candidate and then join mainstream schooling for your 11th and 12th Grades.

I know of many students who appeared for IGCSE Cambridge Board Exams for Grade X as homeschoolers and then joined a traditional college. So, I don’t see a problem with this. My son, having taken his IGCSE exams as a private candidate, has joined Cambridge Board College.

How do you balance homeschooling with other family responsibilities?

This was a crucial question for us. Before starting, we had an open family discussion to assess if this commitment was manageable. I come from an educational background, so I took on the teaching role, while my husband handled other responsibilities. Our family works together to maintain our household, sharing tasks like cooking and cleaning. It’s brought us closer and taught Agastya responsibility.

We don’t have any house help; we run our house ourselves. Be it vacuuming or dusting, my husband takes care of it, assisted by my son. My mother and I lend help to each other in the kitchen. All duties and responsibilities are divided equally among all the members of the family. It impresses me how my 13-year-old son can cook several dishes and take care of himself, all by himself. I feel sharing responsibilities is a part of growing up, and a part of homeschooling too.

What are the most common misconceptions about homeschooling? 

The biggest misconception, as I mentioned earlier, is about socialisation. People have the wrong idea that homeschoolers would have trouble adjusting to society.

How do you manage extracurricular activities for homeschoolers?

We encourage Agastya to pursue his interests outside, like sports. He plays tennis, swims, snorkels, free-dives, and enjoys football. Homeschooling doesn’t limit extracurriculars—children in traditional schools also join activities beyond school, so it’s no different.

How does one decide if homeschooling is the right choice for their children?

To begin with, the question that should come up is not if it is the right choice only for your child, but rather, is it the right choice for your family? What happens is that if you decide to homeschool, but you live with elders in a joint family, it would go against your decision. If the elders living under the same roof have a pessimistic response to your decision to homeschool your child, it will prove counterproductive. The bottom line is to have respect for everyone living in the same house. You need to come up with a proper system that works for your family.

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