When I started working in a homeschooling environment five years ago, I did not expect how much it would change my view of education. I thought I would primarily be teaching children. Today I know that it was the children who taught me. They taught me to slow down. To listen. To pay attention. And above all, to understand that learning is not a process that can simply be crammed into curricula, schedules, and assessments. As an alternative teaching method, I chose integrated thematic instruction, today called VEU, or highly effective learning, taking place in blocks where we learned several subjects at once.
Photo: Leathercraft
The education system taught us that good education means performance, results, and progress according to clearly defined rules. According to it, children are supposed to learn prescribed material at a set time. And if they manage it, they are successful.
Today I see it differently. Working in homeschooling showed me that every child learns at their own pace. Each one thinks differently. Each one needs something different. Some need more time, others more space, and still others just need to feel that someone believes in them. A huge advantage was the fact that I could devote myself to each child individually, because the number of children ranged from four to seven, from 1st to 4th grade. The children did not know homework or grades at all, only comments, tips, advice, their own ideas, and instructions. At school, they not only learned but also practiced the material, especially through games. Play is, after all, fun for a child; they learn the most and best through play, and thus progress personally without even realizing they are learning.
Photo: Making Christmas ornaments
The strongest moments often did not come when learning goals were met. They came in quiet moments. When a child stopped being afraid to answer. When they were not afraid to say "I don't understand." When they dared to ask a question simply because they were genuinely curious about something. It was then that I began to realize the enormous power of a safe environment. A child who feels accepted learns differently. Freely. Naturally. Without fear. They want to go to school and look forward to it. Whenever a parent came early to pick up a child, the child was unhappy that they already had to go home.
Perhaps it was here that I most understood the ideas of Janusz Korczak, the important Polish educator of the 20th century who significantly influenced the modern understanding of upbringing and education. According to him, a child is not a project to be completed. They are a full-fledged person from birth. With their own feelings, opinions, fears, and dreams. A person who deserves respect, trust, and dignity. Not as a plan that needs to be constantly corrected, pushed, or shaped according to adults' ideas. Korczak considered the child an equal partner of the adult.
The longer I work with children, the more I realize how easy it is to forget their real needs. Adults often talk about children, plan their future, set rules for them, fulfill their own unfulfilled dreams through them, but they do not always truly listen to them. A teacher in a homeschool listens to children. Not just to words, but also to silence, frustration, enthusiasm, fear, joy, curiosity, disappointment...
There is much that could be criticized about the Slovak education system. However, I know many teachers who do their work with immense dedication and heart. I admire them. I know the difficult conditions in which they work. At the same time, I feel that the education system as a whole is set up in such a way that it often does not allow children to develop their natural talents. I think it still operates according to the model of 19th-century schools, where everyone must progress at the same pace, meet the same curriculum, the same requirements, the same assessment. Despite various so-called reforms, in many schools we still see overcrowded classrooms, pressure to perform, a lot of memorization, and little space for individuality and personal development.
I sincerely admire teachers in public schools. Their work is immensely demanding. They have dozens of children in front of them, each one different. At the same time, they must handle the curriculum, testing, administration, and a host of other duties that the public does not see. In such a school system, it is very difficult to give each child as much attention as they truly need.
Classrooms are overcrowded with children who are different, who come from different social backgrounds, yet we expect the same pace, the same results, and the same answers from them. We assess them with grades, compare them, and often — even unintentionally — teach them that a mistake is something bad. But a mistake is, after all, a natural part of learning. Perhaps we should ask less whether a child meets the demands the school requires of them, and ask more whether the school is beneficial for the child.
If education is to move forward, in my opinion, it is not enough to change curricula or add new reforms. We mainly need to change the way we think about the child. According to Janusz Korczak, a child does not need only education. They need respect, for us to truly listen to them. Because the future of education will not rest solely on technology, reforms, or modern curricula. It will rest primarily on the quality of the relationship between the teacher and the child.
Photo: Experiential learning
Homeschooling did not give me all the answers. I do not consider it a universal solution. It is not for everyone and it is certainly not easy. The teacher – as a guide or mentor – is with the children all day, rejoices with them, deals with all their problems, troubles, joys, and worries. They completely draw a person into their world. Sometimes I was a mom, aunt, or grandma to them. A teacher in a homeschool must not only be very flexible, but also empathetic, creative, supportive, consistent, compassionate, adaptable, and last but not least, professionally prepared. Homeschooling requires a lot of patience, discipline, and responsibility. But it gave me something very important. It helped me rediscover the essence of education.
Today, more than ever before, I think that true education does not begin with a textbook. It begins with a relationship. With trust. With safety. With mutual respect and esteem. For children and parents alike.
And perhaps this is the greatest challenge for our education system as well. Not just to ask: "What should the child learn?" But to realize: "What kind of person are we preparing for life?" Because at the end of the school year, children will not remember all the rules, definitions, or tests. They will remember the feelings they experienced while learning.
Looking back at the years of homeschooling, I realize that the most valuable thing I achieved was not mastering the curriculum or meeting the syllabus. The greatest joy came from the fact that the children loved to learn, had a desire to learn, and called me themselves to start learning. It often happened that we extended our teaching blocks because of the children's interest in the topic we were studying. They discovered the world with natural curiosity, asked questions, sought answers, and rejoiced in new discoveries – not because of grades or pressure to perform, but because they truly enjoyed learning. It is this intrinsic motivation that I consider the greatest gift that homeschooling could have brought them. We always covered the curriculum content ahead of time, which gave us plenty of time for review and reinforcement. During the exam period, I admired the children as they brilliantly aced their semester exams with a remark about how easy the exams were. I believe that intrinsic motivation and the joy of discovery are the most valuable foundation for lifelong learning. These were the most difficult, yet also the most beautiful years of my teaching career.
Author: Mgr. Janka Koperová
