HS FAQ: Epilogue

If you have done your schooling then my viewpoint is that you are completely qualified to teach your school-going children. You don’t need to buy fancy B.Ed. or M.Ed. degrees to do this. Think- For thousands of years crores of people have taught their one and two and three year old children to speak their mother tongues without the need of any special degree-vigree. Also think- your interest in your children will obviously be more than that of some teacher in a 40-student classroom. Because isn’t it true that most of the teachers time probably goes in managing the badmaash children of your enemies? And if you tell me that every single thing you learned in school has vanished without a trace from your mind- arre bhai, then tell me why you want your children also to go through a full 12 years of school to make the very same things vanish from their minds? I showed this document to some people before I decided to publish it and many of them said that the questions seemed to be only half answered and that it seemed that I was trying to escape without giving a proper answer. If this is your opinion also then let me tell you what I told them in my defense. This way of answering is very deliberate. The document is suggesting that you walk in a particular radical direction but it tries very hard not to point out any definite path. Your path you only will have to find out for yourselves. You should only find some gentle pointers towards possible paths here. Before finishing this document I feel the need to give you a warning. If after reading this you also become abnormal like me then please read this paragraph very carefully first. This is no child’s play… Sorry, its child’s play only... No what I wanted to say was that this is a very big commitment, a very big responsibility for you. Before taking it up ask yourself- Can you stay with your children for more than one hour without going out of your mind? If the answer to this is yes and you take the plunge then remember- This decision of yours will lead you to back-breaking levels of work. And if you are not able to cope up with this work properly and your children go from bad to worse then you do whatever- beat your head on the wall or beat your children or send them back to school- whatever- but it is my sincere request, my vinamr binati to you- please don’t put the blame of your misfortune on my poor head. And haan, one absolutely last final thing- Remember that smiling keeps your teeth white and shiny. I don’t remember properly now but I think this true thing was taught to me in school. And you also must have noticed that all the shiny-white-toothed men and women in toothpaste ads are always smiling. No? So whatever happens, keep smiling :-) A loving pranaam to you from all of us here, Arun, Kanti, Aditi, Srikant and Dinkar Contact etc. Arun Elassery, Email: arunelassery@hotmail.com For more information on homeschooling in India check out: http://www.alternativeeducationindia.net http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alt-ed-india http://www.multiworld.org/taleemnet.html http://www.learningnet-india.org And don’t forget the most important website of them all: http://www.google.co.in