In Defence of Home Schooling

If you are new to my Substack, I have a toddler who recently turned 2, and I can’t even believe how time flies. Since he turned two, we have been looking around for a good pre-nursery school for him. Now, tell me why we are getting an average fee of 5 to 8 million Naira to get him started in pre-nursery?

Before you say things like, "There are cheaper schools." Yes, I know there are more affordable schools, but we all want the best for our kids, right? And for my rich folks who would say, ‘expensive is relative,’ and maybe this looks fair when you compare it with other international schools around the world, let me put this in context.

I (my parents) spent about half of that amount from Nursery to getting my BSc degree. Thanks to the almost-free primary school owned by an Aunt that I attended, the tuition-free government-owned Lagos State Model College that I attended for my secondary school education, and the next-to-nothing fee I paid for my degree at the Obafemi Awolowo University. It would actually be less than 2 million naira if I compute it, and here I am with the possibility of paying more than double that amount for a toddler who would probably just watch cartoons, sleep, dance to some rhymes, and at most, read “Ahh” for “Ahhpple”.

Since I received the invoices and got an idea of how much the fee costs, I have come to appreciate our situation, the help we get, and one invaluable gift given to David by his Uncle’s girlfriend, now wife.

I say 'our situation' because I can work remotely, and my wife has stopped formal employment for this period, so we are almost always at home. Although we haven’t set up a rigid homeschooling curriculum for David, being around him allows us to teach him his alphabet, numbers, rhymes, and other pre-nursery terms, and to introduce him to new concepts.

'The help we get' because David’s nanny has also contributed to getting him up to speed with learning. Every day, I hear new syllables, words, or concepts from him, and if they did not come from me or my wife, he most likely learnt them from her. Although I caught myself the other day telling her, albeit jokingly, not to teach the poor boy English from Benue. Benue is a place in the North Central part of Nigeria.

‘One resourceful gift’ David has received looks like a tab. Not electronic, but it has greatly helped him in identifying figures, numbers, words, and even concepts. David has not set foot in school but knows his numbers up to 20, the alphabet, several words, rhymes, and more.

Which brings me to the point of this article: maybe homeschooling is not such a bad idea after all. With the right resources and support, parents can provide their children with a fantastic education, even if it’s not traditional. And let’s be real: with the state of our education system, no one can blame you if you decide to take matters into your own hands.

Of course, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. It takes a lot of effort, patience, and dedication to homeschool a child. But, if it means giving them the best possible start in life, isn’t it worth it?

I follow a couple on social media who travel the world for a living, so their children cannot attend traditional school. When asked if their children are educated, their usual response is that travelling by itself is sufficient education for children. Stories of accomplished people who were homeschooled also abound, from Thomas Edison, who invented the lightbulb, to Serena Williams, to Nelson Mandela, and others.

As I close this, this is not an endorsement for homeschooling and does not in any way mean we are going to homeschool David or not. It is important that I make this clear in case you see him resuming school and you feel betrayed 😁. This is just me documenting my thoughts. This also does not mean he would or would not attend an expensive school because I or my parents spent almost nothing on my own education. Again, this is just me and my musings 💭.

And who knows? Maybe I will come back with a sequel in defence of traditional schooling if or when he starts school in a month or maybe in two years 😂.

PS: I may have found one argument in support of traditional schooling. I decided to record the attached video so I could add it to this article, but David decided he is having none of it. Funnily, he spends hours on the same tab when he is with his Nanny.