Schooling, Homeschooling, Unschooling, Noschooling are kinds of thoughts that are fad discussion topics.

Schooling is sending your children to the schools.

Homeschooling is teaching them all subject at home.

Unschooling / Noschooling is not teaching them even at home! Teaching the children whenever the topic arises that they need to understand.

A school provides a common ground for the social mingling of children from various backgrounds and attitudes. Schools are definitely primarily meant to impart academic education but that is just half of the needs of the real education.

Mind you being literate does not mean being educated ever.

Literacy is acquiring text book knowledge which can be done sitting in your study rooms! But the real education means many latent features that schools give to their students in the short and long run. It is in the school that a child learns to interact freely with an unknown child or an adult and begins to trust them. It is the school where the children learn to sit with a stranger since the first day of the school and feel good about it too. Parents like me will otherwise never be able to leave their children alone :)! I am may not fall into the subset of being a  helicopter mom but I do fall into the bigger set of stealth mom who likes to be aware of everything happening in the lives of their children silently or not so silently when required 😉 !

I depend on schools for not just social mingling but also for many social behavioral needs for any growing child that is not possible in a house of 4 members!

The fights in the classrooms with other children (though my two sons are better off at home with the constant fightings they have with me not really interfering) . The competition that they learn to face or enjoy, the groupings, the inter class arguments, the jealousy, the success, the failure, the happiness and the sadness  are all natural yet latent gifts of schools. The sports or indoor games need teams and teach the spirit of team building which is difficult to fathom without schools! The annual school day with enthusiasm, participation, preparation and presentations are all learnings for the future existence.

Homeschooling is a very tough job for parents. Hats off to all the parents who decide to homeschool their children. It needs a very sound academic knowledge of not just subjects but also practicals which I always wonder where do these children get to do! Homeschooling also needs a commitment from both parents to spend a few hours everyday without fail just like the children would in the schools! Children can really understand the concepts well as there is no time binding them to rush to the next subject. They get time and pace to learn and grasp everything slowly.

Social learning is also being taken care of by these parent groups who meet regularly but I cannot ever understand it’s efficacy. Yes schools must be academic but not the traditional type yet catering to the more practical explanation of the fundamentals.

To wrap up the topic, I personally believe schooling has far important impact than it seems to anyone. So whenever I get frustrated by something in the school of my children, I start thinking of the summer vacation days and come back to my senses.