Leilani's Domain; Prefect Perillo Academy

Babies learn everything from their parents. Parents make the decision of guiding their children to grow and live life the best way possible, without barriers or obstacles. It was our choice to continue the learning process, safely at home.

People home school for several different reasons. Most home school for religious reasons, many for educational purposes and some because of a handicap or learning disability, but everyone has one primary reason. That reason is because of a loving choice. Parents make the final decision about their child's education, public, private, or home school. Whatever the choice, it must be backed lovingly & followed through. In other words, parents cannot home school if they do not deeply care about their child's future. Warning, there is much adversity still out there. Encountering a friend or relative always draws certain looks. No one seems to understand how learning at home actually does produce results & that socialization aspect always gets mentioned. Home schoolers tend to face that sarcasm & ignorance. Although, this depends on the type & maturity of the people encountered. In addition, it does not really matter what others think. Obviously, questions & comments will arise about home schooling, but it takes a special sort to actually follow through. Having a lot of patience & commitment is what it takes. It is the hardest job that we parents will ever love!

There is no "one right way" to home school. There is no right method or curriculum. Just like an artist has his palette of colors to mix & use, so does a home educator has a vast array of effective methods from which to choose which may be based on:

The age of the child.
The subject matter being taught.
The number of children being taught.
The learning styles the children find most effective.
The time available to prepare & teach.
The varying abilities or special needs of the children.
The motivation that certain teaching methods may provide for the children.

Of course, the variety of methods is endless. Choosing & mixing them will make home schooling become a unique work of art.

I have to admit that I was a bit hesitant to home school. My husband, Ed was the one with the desire to pursue this commitment. It took a lot of research & his support to get me to this point where I realized that this can actually happen once I acted upon it. Fear & criticism may be at the back of my mind at times, but they only enhance my will to succeed. Here are our reasons why we lovingly chose to home school:

Academic excellence - We can teach each child according to their learning style. Each child learns differently. In a safe, home setting we can teach each child in the way that she (or he) learns the best, developing thoughts & ideas, rather than following the crowd.

The one thing most teachers will tell you they want is a smaller class so that they can have more time for the children. We are the only teachers with one student, at this time, and our main goal right now is not just to teach, but to help strengthen the learning and understanding from what is being studied.

Besides, teachers have a set timeline & curriculum that they must follow. There is no time to stop the class for one person who is still at a loss, they have to move on and hope the child gets it sooner or later. We can pace the learning appropriately (reviewing a topic more than once, if necessary; or moving on to the next lesson). We have the flexibility as to what we teach our children. There are a lot of excellent material and resources readily available for all ages, levels and subjects.
POSITIVE socialization - Socialization is an area that most people are concerned about when considering home schooling, but in fact, it is one of the most positive benefits of home schooling. Our children are not learning to relate with just their peers , those of the same age group, but with children of ALL ages, babies to teenagers, as well as with adults. In fact, one of Aryana's "lessons" was to ask a sales clerk what she needed for her ballet class. She learned that she did not have to depend on Mommy or Daddy to get the things she wanted. She realized that all she had to do was ask & she shall receive. This is a realistic way of how the world operates. As adults, we have to deal with people of all ages, not just our age group.

As parents, we are the primary teachers and do not have to worry about what our children are learning from their peers. Children become dependent on us, and not their peers. They have a better self-esteem and do not have negative peer pressure. Also, we will know with whom our children interact with.
Stronger family - When we decided to home school, we made the commitment to have open communication, in order for everyone to work together & work through tough issues or whatever else life throws our way, like a sudden, tragic death in the family which was what Aryana experienced when she went to her first funeral. She saw how people reacted, & asked why they were so sad. She understood, with life came death and how family & friends came together in sympathetic support at that time of tragedy.

Our children have to learn to get along with each other and, God willing, they will have a strong relationship with each other into their adult lives.
Flexibility - We have the ability to control when, where and how we teach. We work around our family schedule & have a great time traveling to places during the "off seasons" when there are no crowds and lower rates! Even our travels & outings provide educational opportunities.

Hence, every child learns at home; Aryana is just learning a little more than the rest of them. We are not anti-public school, nor do we think all teachers are bad. There are good teachers and schools where a child succeeding is their priority. Sadly, there are too many children and not enough funding to make these schools as good as they should be. Right now, Prefect Perillo Academy is the best school for Aryana. She had been offered the option to go to school after she went to preschool and refused.

After attending a 6PM Modesto Suzuki Association (MSA) workshop on 9/16/2005, I purchased the book of the guest speaker that night, Edmund Sprunger called Helping Parents Practice, Ideas for Making it Easier. Focusing on the speaker and not taking notes, I figured I could read his book to get more ideas to make piano practices with Aryana easier for the both of us. What I found in his book was a quote by psychiatrist M. Scott Peck which sums up how I feel about my family, my children especially...

"Ultimately love is everything... When we love something it is of value to us, and when something is of value to us we spend time with it, time enjoying it and time taking care of it... So it is when we love children; we spend time admiring them and caring for them. We give them our time."

Also, according to "Home School Legal Defense Association", regarding newsletter dated 11/14/2005: California--There's No Place Like Home...

"The moral of the story is that "There is no place like home" when it comes to education. You've made the best choice for your family and your children. Society is going in a different direction. Not only must we continue to teach our children at home privately, but we must be prepared to meet the challenges to this choice in the future. It is foolhardy to assume that we will always be left alone to freely educate our children."

This definitely is an exciting new venture for all of us. After a couple weeks of Formal home schooling, we have let our creative juices flow in our new Eclectic style. We continue to use Calvert curriculum, but added a variety of learning resources that best fit the day, such as the very reasonable Time4Learning. The mind is limitless & always open to fun!

Comments and questions regarding this page should be directed to me, Leilani T. Perillo

E-mail address: lperillo@gotnet.net

Created September 10, 2005, this page was last updated on Tuesday, November 29, 2005 .
Copyright © 2005. All Rights Reserved.

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