OUR BLOG
Posted 16 May 2022
More Than Just School
Daenielle’s Story
By Daenielle Isaacs
I stumbled into home-schooling my son about 2 years ago while my family and I were still living in Dubai. The plan was never to be a home-schooling mum, but various circumstances had made it the best option for us. It was 2020 (pre-COVID). My daughter was an infant, my son was starting 1st Grade, and the whole world was about to drastically change.
Fast forward a couple of years and since having relocated back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, parents from around the globe have been more involved in their children’s education than ever before, whilst educators are still scrambling to adapt to the unknown of this pandemic; yet in the midst of all of this, Mikhael (Mika), my son, was about to start Third Grade and Anya, my little girl, was exploring the world as a toddler.
With the announcement of Kingdomcity School’s pilot program on the horizon, we jumped in – ready to pioneer a new season, and even more ready to witness the world-changers that would be crafted from it!
Homeschooling a 7-year-old whilst needing to care for a 2-year-old toddler has its challenges, but I’ve found that having both a separate work space for Mika and a fixed routine has helped him take responsibility for his school day. He knows what he needs to get done each day, and on lighter days, he chooses to get ahead in his workload so that he’s got less to do the next day, which means more time for him to learn Coding (his favorite class)!
I love being involved in Mika’s education, and it really is so much more than just academics! I love being able to watch his character grow as he learns how to persevere through the parts of school he finds challenging. Writing a few paragraphs for his Language Arts class used to completely overwhelm him and would almost always result in a pile of eraser shavings scattered across the table and a few hours of a multitude of emotions. Yet I distinctly remember the day he decided to start constructing a draft instead of trying to write everything in one go, and slowly work his way through the final assignment ready for submission. It seems so simple, but to him it was sheer brilliance. He found a way to break down the work and navigate the overwhelming feeling he’d get from purely focusing on the size of the task.
It’s also an absolute beauty being able to watch him discover the joy of learning!
Mika LOVES science experiments and the different projects that he gets to do for school, that it usually even results in him tinkering around with other hypotheses and creating his own derivative experiments. And I believe this perfectly captures the essence and authenticity of learning!
With the way that Kingdomcity School is structured, Mika has been loving the fact that he gets to move along at his own pace.
He’s got an incredibly active and sharp mind, that enables him to progress in his schooling much faster than if he was confined to a bigger classroom setting. Being able to go at his own pace has also meant that he gets the choice of deciding which subject he starts the day with. Though this may seem insignificant to us as parents, it makes a huge difference for our kids, and Mika typically prefers to breeze through the subjects he enjoys, like Bible and Math, and wrap up the day with the more challenging ones (all things composition really)!
The last few years of being a home-school mum has truly been a non-stop adventure with a multitude of emotions – for both myself as the parent and Mika! But all in all, despite the highs and lows, it’s been a remarkable journey and one that I consider a privilege.
My son and I have had to learn patience together – we’ve both had to learn to say we’re sorry and ask for forgiveness; we’ve both had to learn to talk things out; and we’ve both learned to pray together more, especially on the tougher days.
Ultimately, I don’t just want my children to finish school with a piece of paper that says they had an amazing education. Don’t hear what I’m not saying though – I absolutely and wholeheartedly believe in that, but as we as parents catch glimpses of the world that our kids are about to grow up in, I want them to have the character and foundation that helps them navigate the issues of life with wisdom and grace.
God knows, our world needs this!
