THE CHILD FIRST SCHOOL AND TEACHER

Humanity has long recognized the rights of children to enjoy special protection and opportunities for physical, mental, spiritual, moral, and social development.

Nations and states are obliged to provide a situation where there is freedom and dignity to allow the full development of the youth. In the Philippines, an enabling law called the Child, and Youth Welfare Code (P. D. 603) ordains the government to make every effort to promote children’s welfare and enhance their opportunities for a valuable and happy life. This law also indicates that children’s best interest is a vital consideration in promulgating government policies.

It is undeniable that long before “school” had been invented by man, educating children has been done at home. There is no other place on earth where man’s progeny learned their first lesson as a human being. Indeed, home is where every human being was first educated. When schools came into being, they became the second home of children. If the school is the children’s second home, can’t the house be the lifelong school of children?

Cognizant of the preceding, there is a need to promote and widen children’s access to quality education. Aside from the traditional “in-school” education practice, the Education Department has to consider the “in-home” schooling practice formally. Home has a vital role in nurturing man’s progeny, and it should not just be a secondary or corollary to educating children. There is a need to reconsider and recognize the practice of homeschooling strongly. There are children out there who cannot avail of the formal instruction in a traditional school for some reason or other circumstances. Every individual has a unique learning style, and thus, the educational system must address this instinctive learning style efficiently and effectively. For these reasons, the education department must provide or allow an alternative delivery system of education to these children. An alternative answer to providing education for children is the Homeschooling Program.