A peek into Homeschooling in Romania

There is an active and growing population of families choosing to opt out of the Romanian school system. We are thrilled to be able to support families all around the world with making the educational choice that best suits them. We thought it would be fun to give you a glimpse into what homeschooling looks like for this family in Romania. Here's an excerpt from their year-end report. 

"I’m very happy with the progress he’s made with his Reading skills. For the moment, he reads in Romanian, very well for his age, but he can also manage short simple English sentences. 

There’s not much to say about Writing skills, as he cannot be bothered with it. He knows how to write, but has no need to do so, apart for the occasional birthday card. Obviously, he types anything he needs to for his games.

English is another subject where there’s been great progress, mainly due to the fact that in the past few months he has discovered YouTube and he spends hours watching videos of his favorite games. I’d never have thought it possible to learn English this way, but he has become quite confident and he talks in English a lot. Amazingly, he’s started to speak Romanian with an English accent! I’ve downloaded some school books to use next year, so he can learn some basic grammar rules (which I’m sure he’ll find quite boring).

Mathematics is the only subject where we tried to go by the book and he’s made his way through several books of additions/subtractions, which he can do quite easily, so he has acquired more than the skills required for 1^st grade. We also tried multiplication and division, but we have to work on this part next year. (We also use several Internet sites for Math).

For the past year, Science studies consisted mainly of a Chemistry/Physics class he was enrolled in. It’s a government subsidized learning center for kids, which offers a lot of different classes. The Chemistry class was quite hard, covering stuff that school children only learn in 5^th grade and beyond, but everything is explained in simple terms with lots of fun experiments, to make science appealing to seven years old kids. And we had a final test, too, which he passed. So we’re good, as far as Science is concerned. 

At the same center, he took a very interesting course combining History and Crafts. They studied mostly Ancient History and at each lesson they also crafted some object relevant for that particular period, a cardboard Roman shield, an Egyptian pyramid and so on. We also read several books concerning Ancient History, some of them in English. So that’s Social Studies for us.

He also studied French at the center, but I cannot really say that he’s learned much. A few words, some songs and not much else. We’ll probably have to find some other program, something more fun. Anyway, these classes have been very useful as they gave him some sort of going to school experience and he got to make some friends, temporary, as most friends are at this age. It also helped me put my mind at ease on the controversial subject of socializing and HS."

Jacqueline ~ Romania

There is a mother who is a homeschooling advocate in Romania through her blog, and who is our local contact for our Romanian families. You can visit her blog here http://www.homeschooling.urbankid.ro/

For our native Romanian readers, here is the year-end report in the Romanian language. 

"Sper ca ai avut un an (scolar) bun. Noi cu siguranta am avut. Iata, pe scurt, ce a invatat baiatul meu, P., in primul lui an de homeschooling.

In esenta, s-a descurcat de minune. Noi nu folosim vreo programa anume, dar incerc sa acoperim cumva toate materiile relevante. (Am oroare de programe scolare ca urmare a experientei avute cu fata, care a fost timp de opt ani in invatamintul public si a avut de invatat pe de rost tone de lucruri inutile, din categoria celor pe care le uiti de indata ce ai luat nota la materia respectiva).

Revenind la baiatul cel mic, ma bucur sa-ti spun ca a facut progrese majore la citit. La ora actuala, citeste in romana foarte bine pentru varsta lui, dar se descurca si sa citeasca propozitii mai simple in engleza.

Despre scris nu prea am ce sa spun, pentru ca nu prea il intereseaza subiectul. Stie sa scrie, dar nu prea are nevoie sa o faca, doar cite o felicitare ocazional. Evident, se descurca sa tasteze orice are nevoie la jocurile lui.

Engleza este o alta materie la care a inregistrat mari progrese, mai ales datorita faptului ca in ultimele luni a descoperit YouTube si petrece ore in sir uitindu-se la materiale video despre jocurile lui favorite. Nu mi-as fi imaginat vreodata ca este posibil sa inveti engleza in acest mod, dar fapt este ca a prins curaj si vorbeste mult in engleza. Cel mai uimitor este faptul ca inceput sa vorbeasca si romaneste cu accent englezesc! Am descarcat recent o serie de manual de engleza pe care intentionez sa le parcurgem in noul an scolar, astfel incit sa poate invata si ceva reguli de gramatica, desi sunt sigura ca o sa i se para tare plictisitoare.

Matematica este singura materie pe care am incercat sa o studiem ca la carte si am parcurs impreuna mai multe culegeri cu adunari si scaderi, pe care le rezolva cu usurinta, astfel ca este deja peste nivelul cerut la clasa intii. Am incercat si ceva inmultiri si impartiri, dar este un subiect asupra caruia va trebui sa insistam anul urmator. (De asemenea, folosim si diverse site-uri de Internet pentru matematica. )

La capitolul stiinte, anul trecut baiatul a fost inscris la un curs de chimie/fizica organizat la Palatul Copiilor, unde sunt o multime de cursuri interesante. Cursul de chimie a fost unul foarte serios, cu materie pe care la scoala copiii o parcurg abia in clasa a 5a sau dupa, dar totul le era explicat in termeni simpli, cu multe experimente distractive, astfel incit lectiile sa fie atractive pentru copii de sapte ani. Am avut si un test final, pe care P. l-a trecut cu bine. Asa ca stam bine la capitolul stiinte.

Tot la Palatul Copiilor, P. a fost inscris si la un curs care imbina istoria cu lucrul manual. Au studiat cu precadere istoria antica si la fiecare lectie copiii realizau si un obiect relevant pentru perioada studiata, un scut roman din carton, o piramida egipteana si asa mai departe. Am citit, de asemenea, mai multe carti despre antichitate, unele in engleza. In acest fel am acoperit noi stiinte sociale.

In acelasi loc, a mers si la curs de franceza, dar n-as putea spune ca a invatat foarte mult. O serie de cuvinte, ceva cintecele si cam atit. Cred ca va trebui sa cautam un alt program de limbi straine, ceva mai distractiv.

In tot cazul, cursurile acestea au fost foarte utile pentru ca i-au oferit copilului un fel de experienta a mersului la scoala si si-a facut si ceva prieteni, temporari, asa cum sunt toti prietenii la aceasta virsta. In plus, asta m-a ajutat si pe mine sa-mi domolesc temerile referitoare la controversatul subiect al socializarii copiilor care practica homeschooling."

Jacqueline ~ Romania