Headlong Homeschooling – Our homeschooling (in India) journey so far

We never planned to homeschool N this year because he was already going to a happy little Montessori school. Yes, I’ve always liked the concept of home education, and have wondered if it will work for our family, but I never expected to take the plunge this year.

N creating a 3-D model of a butterfly's life cycle with clay

You see, as we waited for N’s lovely little Montessori school to open for the school year, my husband got his orders to travel for work. With a very long work trip looming ahead, we decided to travel as a family. That’s when I started teaching N at home, or rather, in our hotel room. With play dough clay and drawings of robots (his current favorites), stories and simple phonics lessons, with everyday material and a dash of fun, our makeshift homeschool took off happily.

When we returned back home, with the Montessori school unable to send transport to drop him back and us (we live very far from the school), on the brink of embarking on yet another work trip, going to school became near to impossible again. And so our homeschooling adventure has been a work in progress.

Now, we’re returning from our second work trip in a row. We don’t know if N’s school will be able to slot in a school van to drop him. We’re also expecting to move very soon, and are wondering if sending him to school for a few days before we move, makes sense or not.

We’re still wondering if we should send N to the neighborhood school wherever we are moving to or if we could continue homeschooling him. Even though we have several question marks sticking out of our homeschool plan, I’ve been mulling over the way that I want to teach N. The best part about being a homeschool parent is that you can borrow from a wide range of curriculums and teaching methods, take what you like and leave what you don’t find interesting.

N's version of an Igloo with the 3 of us inside - after we read about houses across the world

Continuing homeschooling: I have a loose curriculum that seems to fit in with the way N learns. It’s a slice of world education with beautiful books forming the bedrock of the “syllabus”. We plan to learn about this vast planet that we live on, the people who inhabit the world, the landscapes & animals in different parts and about children of this world. I strongly feel that in today’s time and age, raising global citizens, who can embrace the world culture, understand the issues that are plaguing the planet and have more tolerance for differences, is a must. The more our children can marvel at the beauty across the world and understand that people do not need to look/talk/behave the same way to be your friends, the more empowered they will be to create a warm and loving life for themselves and others. 

Simple sums with aliens, robots and clay balls

We’re also planning to continue our counting & simple addition + subtraction exercises through everyday material: playdough balls, rajma beans, coins, spoons and storybooks.

Natural science will be an important part of our “studies”. We study the life cycle of various insects, understand how clouds are formed, see how leaves are the kitchens of plants & trees, understand how seasons change. I’m not using any book for this, but letting the natural world around us + high-quality Youtube videos to guide us in our learning adventure.

Storybooks are ingrained in our homeschool and home life. We read lots of stories to N. I do believe that all this reading is helping encourage better vocabulary and letter recognition. We do a bit of phonics, and this is something I want to bump up a bit more.

Free play is a big part of our days

Nature study is also part of our homeschooling. It can be free flowing, with us moving around a garden, looking at the plants & insects there. Or, we go out on a mission, collecting all the different kinds of leaves in a space, and then go back home to draw a few of them, marvel at how different each of them are, and learn how leaves cook food for plants.

Art and craft is a major component of our days. N likes to do whatever I am doing, so it’s also a great way for me to re-ignite my love for all things arty-crafty. If I paint on a canvas, N also sits down with his own to create his painting. If I embroider, then N makes things out of the thread. If I make collages in my journal, N sticks Washi tape, stickers & ephemera in his scrapbook. We can spend hours making things with either music or audio stories playing in the background.

This is our current plan for our ‘headlong homeschooling’. I would like to add or tweak things as we go, see if this journey is nourishing for all of us.

Do you homeschool or are considering homeschooling?

 #homeschool #homeschoolindia #homeschoolinginindia #teachingchildren #prekhomeschool #homeschoolparent 

The Brigade that Builds Brands: Army wife Gunjan Mishra's hand-crafted jewelry & accessory brand 'Pink Pitari'

Hello everyone! Welcome to another story from The Brigade that Builds Brands series – an ongoing interview feature that turns the spotlight on the #faujiwife / #militaryspouse entrepreneur, who crafts her own brand and makes it work through frequent postings, long stints of single parenting, several social commitments and unavoidable breaks that happen due to erratic internet or when you’re packing up or setting up house at a new base. Today we have Gunjan Mishra over at the blog - an Army wife, passionate crafter, mompreneur & the gal behind Pink Pitari - her handmade jewelry + accessory brand. We love the practicality and happiness with which Gunjan approaches this work + military life balance. Hope you find her words just as inspiring as I did.

 C. Please tell us something about yourself – what do you do, where are you based and how long have you been a fauji wife.

G. I am a stay at home mompreneur who turned her crafting hobby into a home business. I mainly create jewelry and accessories, though my work is not limited to jewelry making. I also bring in a lot of art and craft forms into my work because that’s just what I love to do, a variety of creative things. I love to express myself through writing on my personal blog. I began my ‘work from home’ journey through content writing which eventually gave way to full time crafting. Currently, I am based in Kanpur. I will complete 9 years of my being a fauji wife in December 2018.

C. What has your business or creative journey been like: how & when did you start your venture?

G. When I realized I could not do a steady job due to my husband’s frequent postings, I decided to pursue my hobbies instead. Initially, I was only pursuing the hobbies, but gradually I realized I had a strong desire to take it to the next level. Meanwhile, I was already blogging which led me to content writing. It kept me busy but my passion for crafts wouldn’t let me settle for content writing. However, I was still clueless about what it was that I actually wanted to do and how to do it. By pure chance, I discovered jewelry making. It really appealed to me, made me crazy in fact! Things eventually fell into place and Pink Pitari came into existence 2 years ago. From sourcing materials to dispatching orders, my work involves a lot of things which I do myself mostly and yet never felt like I am working, it keeps me so happy. I do it honestly and diligently and take a lot of pride in it.

The Brigade that Builds Brands: Air Force wife Cashmere Lashkari’s energy healing brand & creative ventures

Hello everyone! I’ve been very sporadic on the blog and the internet – #fauji life beckons. I’ve been accompanying my husband on his many work trips across the country + gearing up for yet another move. Between this and finding my new homeschooling mojo (when the kid can't go to school, the school comes to him!), work and writing have kind of been plonked on the back burner for a bit. But I’ve popped back in for my favorite series – The Brigade That Builds Brands. This week, we’re featuring Cashmere Lashkari , fellow Air Force wife, Reiki healer, entrepreneur and writer.

Here’s how Cashmere has always found something interesting to do wherever they are posted, and continues to build a light-filled brand.

C. Please tell us something about yourself – what do you do, where are you based and how long have you been a fauji wife.

Cashmere: I am an Army daughter and an Air Force wife. I’ve called more than a dozen cities home and have loved exploring each one of them. For the first two decades I saw the services from the child’s perspective and the last two decades from the spouse’s perspective. Life on both sides has been interesting with its own challenges. Currently I am in Pune and loving being on a “home posting.”

Living at home, literally since we didn’t shift to the MES accommodation, has opened up a number of new vistas for me. I am currently juggling the hats of a Spiritual Workshop Facilitator for Reiki and the Law of Attraction under my brand of Healing Energy 888, a Life Coach to create Work- Family balance for Women Entrepreneurs, and an Editor/Writer for a newly launched publication house called ActiveMuse.

C. What has your business or creative journey been like: how & when did you start your venture?

Cashmere: I am an HR Trainer by academic qualification, and a certified British Airways travel agent. Like a good fauji biwi, I have enjoyed my ladies club meets, husband’s nights and met my welfare obligations. However I have also constantly been working as a trainer and blogger, doing whatever work became available in each station we were in.

I have been writing stories since I was 7 years old and have been published in Salute, Good Housekeeping, Chicken Soup for the Indian Teenage Soul, Diplomatist, and Asian Age. I also self publish on the Kindle Store and have four books out under my pen name Candy Laine. I am working on book number five.

Cashmere with her Reiki students

I began Healing Energy 888 (www.HealingEnergy888.com) after completing my Reiki Grandmaster qualification. I offer Reiki Healing, Tarot Readings and Law of Attraction coaching. I started practicing Reiki in 1998 and over the last couple of decades have offered my service to a number of friends and family members. I began my Reiki teaching workshops in 2015 when we were posted to Delhi. Now I continue the spiritual workshops at the Wellnessence center (https://www.facebook.com/wellnessencepune/)on Salunke Vihar Road in Pune.