“A house is made of bricks, a home is made of love alone”.

Itulah kutipan di sebuah hiasan dinding yang pernah aku baca. Aku tak menemukan padanan kata yang tepat dalam bahasa Indonesia untuk membedakan kata “house” dan “home” sehingga kutipan itu akhirnya tetap aku tuliskan dalam bahasa aslinya.

Kutipan itu bagus untuk menjadi refleksi kita dalam kehidupan keluarga, yang diantaranya adalah menjadikan rumah kita sebagai tempat yang nyaman (home) bagi seluruh anggota keluarga kita. Apalagi ketika kita memilih homeschooling, rumah menjadi sebuah titik berangkat sekaligus titik kembali yang sangat penting.

Untuk melengkapi, ada tulisan menarik tentang apa yang dibutuhkan oleh orangtua agar bisa mengajarkan anak dalam homeschooling (thanks to mbak Wiwiet for sharing this quote):

“They (parents) have to like them, enjoy their company, their physical presence, their energy, foolishness, and passion.

They have to enjoy all their talk and questions, and enjoy equally trying to answer those questions.

They have to think of their children as friends, indeed very close friends, have to feel happier when they are near and miss them when they are away.

They have to trust them as people, respect their fragile dignity, treat them with courtesy, take them seriously.

They have to feel in their own heart some of their children’s wonder, curiosity, and excitement about the world.

And they have to have enough confidence in themselves, skepticism about the experts, and willingness to be different from most people, to take on themselves the responsibility for their children’s learning.”

(John Holt dalam “Teach Your Own”)