Homeschooling: Calling for interesting people.

Are you an interesting person? If yes, we are looking for you!

When we started the program of homeschooling Kymaia (who turns 8 on Sunday), I had said that we would like to expose her to various types of people, professions, passions, and personalities. Basically, we would like her to get to know interesting people doing interesting things.

What kind of people?
They could be educators, politicians, pilots, soldiers, doctors, dentists, fashion designers, photographers, models, engineers, machine operators, designers, architects, programmers, actors, producers, artists, singers, poets, cooks, writers, linguists, geologists, oceanographers, astronomers, historians, scientists, bikers, athletes, Instagram influencers, storytellers & mythologists…I mean, the sky’s the limit. We would love someone who has climbed Everest, or participated in an Olympics, or has a published work of art, or run for office, or won an election, or delivered a baby, or runs a kitchen, or works with spacecraft (or animals, special needs children, or nuclear materials), or built a company (or sold one), or invented & patented something, or worked with unusual people or in unusual surroundings or circumstances, or done anything that would make them interesting people. There are no bounds to your imagination, or hers.

Side note: We’d prefer women. Dog alone knows how badly girls need role models. I think we men and boys will never understand this problem given how we always see our gender represented in literally everything. But being a woman is not a hard criterion to be an interesting person to speak to Kym. It is just something we’d prefer, not insist on.

What would we like?
We would like these people to schedule a 45-60-minute session held online on a mutually convenient Saturday (late) morning with Kymaia. Something like a visiting speaker/professor in more formal education setups. They would need to present for about 20-25 minutes and then take questions or engage the child in some way or fashion. There is no expected output, except for a spark that may or may not be lit in the child’s mind’s eye for the specific interesting activity that that specific person was an expert in and spoke about. They could give her a list of books or mail her a list of URLs to visit to find out more should she be interested. They could write to her regularly. Or they could simply give their talk and never be heard from again. They could use English, Hindi, Marathi, or Nepali (she isn’t very fluent in Mandarin yet; perhaps in another couple of years). They could use a formal presentation or sing a song or play a video or recite a poem or read from a book. They could dress in their uniform or play an instrument or teach her a few words in a new language or do a show-and-tell. They could engage the child in a joint activity or demonstrate something or simply chat with her. They could do whatever they feel like as long as it keeps the child’s attention and sparks her imagination. No other rules.

Small caveat: If the kid gets bored and exits the meeting or says something the speaker does not like or asks a question the speaker thinks is offensive, it is up to them to handle it. We encourage her to ask questions, even those that seem silly, stupid, or scandalous.

Is this a paid gig?
Yes. We have a budget of Rs.1,000 per session. I will be glad to pay it and any GST on it if applicable.

What else will they get?
45-60 minutes with an interesting child, the fees (as above), and perhaps the satisfaction of having lit a spark that may lead to a fire of passion that may lead to a career in the field in which they are experts, having ‘converted’ one more soul for their master (the profession in which they have made their careers!).

So, what say you? Any takers?

Growing up quickly!