Trust the child and yourselves as parents. A parent knows what the needs of his child are. I know that for any parent, the state of relaxation does not last long. Sometimes, I make the mistake of checking what a child of a certain age should know. I fall into the trap of comparisons. But each of these times, I find support in children themselves and in the meetings with other Cerehard parents. Ultimately, both my husband and I are satisfied with the decision we made.

I would recommend CEREHARD instead of an umbrella school because it allows you to give your child the freedom to reach his/her potential, go with his/her own feeling, and multiply his/her inner strengths.

I will use only the homeschooling from CEREHARD, even if my child risks not learning Mihai Eminescu by heart, as someone suggested to me.

I don’t push for high school grades, and I don’t expect my child to be a prize winner.

Freedom was something I really cared about. For a long time, it was the main reason to do anything. Schooling at home helped me become more self-taught and learn how to manage my time.
It brought me closer to my family and offered me many opportunities for development and education.

When choosing a different education for your child, it is good to brace yourself for insecurity, for people around you expressing their disapproval, for anxiety and worry about the future. However, all this begins to fade in the first weeks of education other than at school.

For us, CEREHARD means life hygiene, better use of time, balance and peace of mind.

The fact that WE HAVE time is the biggest gain. The children wake up in the morning calm and rested. They have time to play, try things from which they might choose their way in life, and open doors to new areas.

I would tell an undecided parent that there will surely be more sleepless nights before reaching the calm and understanding that he has not lost anything coming out of the herd of public school. He even gains a lot. The parent needs only to keep a healthy balance. 

Here we have the chance to rediscover the essence of education, to discover the child next to us and look for the most suitable options for his own good. I think the most important thing is to see what the child can do in the present moment, combine hands-on and theory, and give him/her opportunities to discover the world around him, instead of “dictating” or teaching him/her stuff.

As scary as it may be at first, the fact that CEREHARD does not use a boxed curriculum and the enrolment does not come with textbooks, tests, etc., becomes extremely precious when we understand that the alternative is given precisely by this freedom.

After the first two months of unschooling, the fears arose: what if my child does not keep up; what if he wastes time instead of learning something; what if… It has been a continuous struggle with our familiar “traditions”.

I have learned to be patient. We rejoice, observe, read, and educate each other, and I trust my instinct that I am on the right path. In the CEREHARD community, I discovered another world: the parents share their ideas, learning sources, and, finally, I do not have to fight with a different mentality. We are on the same page, and we want the best for our children.