Every day at the Prasad Estate begins with the familiar sounds of morning: the crowing of roosters outside, and inside, mother of five children, Christina Prasad, lighting the stove. After their morning exercise routine, Christina prepares breakfast – whole wheat waffles – while the children hurriedly make their way to the dining table.
All the hustle and bustle signals the start of a new school day on the farm.
Nine years ago, when Christina and her husband Nilesh lived in Calgary, they made the decision to homeschool their children. By 2021, they made another significant decision: to move to New Brunswick and live a self-sufficient farming lifestyle near the quaint capital city of Fredericton.
The Prasad family’s move from a relatively international metropolis to a homestead near Fredericton was driven by their pursuit of a dream: to grow their own food and live off the land.
At 40 years old, Christina shared in an interview, “We hatch our own chicks, raise chickens, poultry, turkeys, and process meat. We have also tasted foods we’ve never had before, like rabbit and fiddleheads.”
In their farming endeavors, they also tried their hand at growing tomatoes, learning to can, preserve food, and dehydrate. Alongside this, they homeschool their four sons and one daughter, a method that not only fosters family bonds and instills values but also injects vitality into their young minds.
Before moving to New Brunswick, the family visited Calaway Park in Calgary for fun and toured the largest teepee in the world in Medicine Hat.
“For the children, it’s about learning; for us, it’s about creating memories together,” said Prasad. “We feel that we made the right choice.”
They gather together for reading time – the baby and the toddler by her side on the bed, while the other three children engage in quiet activities, listening to her read.
Transitioning from a French immersion education system to homeschooling was a significant change for them. The Prasads cited several reasons for this shift.
Christina mentioned conflicts between school board policies regarding gender identity, name usage, restroom use, and parental rights regarding information for school-age children, which clashed with their Christian values. However, she added that this was only a small part of the many factors that led them to homeschooling.
Of their five children, one struggled with social skills and feeling overwhelmed, one faced bullying and exclusion from peer groups, another had advanced reading abilities but lacked suitable reading materials provided by teachers, and one was a social butterfly who was often silenced for being too noisy.
They also expressed dissatisfaction with the school’s practice of playing PG-rated films in class without prior notification to parents.
“Legislation has also seen changes, with some parental rights in public schools being stripped away,” said Prasad. “Children can now leave the school grounds without parental consent, and parents are kept in the dark.”
Her husband added that in recent times, freedom in Canada has been gradually regressing.
“The Canadian government imposes too many restrictions on parents and families,” he said. “They interfere in almost every aspect of our lives.”
The final straw came in 2015 when Prasad had just given birth to their fourth child. She recalled, “I had to go to the school three times a day, and because there were no parent parking or drop-off areas, I often had to walk several blocks in the cold with a toddler and a baby.”
Later on, the school changed lunchtimes, meaning Prasad had to make the trip to and from the school four or more times a day.
With the arrival of their fifth pregnancy, just two weeks before the start of the school year, she felt the burden was too heavy to bear.
So they began considering unconventional solutions. The Prasad couple knew parents who homeschool their children and started exploring other options.
Finally, they decided to try homeschooling for a year.
“Let them drop out,” she said, before adding with a smile, “Even if we mess up, they are still young and have the chance to catch up.”
They enrolled in a “hybrid” curriculum offered by the school board, where parents take the lead in learning with teacher guidance, and embarked on a year of homeschooling.
“When it came time to register for the next school year, we decided without hesitation to continue homeschooling,” Prasad said.
She admitted that the initial months were emotionally turbulent, but before they knew it, a year turned into nine.
“My biggest surprise came from seeing a significant improvement in my son’s reading abilities over a year of homeschooling,” Nilesh said, adding that his son could now pronounce many complex words when reading the Bible.
However, things were not always smooth sailing. Prasad remarked, “Sometimes the children don’t get along. There are toy squabbles, spilled food, a crying baby, and a toddler refusing to nap…”
Now, Prasad has established a system to maintain order, balancing academics, chores, and meals. She even started a YouTube channel dedicated to reviewing homeschooling curricula.
Apart from daily learning, they have had many joyful moments. Over the years, homeschooling provided the Prasad family with opportunities to adventure thousands of kilometers away from home.
Before moving to the East, they visited Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, lakes and trails in Banff, and Dinosaur Provincial Park. On Vancouver Island, where Prasad was born, they walked through pristine forests and went surfing in Tofino.
After moving to Fredericton in 2021, they visited Fort Cumberland, the site of Acadian expulsions, and the Titanic victims’ cemetery in Halifax. Prasad disclosed their plans to explore historical sites in Nova Scotia and Quebec.
“By personally visiting the sites of historical events, you are more likely to remember it, understand it, and even apply it to your own life,” she said.
However, she also acknowledged that their homesteading life has been an uphill battle. Initially, their attempts at planting and production resulted in muddy, rocky fields with little food. Eventually, with the help of their children in building raised beds, they managed to grow tomatoes, peppers, and other produce, despite occasional attacks from cucumber beetles or plant diseases.
Prasad said they are now considering whether to take the next step. But when it comes to homeschooling, she is confident.
“Tailoring education to individual needs is unparalleled,” she said. “In a classroom of 25 children, it’s impossible to meet the educational needs of each child when taught as a whole.”
Prasad said she has discussed career goals like nursing, mechanic work, flight attendants, hairstyling, and writing with her children, encouraging them to pursue higher education at universities or vocational schools.
Looking ahead, if Prasad’s plan goes as intended, her eldest son, 17-year-old Joshua, will graduate this year.
“My eldest son is currently studying practical math courses,” she said, mentioning that the course covers budgeting, insurance, investments, travel planning, and how to do taxes.