Xander Mom: Joahan Ganesan

This week we spoke to Johannesburg mom and teacher to her 4 kids, Joahan Ganesan. Take a sneak peak into her busy and extremely well organised life.

 

Tell us about yourself?

I am a 41 year old mom of four, aged 17, 11, 9 and 6. I hold a degree in English Literature and Sport Science and used to head a primary school in Johannesburg. I am currently homeschooling my children. We chose to homeschool our children because we also have a home in Fish Hoek, Western Cape and have been travelling between provinces over the past few years. My husband is an extremely active dad and is also very involved in educating our kids.

 

 

How do you feel about using technology as part of learning?

Being a non-conformist parents, we approach learning in a very different way. I enjoy using technology as an educational tool because my children learn different concepts in a fun and interactive way. They love the animation in the apps and sometimes don’t realise that they are actually learning. That makes my life alot easier. Educational games have also been very beneficial to their cognitive development.

 

What are your kids favourite apps?

My kids use a variety of apps and their preferences keep changing. The enjoy Khan Academy,  Evernote, 3D Brain, Letterland, Endless Alphabet, etc. In the effort to learn other languages we have used Xander Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaans apps.

 

What do you love about South Africa and raising your children there?

We love the diverse cultures of South Africa and enjoy the racial integration of Gauteng. We are a very friendly and hospitable nation. Our landscape is very beautiful due to our wet and warm climate. We love raising our children in South Africa because it allows us to have a good quality of life. We enjoy the outdoors so the weather lends itself to lots of adventure sports.

 

TV “Yes” or “No”?

Yes. We use TV for a lot of lessons as it brings the classroom into the home. Lessons are often fun, animated and well thought-out.

 

What is in the lunchbox?

Our day starts with eggs for breakfast, and the first learning session from 8- 10 am. We take a short snack break, usually fruit, and continue learning till noon. Lunch is often tuna, chicken or cheese, sometimes a hot meal. After lunch we continue with learning until 2pm. This is when I take some quiet time for some tea before prepping for extra murals and dinner. Dad is home by 6pm, dinner at 6:30pm and gymming starts after 7pm.

 

How do you balance it all – in one sentence?

For social interaction, we have enrolled our children into many clubs such as drama, musical theatre, dance, etc. The also attend music instrument lessons. For physical activity, we have joined the gym as a family. We swim and do various other physical classes together. We also try to do other adventurous activities that involve the outdoors.

 

Do you children do chores at home, if so what and how do you manage it?

We don’t have helpers so we are required to do our own housework and I found this to be a very disciplining. Yes, I have had to do lots of discipling in this regard. Over the years the kids have learnt about keeping their environment clean.

 

What is your favourite holiday plans/ activities with kids?

For holiday plans, we often book in and around South Africa.  We have many tourists attractions that we visit. We are spoilt for choice with Kruger National Park, Sun City, Garden Route, to name a few.

 

Catch up with Joahan’s awesome family on Instagram .